Aviation News Talk – Pilot Stories, Safety Tips & General Aviation News

In Episode 425 of Aviation News Talk, Max talks with retired Air Force General David Brubaker about STEM Flights, a nonprofit organization that pairs middle- and high-school students with volunteer pilot mentors for free, one-on-one aviation experiences designed to introduce them to careers in aviation, aerospace, engineering, and other STEM fields.

STEM Flights grew out of Brubaker's own experience after retiring from the Air Force in 2005. During his military career, he flew aircraft including the F-4 and F-16 and finished his career with an assignment at the Pentagon. After retiring, he became active in general aviation and began taking young people flying.


But Brubaker didn't simply give them airplane rides. He expected them to participate. They helped with navigation, looked at the instrumentation, worked with the radios, and often took the controls themselves.

Years later, he began hearing back from some of those young people. Several had gone on to study aviation, aerospace, engineering, and other technical subjects. One young woman eventually earned her ratings, joined the West Virginia Air National Guard, and became a C-130 pilot.

Those experiences helped Brubaker recognize that pilots could have an enormous influence on the career choices of young people simply by sharing aviation with them in a meaningful way. His children encouraged him to turn what he was doing informally into a nonprofit, and STEM Flights was launched in 2018.

Today, STEM Flights connects students with volunteer pilot mentors around the country. Students don't simply show up at an airport for a free ride. They apply to the program, receive a recommendation, select a mission based on their interests, and complete homework before being paired with a pilot.

That preparation is part of what makes STEM Flights different. Brubaker describes the program as a more intensive, personal experience than a typical introductory airplane ride. A student is paired one-on-one with a pilot mentor, and the pilot learns about the student's interests before the flight. On the day of the mission, they discuss safety and learning objectives, preflight the airplane, and then head into the air.

Once they reach a safe altitude, the student usually gets the controls. They may learn about navigation, aircraft instrumentation and communications, and Brubaker says he likes to have each student make at least one radio call. But the most powerful moment often comes when the student realizes that he or she is actually flying the airplane.

Brubaker tells the story of one reluctant young man whose mother encouraged him to participate. On the ground, the student appeared completely uninterested, and Brubaker wondered whether the flight would accomplish anything. Then they took off.

Within minutes of taking the controls, the boy came alive. He started participating, asking questions, and enthusiastically flying the airplane. A couple of weeks later, Brubaker received a letter from the boy's mother. She explained that her son had approached life believing it was better not to try than to try and fail. Flying an airplane—something he never imagined he could possibly do—changed his perception of what he might be capable of accomplishing.

That experience illustrates why STEM Flights is about more than simply recruiting future pilots. Students have gone on to pursue aircraft maintenance, avionics, aerospace engineering, military aviation, and other technical fields. Brubaker says dozens have attended universities with aviation or engineering programs, and STEM Flights continues supporting students after their flights through a program called Flight Following.

Flight Following connects participants with information about scholarships, flight schools, grants, Civil Air Patrol, and other organizations and programs that can help them continue toward aviation and STEM careers.

For pilots listening to Aviation News Talk, one of the most important parts of the conversation is how they can participate. STEM Flights calls its volunteers "pilot mentors," and you don't need to be a flight instructor. Brubaker says pilots generally need a private pilot certificate, at least 250 hours of flight time, appropriate medical and aircraft qualifications, and a background check.

You don't necessarily need to own an airplane either. Some pilot mentors rent aircraft or belong to flying clubs, and in some areas STEM Flights has arrangements with local flight schools.

The organization has pilot mentors in 49 states, but matching students with available pilots remains a constant challenge. At the time of the interview, Brubaker said roughly 115 young people were waiting to be paired with pilots.

After a career that included fighter jets, simulated air combat and pulling nine Gs, Brubaker says mentoring young people offers a different kind of satisfaction. Military flying was intensely focused on accomplishing a mission. STEM Flights provides an opportunity to give something back.

And for a general aviation pilot wondering how to help strengthen the future of aviation, the concept is remarkably simple.

Share your airplane.

Share your experience.

Put a young person at the controls.

And you may help launch an aviation career that otherwise never would have begun.

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Max talks with Greg Brown about one of the most important—and often underestimated—roles in aviation: the flight instructor. Greg is one of aviation's most respected CFIs, writers, and pilot mentors. A pilot since 1972 and a flight instructor since 1979, he was named the 2000 Industry/FAA National Flight Instructor of the Year, became the first-ever Master Flight Instructor, and was inducted into the Flight Instructor Hall of Fame in 2021. Many pilots know Greg from his aviation books, including The Savvy Flight Instructor, The Turbine Pilot's Flight Manual, Flying Carpet, You Can Fly!, and Job Hunting for Pilots, as well as from his long-running "Flying Carpet" column in AOPA Flight Training magazine and his Cockpit Adventures from the Flying Carpet podcast.


