Backcountry Aviation Radio
"There I was..." The best beginning to every aviation story. These stories occur "off-airport"...
Episodes
40 episodes
Brett Baker Returns: Weight Loss, Avionics, and What's Next
Season 4 closes out with a returning guest...Brett Baker of Cleared to Adventure was one of the very first people on this show, back in episodes 4 and 5, and this time we caught up in person on a gravel bar in Alaska. We flew in on the HawkWago...
Shane Madson from Mad Custom Cubs...Rotary Engine and Turbine Cubs?! Oh MY!
Shane Madson runs Mad Custom Cubs out of Westlock, Alberta — and he builds airplanes the way he used to build Harleys, one weld and one custom touch at a time. Before he ever picked up an aircraft-grade torch, he spent years on Alberta drilling...
Fly Rocky Top with Jeff Smith and Matt Axley...your NEXT Backcountry Destination
Jeff Smith and Matt Axley join the show to talk about Fly Rocky Top — a brand-new backcountry airstrip network in East Tennessee, and the flagship project of the Recreational Aviation Foundation's "Expanding the Map" initiative, announced at Os...
Josh Richling: Crew Chief, Writer, Tailwheel Guy
Josh Richling has one of the best seats in competition STOL flying - he's the crew chief behind Steve Henry's Wild West Aircraft Highlander XL builds, the machine that's put up some of the shortest takeoff numbers in the sport. He's also the gu...
Ray & Melisa Fowler from Adventure Flying...and a P-40 Warhawk story
Ray and Melisa Fowler run Adventure Flying LLC, a CubCrafters Certified Sales Center covering the mid-Atlantic — Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Both are Delta A320 Captains, and both carry warb...
CC Pocock — 950 Pilots Trained: Rethinking How Backcountry Flying Is Taught
CC Pocock has spent over two decades flying in some of the most remote, unimproved terrain in the world, and now runs a one-man flight school in the Nevada desert that's trained more than 950 pilots. He's the author of Bush and Mountain Fly...
Darin Hart — Keeping the Cub Alive: American Legend Aircraft, MOSAIC, and the Nomad
Darin Hart runs American Legend Aircraft in Sulphur Springs, Texas — the shop keeping the Piper Cub lineage alive, from a stripped-down J3 to the Rotax 916-powered Nomad. We get into how the Nomad came to be (including the Trent Palmer connecti...
Erin & Paul built a Bearhawk 5 and are flying it to all 50 States
Erin and Paul flew their Bearhawk 5 named "Tina" to Peach State Aerodrome to drop in and record an episode! It was epic, and unfortunately I had to edit out the multiple fly-bys that interrupted the recording...haha. But in this episode w...
Justin Meaders 3-Time Formula One Champion to National STOL
Most people know Justin Meaders for the incredible story of returning to flight after the motorcycle accident that left him paraplegic. That story has been told well—including on Pilot to Pilot—so we took a different approach. In this ...
Meet the Host: JB gets interviewed by Ryan Dembroski
Season 4 kicks off with a bit of a role reversal...in response to your comments I decided to do a "meet the host" episode" and instead of me just talking to myself, I invited Ryan Dembroski back to the podcast (only 3-time voice on the pod).&nb...
Dave Rowe CRASHED the FREEDOM FOX...the whole story
This episode follows up on Dave's recent YouTube video where he chronicles his crash in Hells Canyon last summer. I recommend starting with Dave's video, then returning here for the background story. We also talk about Spring plans into S...
Jackie Burch flew her Taylorcraft to Alaska & the CubCrafters NX Cub to Oshkosh
Jackie Burch has been a longtime supporter of the podcast and connected me with a lot of the guests I've interviewed. I finally convinced her to come on the podcast and talk about her aviation story and how she got started. This is ...
National STOL & eSTOL 2026 Events with Cam Walton & Ryan Dembroski
This episode is with the voices of National STOL Cam and Ryan. We talk about what they've been up to since the last episode, the 2026 National STOL calendar, and then dive DEEP into eSTOL. You'll love this episode because the energy...
Lukasz Czepiela lands the Red Bull Carbon Cub ANYWHERE
This episode is a really fun look at what the Carbon Cub platform is capable of in extreme cases with a professional aerobatics champion at the controls. Do NOT try this at home...professional pilot at work. Luke talks about the mod...
Tanmoy Ganguly feeds Michigan RAF Volunteers at North Fox Island
Tanmoy, or Tan, is one of the RAF's state liaisons for Michigan. He's known as the guy who feeds the crowds of volunteers who show up and work at airstrip work parties. Many a volunteer has asked if he's bringing the kabobs! Tan's i...
Dave Wyckoff talks Kansas Backcountry and Arkansas Adventures
Dave Wyckoff from Kansas started a YouTube channel to meet backcountry pilots in Kansas and beyond! That endeavor has created a local community that builds local strips, host events, and exports beyond the state. His proximity to opportun...
Matt Dearden is "Flying from Shangri-La" which is also the "Worst Place to be a Pilot"
This episode is with with Matt Dearden, a UK-based pilot who was featured in the UK TV program titled "Worst Place to be a Pilot" that followed the adventures of UK pilots building flight time with Susie Air in Indonesia. Matt later wrote a boo...
Rusty Coonfield, ArkanSTOL origins, and how to tackle the Fly Oz network
This episode is pure Arkansas from one of the pilots who knows the network and builds events to highlight the state's backcountry beauty. Rusty Coonfield is an Arkansas pilot that helped build the ArkanSTOL event at Byrd's Adventure Center.&nbs...
Tres Clinton of C3 AIR talks Texas Backcountry Flying
This episode is with Tres Clinton from Burnet, Texas and C3 Air. Tres teaches a wide range of aviation students but loves to teach backcountry flying in tailwheel aircraft and float planes. He has some amazing stories and insight in...
Anitra Goddard is the STOL Queen + Sun'n Fun Bushwheel Basecamp PRO TIPS
Kicking off Season 3 is my conversation with Anitra Goddard from the Sun'n Fun Team. She's affectionately known in the community as the STOL Queen. She's pioneered the Bushwheel Basecamp and has everything to do with STOL events far...
Cayla McLeod explores Idaho and re-invents Plane & Pilot
This episode is with Cayla McLeod, the editor-in-chief of Plane & Pilot magazine. We talk about her aviation start with what is now called the Ron Alexander Youth Aviation Program, where kids earn flight hours working on vintage aircr...
Al Clayton, The RAF, and an airstrip at CHILDS GLACIER
This week I talk to Al Clayton, the Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF) State Liaison for the State of Alaska, who spearheaded the efforts to create the airstrip at Childs Glacier. This is an amazing story of how the RAF coordinates ef...
Voices of National STOL, Ryan Dembroski and Cam Walton
In this crazy episode I talk to the voices of the National STOL series, Ryan and Cam. They bring their announcer energy to the podcast world and talk about the events, their favorite aircraft (J-3 or Champ?) and how they got into the anno...
Phillip Sneed, COMPLETE GUIDE to Fly Oz and the Arkansas Backcountry
This episode is with the Director of Fly Oz, Philip Sneed. We talk everything that makes up the Fly Oz community from airstrips, social gatherings, and airplane services. Before you head to Arkansas you'll want to listen to this dis...
Matt Williams (Chaos Cub), Bear Attacks and the Art of Duct Tape Field Repairs
This week Matt Williams joins the podcast to talk about his bear encounter in Alaska. After watching his YouTube recap of the bear attack on his Super Cub I knew he'd be a great guest and I wanted to hear more about it. This is a gr...
