"There I was..." An Aviation Podcast
70 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 109 ratingsThere I was…, presented by the AOPA Air Safety Institute, invites you into the cockpit with pilots across the aviation community. We fly with them as they encounter unpredictable scenarios and we learn from the knowledge and skills they utilize to fly safely out of them. This podcast honors the tradition and heritage in aviation to leverage “hangar flying” as an avenue to pass along knowledge and experience.
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Episodes
Episode 69: Unexpected Fuel Consumption
March 11, 2024 16:53 - 34 minutesCFI Bill Tomkovic takes a Cessna 172 flight for the purpose of breaking in a new engine. In an effort to complete the break-in faster, Bill opts to fly longer than he originally intended. Unfortunately, the airplane’s fuel consumption is higher than he expects.
Episode 68: Engine Failure in the Pattern
February 20, 2024 16:37 - 31 minutesStudent pilot Bradley Riedle was performing touch and goes with his instructor when they experienced an engine failure in their Cherokee 140. Bradley discusses the aftermath of the event, including a hard landing that resulted in aircraft damage and a back injury, as well as some unexpected anxiety during his first flight after the accident.
Episode 67: Stabilator Malfunction
January 16, 2024 13:40 - 59 minutesRetired airline captain and designated pilot examiner John Blum tells the story of giving a multiengine checkride in a Piper Seneca, when a loud bang from the tail section of the aircraft derailed the flight.
Episode 66: Trouble at Mile Hi - Part 2
December 12, 2023 17:09 - 33 minutesIn part 2 of this 2-part episode, we hear the continuation of a story from a backcountry pilot who was involved in an aircraft accident at Mile Hi airstrip in Idaho. The pilot explains the aftermath of the accident in dealing with the NTSB, the FAA, and his insurance company.
Episode 65: Trouble at Mile Hi - Part 1
October 31, 2023 18:47 - 46 minutesIn part 1 of this 2-part episode, we hear from a backcountry pilot who flew his Carbon Cub into Mile Hi airstrip in Idaho, and upon touchdown realized he was not decelerating as planned.
A Tribute to Richard McSpadden
October 13, 2023 21:19 - 4 minutesA message to our listeners regarding the tragic loss of our host, Richard McSpadden, and an update on the future of the "There I was..." podcast.
Episode 64: Chris and Michael Easton
September 13, 2023 15:30 - 29 minutesFather and son duo Chris and Michael Easton experience a bird strike while flying a Cirrus SR22 from Bedford, MA to New Garden Airport in PA.
Episode 63: Carl Hancock
August 15, 2023 15:11 - 39 minutesCherokee 140 pilot Carl Hancock recalls a go-around near disaster when trying to climb in high density altitude with full flaps.
Episode 62: Lee Trotter
July 18, 2023 13:51 - 43 minutesUtah GA pilot Lee Trotter tells a story from early in his flying experience, when he got mixed up in a thunderstorm.
Episode 61: Bill Fredericks
June 13, 2023 14:40 - 36 minutesWhile flying in instrument conditions at night, Mooney pilot Bill Fredericks wrestles with a faulty autopilot.
Episode 60: Eric Hinson
May 15, 2023 20:05 - 42 minutesEric Hinson, CEO of SIMCOM and former Navy pilot, experienced an engine failure immediately after takeoff in his Bonanza A36, while departing Orlando Sanford International Airport.
Episode 59: Chris Yates and Taylor Hash
April 12, 2023 20:39 - 47 minutesWhen Taylor Hash, a 21-year-old student pilot flying solo, lost her nosewheel on takeoff in a Diamond DA20, an experienced pilot, Chris Yates, witnessed the event and got on the radio to coach Taylor through a safe landing.
Episode 58: Ben Zwebner
March 13, 2023 21:06 - 27 minutes737 First Officer Ben Zwebner tells the story of a tense flight early in his aviation career, while he was working as a flight instructor out of Montgomery County Airpark in Maryland. While flying a photographer over Washington, D.C. in the Flight Restricted Zone (FRZ), Ben experienced an electrical fire in the cockpit of his Cessna 182.