In this episode, Greg and Max focus on practical advice for people who are becoming CFIs, looking for CFI jobs, or trying to build a better flight instruction business. Greg explains that he did not become a flight instructor immediately after earning his private pilot certificate. By the time he earned his CFI, he had already accumulated a great deal of flying experience and had discovered that he loved teaching. He instructed about 800 hours in his first year while still holding another full-time job, and soon discovered that instruction could lead to unexpected aviation opportunities.

One of Greg's key messages is that becoming a CFI should not be viewed as a dead end or merely a required stepping stone to an airline job. He tells the story of teaching an instrument student who owned a scientific instrument company. That student eventually invited Greg to become the company's chief pilot and help select and fly a cabin-class twin. Greg's point is that CFIs meet people, build trust, and create opportunities in ways that are impossible to predict.

Greg also offers detailed advice on how new instructors can get hired. He explains that many applicants simply send resumes and end up in a large pile with everyone else. A smaller number know someone at the flight school. But the strongest applicants are those who have built a personal relationship with the owner, chief instructor, or people already working there. Greg urges aspiring CFIs to visit flight schools, ask for advice, stay in touch, and create a simple system to maintain relationships over time. In a tight CFI job market, he says, networking and reputation can be more important than raw hours.

Max and Greg also discuss different paths into flight instruction, including academies, Part 61 flight schools, flying clubs, universities, and independent instruction. Greg says flying clubs can be a terrific environment because instructors often know their students, have access to aircraft, and may face less bureaucracy. They also discuss the idea of buying an airplane to teach in. While that can work for some instructors, Greg and Max point out the financial and insurance challenges, along with the practical limitation that when a student solos your airplane, you no longer have that airplane available for dual instruction.

A major theme of the episode is that flight instructors must also learn marketing and sales. Greg recommends that CFIs create photo business cards with an airplane or cockpit image, a QR code, and contact information. He says the card does the work of explaining who you are and often starts conversations with people who may be interested in aviation. Greg also recommends having at least a simple web page, so potential students searching online for flight training or a local flight instructor can find you.

Greg also strongly recommends earning a ground instructor certificate. He explains that the advanced ground instructor written test overlaps substantially with the commercial and flight instructor written tests, making it a practical step for many aspiring CFIs. Teaching ground school can help a future instructor get connected with a flight school, develop teaching skill, and attract future flight students. Max adds that teaching ground school before his CFI checkride made it far easier to stand at a board, explain concepts clearly, and teach an examiner during the practical test.

The discussion then turns to how CFIs can earn more and build long-term credibility. Greg compares flight instruction to golf or tennis instruction: the best instructors are not necessarily the cheapest, but the ones who provide the most value. He recommends building references, earning additional instructor ratings, pursuing credentials such as Master Flight Instructor, and developing expertise. Max adds that specialization can move an instructor up the value chain. A CFI might become known for tailwheel training, glass cockpit instruction, instrument training, mountain flying, aircraft ownership, Cirrus training, Mooney training, or another niche.

Greg and Max also explore the deeper human side of flight instruction. Greg tells two stories about challenging students. One student showed poor judgment and returned from a long solo cross-country with nearly empty tanks and a damaged wing after failing to refuel. Another student, a CFI applicant, performed terribly on a checkride because of severe test anxiety, even though he had been well prepared in training. Rather than dismiss him, Greg helped connect him with support. That student eventually became an airline captain. The lesson: some problems reflect character and judgment, while others are barriers a good instructor can help a pilot overcome.

Near the end of the episode, Greg asks listeners to think of the flight instructor who most influenced their lives. Max names his primary instructor, Dick Johnston, and recalls how his advice still echoes decades later. Greg remembers his own primary instructor, Bob Vetter, who let him recover from an inadvertent spin under careful supervision and taught him lessons that shaped his own approach to instruction.

Max closes by describing flight instructing as a sacred responsibility. CFIs are not merely preparing students for checkrides; they are helping pilots build the judgment and habits that may keep them alive for decades. Greg agrees and shares how meaningful it is to hear from former students, now airline captains, who still remember the role he played in their lives. This episode is both a practical guide to CFI jobs and a reminder that flight instructors can profoundly shape the future of the pilots they teach.

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Max talks with Maya Shpak, CEO of SkyPath, about how pilots can avoid turbulence and find smoother air by combining crowdsourced observations, aircraft data, and machine-learning predictions.


The idea for SkyPath came from an airline captain and check airman who encountered turbulence and realized that the iPad already carried in the cockpit contained accelerometers capable of measuring aircraft movement. Much like a traffic app gathers information from phones on the road, SkyPath could collect ride-quality observations from participating aircraft, send them to the cloud, and return an updated turbulence picture to other pilots. Maya says the system now receives data from about 40,000 users each day.

