The Pilot Base (Pilotbase.com feat. Ben Hall & Dave Rogers)

In our first ever episode we speak to Ali Al Wahabi, who has just retired from an amazing 40 year career as a pilot. Most notably, Ali flew as Saddam Hussein's Presidential Pilot in Iraq. We hear his incredible stories which eventually led to him escaping with his life and his dignity intact.

You can read all about Ali's life in his book Farewell Brave Babylon. If you'd like to get your hands on an electronic copy of his book, get in touch here: www.pilotbase.com/podcast-s01e01.

We hope you enjoy the show. Remember to subscribe to our channel and leave us a review. Thanks!

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Former British Airways Flight Attendant, Suzie McKee talks to us about how she made the transition from cabin to cockpit. Suzie has just completed her flying training and is entering a turbulent post-virus aviation industry. Suzie tells us how she got to this point in her career and where she plans to go in the future.

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We got the privilege of speaking to Major Frank "Chomps" Zastoupil, also known as "Blue 3" in the Blue Angels. With amazing insight into the Blue Angels aerobatic team, Frank talks about his life in the US Marine Corps, how it all started and his hopes for the future.

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James "JT" Turner is a current member of the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, The Red Arrows. We talk about his journey through life to end up flying for the Red Arrows and what the future has to hold, along with some amazing insights inside one of the world's greatest aerobatic teams.

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In Episode Five, we welcome our first non pilot guest! 

Cast your mind back to the end of 2018 when an alleged drone sighting sent Gatwick Airport into complete meltdown; the airport was closed, 1000 flights were either cancelled or redirected, 140,000 passengers had their travel plans put into complete disarray. Arrests were made, conspiracy theories surfaced, it cost millions of pounds but ultimately, nobody was ever charged. Nobody was ever blamed, and nobody ever really got to the bottom of it. 

Fast forward to 2020 when renowned author and journalist Samira Shackle - this week's podcast guest - took a deep dive. She did the long read for The Guardian,  she spent months doing research, she talked to pretty much everyone she could speak to and produced a fabulous piece of journalism. If you've not read it, I recommend you do! On the day it was released, it got so many reads on the Guardian website that the office actually contacted Samira to tell her and I'm told on good authority that very rarely happens. She's a brilliant guest with lots going on and it's a fascinating conversation.

If you want to read her article, you can find it here: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/dec/01/the-mystery-of-the-gatwick-drone

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We meet Dr. Suzanne Kearns, a qualified fixed wing and helicopter pilot, who's now a professor with tenure, using her expertise to engage the next generation of aviation professionals. We discuss everything from education, to the environmental impact of aviation, to social mobility to what the future holds for the aviation industry. We even get a few surprise guests but like all great podcasts, dogs are welcome.

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Kat McSeveney is a South African helicopter pilot who has operated all over the globe, from the frozen islands of Antarctica to the jungles of Malaysia. Kat has flown a myriad of different types of operations, including medevac, tracking stolen cars, and ship resupply and is now instructing new pilots for the eSwatini defence force.

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Mike is a pilot flying for Scottish Airline, Loganair. His journey to land his dream job has been a long and frustrating one. We hear his story of changing careers from the oil and gas industry to aviation, and the 10 year struggle he had to realise his dream to get in the cockpit full time. Mike's passion for aviation is clear and he gives us some honest insights into the challenges faced by people trying to make their way as a pilot.

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In this episode, we meet Emma Henderson, MBE. Captain, TV star, wife, mother, farmer, triathlete, founder of Project Wingman - recognised by the queen and honoured for her services to charity. She's come a long way since joining that university Air Squadron in her youth. We cover a lot of ground in this podcast and those headlines and just the start. It's a great chat with a great human being to sit back and enjoy. 

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Christy Wise is an above knee amputee, flying in the US Air Force. If you need a bit of a positivity boost to start your week , this episode is for you! 
We cover a lot of ground including the US air force (obviously), being a search and rescue pilot, skiing, losing a leg and setting up a charity just to start.

If you want to read more about the One Leg Up On Life Foundation, you can find their website here: http://www.oneleguponlife.org/

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Season 2 is a go! 🥳
We kick this season off speaking to the CEO of Coradine, Noah Lieberman. Noah is an American pilot and software engineer, who founded Coradine back in 2003.  He's so passionate about aviation and has a real desire and drive to improve the aviation software industry.

We hear about his aviation background, how and why he started Coradine and what his plans are for the future.

"Where we're going, we don't need roads..."

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Jared and Emily Barkemeyer are a serious power couple. Living in Hawaii, they both fly the C-17 for the US Air Force; instructing, evaluating and demonstrating the capabilities of the aircraft to air show spectators.

We talk about their journey to getting to the positions they're in, life of a C-17 pilot, and how they juggle family life with such wonderful military careers. They are also doing an amazing job encouraging, mentoring and influencing the younger generations through their social media accounts. If you want to follow their exploits, you can check them out here:

Emily: https://www.instagram.com/flyywithemily/
Jared: https://www.instagram.com/hepilots/

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