Episode 57: Kerry McCauley - Part 2
February 12, 2023 02:48 - 20 minutesThis episode features part two of our interview with ferry pilot Kerry McCauley. In this story, Kerry flies across Africa near the equator at night, facing thunderstorms, no navaids, and dead-reckoning his way across political boundaries.
Episode 56: John Berman
January 12, 2023 20:02 - 38 minutesOn a cold January evening, pilot John Berman was flying his Velocity XL aircraft from Liberal, KS to Santa Fe, NM when he encountered severe icing.
Episode 55: Bruce Landsberg
January 04, 2023 20:48 - 45 minutesNTSB Vice Chairman (and former senior leader of the AOPA Air Safety Institute) Bruce Landsberg comments on the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX crash findings by Ethiopian authorities who downplayed training and other human factors.
Episode 54: Kerry McCauley
December 05, 2022 15:14 - 27 minutesFerry pilot Kerry McCauley recounts a night flight in a Cessna 210 over the Sahara Desert, en route from Morocco to Ivory Coast, when he lost his alternator.
Episode 53: Ken Urban
November 07, 2022 17:38 - 25 minutesAfter a November afternoon flight with his father in the Boston area, GA pilot Ken Urban has an unwelcome encounter with a deer on short final.
Episode 52: Derick Jones
October 17, 2022 15:13 - 38 minutesNew Hampshire-based pilot Derick Jones was flying his Cessna 172 to Lawrence Municipal Airport in Massachusetts, in IMC conditions, when he experienced a complete electrical failure.
Episode 51: Devin Miller
September 12, 2022 15:46 - 59 minutesGA pilot Devin Miller, first featured on the podcast in 2019, joins us again to talk about a more recent incident – an engine failure while flying a PA-34 Seneca III.
Episode 50: Cody Goodan
August 15, 2022 15:54 - 38 minutesRegional airline pilot Cody Goodan tells the story of an incident he experienced shortly after earning his private pilot’s license as a senior in high school. During a series of touch-and-go’s in a Cessna 172 carrying 3 friends, the combination of weight and density altitude resulted in disaster.
Episode 49: Michael Koury
July 11, 2022 18:53 - 47 minutesMichael Koury tells the story of flying his Cherokee 160, VFR from Sun Valley Airport in Arizona to St. George Regional Airport in Utah. With only 15 miles remaining in his trip, Michael suddenly found himself in blizzard conditions and zero visibility.
Episode 48: Paul Loewenstein and Larry Suter
June 16, 2022 23:28 - 33 minutesOn a November afternoon, pilots Paul Loewenstein and Larry Suter, both members of the Northern California Soaring Association at Byron Airport, took off just a short time apart from each other in separate gliders. While both heading toward nearby Mt. Diablo, the two gliders experienced a mid-air collision.
Episode 47: Trevor Peterson
May 11, 2022 13:55 - 38 minutesDuring a training flight from Camarillo to John Wayne Airport in southern California, CFI Trevor Peterson and his student found themselves dealing with a rough running engine and loss of oil pressure in their 172.
Episode 46: Andrew Edgerton
April 12, 2022 17:49 - 35 minutesAs part of the AOPA Air Safety Institute’s 2022 campaign to eliminate VFR into IMC accidents, this episode features a discussion with helicopter pilot Andrew Edgerton, who inadvertently found himself in instrument conditions while flying an R44 Raven II from Quebec City to Baie-Comeau in Canada.
Episode 45: Drew Ryan and Potomac TRACON
March 16, 2022 15:23 - 58 minutesGA pilot Drew Ryan, along with brothers Eric and David Lomascolo (both air traffic controllers from Potomac TRACON), join us to recount the story of Drew’s flight in a snowstorm while flying from Albany, NY, to Manassas, VA, and the brothers’ help to bring him to safety.