An iPad observation is only one of five sources used by SkyPath. The system filters accelerometer readings, removes noise, and normalizes each report for aircraft type. That adjustment is important because light turbulence in a large business jet may feel moderate in a smaller general aviation airplane. When two pilots have iPads aboard the same aircraft, SkyPath can compare the two devices and identify a questionable reading.

SkyPath also derives turbulence information from ADS-B vertical-rate data. Many aircraft provide both ADS-B reports and iPad observations, allowing the company to compare the two and refine its conversion algorithm. This expands coverage into areas where no participating iPad-equipped aircraft has recently passed.

The platform also incorporates PIREPs and eddy dissipation rate, or EDR, reports. EDR is an aircraft-independent measure of atmospheric turbulence widely used in commercial aviation. SkyPath can convert its sensor information into EDR-compatible reports while using existing EDR data to supplement its own observations.

The fifth source is SkyPath's predictive model. More than 200 meteorological parameters from NOAA and other government sources are fed into a machine-learning system trained with SkyPath's observational data. This produces estimated ride conditions where direct reports are limited. Maya says this is particularly useful to general aviation pilots flying below normal airline cruise altitudes, although the company generally sees better accuracy above about 5,000 feet.

Pilots can use SkyPath before takeoff or during a flight. They may enter a call sign or flight number, paste a route from another electronic flight bag, or operate without a filed IFR flight plan. In its bearing mode, the app monitors an area approximately 100 miles ahead and 15 degrees to either side of the aircraft's direction of flight. It can run in the background and generate an alert about ten minutes before the airplane reaches significant turbulence.

For larger operators, the same information can also be delivered through SkyPath's own flight-following tools or integrated EFB systems. Pilots can set the alert threshold, place the app in the background, and continue using their primary navigation display. Dispatchers may receive warnings when an aircraft is approaching rough air and then contact the crew through the operator's normal communications system. Maya says SkyPath was not yet integrated with ForeFlight at the time of the interview, although routes can be copied from ForeFlight into the app.

The altitude slider helps pilots compare ride conditions above and below their planned or current altitude. This can support a decision to climb, descend, or choose a different cruising altitude before departure. SkyPath also displays validated smooth-air observations as white hexagons. Knowing where the air is smooth can be more actionable than simply seeing where rough air has been reported.

The display uses familiar aviation colors to represent smooth, light, light-to-moderate, moderate, and occasional severe turbulence. Observed and predicted areas appear differently, allowing pilots to distinguish between actual aircraft encounters and conditions generated by the forecast model. Users can filter the display to emphasize the severity levels most relevant to their aircraft and operation.

Maya says access to better turbulence information can change pilot behavior. One business aviation operator using SkyPath reported nearly a 50 percent reduction in moderate-turbulence encounters. SkyPath also reviewed 180 published turbulence incidents and found that matching information had been available beforehand in 79 percent of them.

The app may also improve communication with passengers. Maya describes pilots showing charter passengers where rough air is expected and when it should end. That visual explanation can help nervous flyers understand why they need to remain seated and keep their seatbelts fastened.

Unexpected turbulence can produce injuries, diversions, medical expenses, airport fees, passenger accommodations, replacement-aircraft costs, and schedule disruptions. Even an unsecured passenger, flight attendant, or hot drink can create a serious event. Better information gives pilots more opportunity to avoid the roughest areas or prepare everyone aboard before reaching them.

Finally, SkyPath allows pilots to submit a digital PIREP from the app directly into the FAA reporting system. Individual pilots can begin with a free trial and choose between subscription levels. Maya explains how SkyPath is designed to supplement the navigation and weather tools pilots already use while providing a more detailed picture of where they may find rough or smooth air.

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Max talks about the fatal crash of Beech C90 King Air N249CP, an air ambulance flight that departed Roswell Air Center in New Mexico shortly before midnight on May 13, 2026. The aircraft was headed for Sierra Blanca Regional Airport near Ruidoso to pick up a patient for transport to Albuquerque. It was a short flight—only about 51 nautical miles—but it ended in tragedy when the King Air struck terrain near the Capitan Mountains. Both pilots and both flight nurses were killed.


The aircraft was operated by Generation Jets under Part 135 as an unscheduled fixed-wing aeromedical flight. The two medical passengers were flight nurses employed by Trans Aero Medical Services. Max emphasizes the human side of the accident: these were young professionals on a mission of mercy, people who had dedicated themselves to helping others. That makes the accident especially painful, but also especially important to study carefully.