Episode 44: Brian Lenzmeier
February 15, 2022 15:35 - 37 minutesHaving purchased a Cirrus SR22 just a couple of days prior, pilot Brian Lenzmeier departed on a flight from Addison to Waco, TX with an instructor pilot on board. What followed was an engine and avionics failure that resulted in a CAPS (Cirrus Airframe Parachute System) pull over the busy Dallas area.
Episode 43: Russ Jeter
January 19, 2022 14:52 - 32 minutesLiving with the consequences of an aircraft accident is hard. Living with the loss of a son is excruciating. In this episode we take a sobering look at one pilot's personal tragedy, the devastation it wrought, and the lessons all of us can take from it. Warning: This episode involves a fatality. Listener discretion is advised. You can find a video version of this story on the Air Safety Institute's YouTube channel.
Episode 42: Genesah Duffy and Lynn McNorton
December 13, 2021 18:31 - 55 minutesIn this episode, we talk to pilots Lynn McNorton and Genesah Duffy, who had a chance encounter in Tampa Bay just south of Peter O. Knight Airport. After experiencing engine trouble in his Mooney M20M, McNorton was forced to ditch the airplane in the bay just short of Runway 4. Duffy was nearby in an Icon A5 and was able to land in the water to render assistance.
Episode 41: Dario Costa
November 30, 2021 17:28 - 40 minutesIn this special edition of “There I was…”, host Richard McSpadden and AOPA’s Cayla McLeod interview Red Bull Air Race competitor Dario Costa, who debriefs his 44-second flight inside two Turkish highway tunnels, and the painstaking planning and preparation that got him safely through.
Episode 40: Henry Coffeen
November 17, 2021 14:22 - 29 minutesOn a November afternoon a few days before Thanksgiving, GA pilot Henry Coffeen was practicing aerobatic maneuvers when he experienced a fire in the cockpit of his Edge 540.
Episode 39: David Bradley
October 20, 2021 13:57 - 42 minutesDavid Bradley joins us to talk about ferrying a flight of UH-1 “Huey” helicopters from Jefferson City, Missouri down to Ellington Air Force Base during Operation Desert Storm.
Episode 38: Jon Humberd
September 21, 2021 21:20 - 30 minutesWhile flying his experimental Zenith 701 out of his grass airstrip in Tennessee, pilot Jon Humberd has a close call with a quickly approaching storm. To see Jon’s YouTube video of the incident, click here.
Episode 37: Brian Lloyd
August 20, 2021 17:23 - 1 hourIn the summer of 2017, aviator Brian Lloyd began a solo round-the-world flight in his Mooney to commemorate Amelia Earhart’s famous equatorial route 80 years prior. While on a flight leg from New Zealand to American Samoa, Brian experienced an engine failure over the Pacific Ocean.
Episode 36: Thomas Marrow
July 21, 2021 14:55 - 30 minutesWhile flying out of a backcountry airstrip near Johannesburg in South Africa, pilot and YouTube personality Thomas Marrow experienced a prop strike in his Safari Kitplane.
Episode 35: John Lancaster
June 15, 2021 18:10 - 42 minutesFormer Washington Post reporter John Lancaster shares the story of flying across the U.S. in his Flight Design CTLSi light-sport aircraft, for a book he is writing about the 1919 Transcontinental Air Race. While tracing the route flown by pilots in the Air Race 100 years ago, John faced challenges with weather, congested airspace, mountainous terrain, and more. Look for the release of John's book in the next year or two! Note: This interview was recorded in August 2019.
Episode 34: Craig Beles and Truman O'Brien
May 25, 2021 19:05 - 50 minutesOn an IFR flight from Bend, Oregon to Vashon Island, WA, Craig Beles and his friend and CFI Truman O’Brien experienced an engine failure in their PA-28 Cherokee 140. Over vast wilderness with no ideal landing options, the pair are forced to put the aircraft down in the treetops near Mt. St. Helens.
Episode 33: John "Pappy" Mazza
April 21, 2021 15:46 - 41 minutesWarbird pilot and former aircraft racer John “Pappy” Mazza shares an engine failure experience while flying a Grumman FM-2 Wildcat.
Episode 32: Doug Rozendaal
March 24, 2021 13:39 - 41 minutesLongtime GA pilot, warbird trainer and DPE Doug Rozendaal tells us a story about piloting a Beech 18 during his years of flying freight, when he experienced an electrical failure at night in low IMC.
Episode 31: Kelly Keller
February 23, 2021 20:43 - 39 minutesIn this episode, we talk to GA pilot Kelly Keller, who was flying back from a fishing resort in Arkansas with her husband while 7 months pregnant when she experienced an engine failure in a Cessna 172.
Episode 30: Terry Pretzloff
February 17, 2021 18:17 - 44 minutesGA pilot and Cirrus Training Center Instructor Terry Pretzloff tells us about a flight from Chicago Midway to Rochester, Minnesota in a Cirrus SR22. Despite thorough preflight planning, Terry encountered hazardous icing conditions worse than forecast, and he shares with us how he took action to get on the ground safely.
Episode 29: Dennis Martin
January 20, 2021 14:58 - 50 minutesHelicopter pilot Dennis Martin joins us to talk about an incident he had after departing the AOPA Fly-In at Carbondale, IL in 2018. While flying his Enstrom 480B from Carbondale to Chicago Executive Airport, Dennis experienced deteriorating weather conditions and found himself in half-mile visibility.
Episode 28: Doug Stewart
December 15, 2020 14:30 - 37 minutesMaster Certified Flight Instructor, DPE and general aviation icon Doug Stewart joins us to talk about an incident he had in a 1974 Cessna Cardinal at a small New Hampshire airport. While departing the 1,900 foot strip, Doug experienced a loss of power following takeoff, with trees at the end of the runway quickly approaching.
Episode 27: Todd Clark
November 03, 2020 14:18 - 29 minutesIn this episode we talk to Todd Clark, a 700-hour pilot based in beautiful Kalispell, MT. Todd experienced a gear-up landing in his Mooney M20J, and he joins us to talk about the day’s events that led up to the incident.
Episode 26: Mirek Fatyga
October 07, 2020 14:07 - 34 minutesJoin us as we talk to Mirek Fatyga, a commercial-rated pilot based in Phoenix, AZ. Mirek tells the story of piloting a Tecnam light sport aircraft at night, when he flew through a tree while on approach to land at an airport near Richmond, VA.
Episode 25: Loren Kopseng
September 10, 2020 03:06 - 28 minutesIn this episode, we chat with longtime GA pilot Loren Kopseng. Loren experienced an alarming bird strike at night while flying his Aviat Husky out of North Dakota, and he joins us to tell the story. To see photos from Loren's incident, click here.
Episode 24: Jon Gandy
August 25, 2020 16:08 - 48 minutesIf you've called AOPA’s Pilot Information Center, you’ll recognize this episode's guest: pilot and AOPA employee Jon Gandy. As an Aviation Technical Specialist from the PIC, Jon brings a wealth of knowledge, and shares a story in which he experienced a partial engine failure in a PA-31 Piper Navajo, which created a distraction and caused an inadvertent gear-up landing.
Episode 23: Robert Clark
July 28, 2020 16:01 - 44 minutesVFR into IMC continues to be a leading cause of fatal accidents in general aviation. In this episode, we talk to a pilot who was fortunate enough to escape from this highly dangerous scenario. Robert Clark recounts the story of flying his Dyke Delta aircraft through unexpected instrument conditions - at night, during an electrical failure.
Episode 22: Mark Murphy
June 18, 2020 17:04 - 33 minutesOver the past 33 years of flying - including aerobatics in the P-51 Mustang, T-6 Texan, Japanese Zero, and F4U Corsair - pilot Mark Murphy has accumulated his share of stories. He joins us to talk about one such story - an unexpected flat spin in a Christen Eagle.
Episode 21: Thomas Middleditch
May 21, 2020 13:31 - 37 minutesJoin us for a special episode as we chat with actor, comedian, screenwriter and general aviation pilot Thomas Middleditch about his flying adventures, including a time where a trip to Monument Valley (UT25) didn’t go as planned. To see the video version of this podcast, click here.