According to the preliminary report, the flight occurred in dark-night VMC with zero percent moon illumination. Max explains why that matters. In rural or mountainous terrain, a dark night can feel very much like instrument conditions, even when the weather is technically visual. There may be no visible horizon, no way to judge terrain ahead, and no meaningful outside references to confirm whether the aircraft is safely above rising ground. Pilots may be legal to fly VFR or accept a visual approach, but operationally they may need to fly with the discipline of an instrument procedure.

A second major factor was GPS jamming. The report says U.S. military GPS jamming activity was taking place in the area and at the altitudes used by the accident flight. During the flight, ADS-B data that had been reporting every few seconds began reporting at roughly one-minute intervals. The crew later told Albuquerque Center they had lost GPS capability and needed a heading. Other aircraft in the area also reported GPS problems, including one pilot who appeared to have difficulty identifying or navigating to a ground-based navigation aid.

Max uses this to highlight a broader issue for pilots: most of us have become deeply dependent on GPS. That dependency affects not only primary navigation but also the tools we rely on for situational awareness. Electronic flight bags, panel-mounted moving maps, terrain displays, and many terrain warning systems all depend on accurate aircraft position. If GPS is jammed or unreliable, those tools may stop working, may degrade, or may give pilots less protection than they expect.

The flight was initially cleared as filed to Sierra Blanca and assigned 12,000 feet. At one point, the controller advised the crew that the aircraft was at 13,000 feet, about 1,000 feet above its assigned altitude. The pilots responded that they were correcting and had lost GPS. The controller provided headings and later began working to have the military stop the jamming. As the flight continued, the crew requested the RNAV approach, then later requested the ILS approach because of the GPS failure.

But the destination presented another complication. Sierra Blanca's automated weather observation system was out of service, and the ForeFlight briefing showed no METAR and no TAF for the airport. The instrument approach procedures contained notes stating that when the local altimeter setting was not received, the procedures were not authorized. Max explains that this may have left the crew without a legal instrument approach option, even though flying an approach would have provided more structure and terrain protection than descending visually in dark-night mountainous terrain.

At about 12:08 AM, while northeast of the airport, the crew reported that they had the airport area in sight and could proceed visually. The controller cleared them for a visual approach and told them they could cancel IFR in the air above 9,000 feet or after landing. Shortly afterward, the aircraft began turning southwest toward Sierra Blanca. The Capitan Mountains, rising to more than 10,000 feet, were between the aircraft and the airport.

After the aircraft was cleared for the visual approach, the controller's supervisor reportedly told the military that jamming could resume. ADS-B again began recording at about one-minute intervals. The aircraft descended toward the airport and later appeared to climb during the final moments of the flight. The last recorded Spidertracks data showed the aircraft at about 9,823 feet GPS altitude, with a groundspeed of 150 knots and a heading of 250 degrees. The aircraft impacted terrain at an elevation of about 9,950 feet, near the Capitan Mountains Summit Radio Facility.

Max discusses several lessons from the accident. First, dark-night operations in mountainous areas deserve special caution, even in VMC. Second, pilots should maintain proficiency with non-GPS navigation, including VORs, localizers, and raw-data flying. Third, before accepting a visual approach at night, especially in terrain, pilots should have a clear plan for terrain clearance and should consider using any available ground-based guidance, such as tracking a localizer or ILS course, even if cleared visually. Fourth, pilots should understand what equipment they may lose when GPS fails: not just navigation, but also moving maps, terrain pages, and some terrain warning capabilities.

The episode closes with a practical reminder: GPS jamming is not theoretical. If you fly enough, you may eventually lose GPS. The goal is to make sure that losing GPS does not also mean losing situational awareness, terrain clearance, or your life.

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Max talks with New Zealand pilot Keith Froude during a scenic flight in Keith's Flight Design CTLS over Fiordland, one of the most dramatic flying environments in the world. Departing from a grass runway near Lake Te Anau, they discuss CTLS operations, RAANZ microlight flying, parachute-equipped aircraft, personal flotation gear, ADS-B, electronic flight bags, and the realities of flying a light aircraft among steep mountains, lakes, fog, and changing winds.


The flight becomes a real-time lesson in conservative mountain flying. Keith explains why he climbs before crossing water, why he wants altitude before entering valleys, how local wind layers and morning heating can create bumps even early in the day, and why moving maps are so valuable in terrain where valleys and peaks can quickly look alike. Max and Keith also talk about local helicopter and floatplane traffic, avoiding the busy Milford Sound environment, the Manapouri power station, glowworm caves, Lake Te Anau, and the challenges of keeping a light, slippery CTLS under control on descent and landing.

It is part travel adventure, part aircraft checkout, and part safety lesson for pilots who want to understand what flying in New Zealand's Fiordland is really like.

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