Flight Tales

About Flight Tales

Ryan Owens, Owner and flight instructor at Owens Flight training interviews other pilots, co-workers, students, air traffic controllers, and talks about everything aviation in these fun and sometimes informative episodes of Flight Tales.

Publisher

Ryan Owens

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

20 Jan 2024

Latest episode

8 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

99 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   8 Oct 2026

   Are You Making These Checkride Mistakes? DPE Explains

   What are the most common mistakes pilots make during their checkrides, and how can you avoid making them yourself?In this episode of Flight Tales, we sit down with Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) Peyton Enloe to discuss the mistakes, habits, and misunderstandings that can get pilots into trouble during a checkride.We talk about the difference between memorizing information and actually understanding it, how examiners evaluate applicants, and why being able to perform a maneuver isn't always the same as demonstrating good judgment.We also get into some of the biggest challenges student pilots face, including crosswind takeoffs and landings, knowing when to go around, maintaining control during stall recovery, using checklists correctly, and communicating at towered and non-towered airports.For instrument pilots, we discuss GPS, G1000 avionics, autopilot usage, and the dangers of becoming so focused on programming your equipment that you forget to fly the airplane. We also talk about what happens when automation doesn't do what you expect and why pilots need to be proficient both with and without it.Whether you're preparing for your Private Pilot checkride, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot certificate, or just looking to improve your flying skills, this episode offers practical lessons from an examiner's perspective.Our mission at Owens Flight Training is to help you become a safe, knowledgeable, and confident pilot.Owens Flight Training is a flight school based in Lafayette, Louisiana.www.owensflighttraining.comFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/owensflighttrainingInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/owensflighttraining

2. 

   1 Oct 2026

   Cessna 172 System Failures: Would You Know What to Do?

   How well do you actually understand the systems in a Cessna 172?It’s one thing to memorize aircraft systems for your checkride. It’s another thing to recognize what’s happening when something stops working in the airplane.In this episode of Flight Tales, we’re doing things a little differently. Fernando gives Ryan a series of Cessna 172 systems scenarios, and Ryan has to figure out what could be happening, how he would recognize the problem, and what he would do next.We work through problems involving the ignition system, magnetos and spark plugs, rough-running engines, oil pressure and temperature, fuel systems, alternator failures, batteries, circuit breakers, pitot-static instruments, carbon monoxide, cabin heat, and flap failures.We also get into what happens when an alternator fails at night, why the engine can keep running after an electrical failure, what different pitot-static blockages can look like on your instruments, and how understanding your airplane’s systems can help you decide whether you have a problem you can manage—or whether it’s time to get the airplane on the ground.Knowing aircraft systems isn’t just about being able to draw a diagram or answer a DPE’s question. Understanding how the airplane works helps you make better decisions when something doesn’t work.If you’re a student pilot, private pilot, CFI, or preparing for a checkride, use these scenarios to test how well you actually know the airplane you’re flying.Our mission at Owens Flight Training is to help you become a safe, knowledgeable, and confident pilot.Owens Flight Training is a flight school based in Lafayette, Louisiana.www.owensflighttraining.comFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/owensflighttrainingInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/owensflighttraining

3. 

   24 Sept 2026

   Pilot Proficiency Examiner (PPE): What 50+ Years of Flying Teaches You

   What does it really mean to stay ahead of the airplane?In this episode of Flight Tales, we sit down with Jeff Brevelle, whose aviation career began right here in Lafayette in 1970 and has taken him through an incredible range of flying, instructing, maintenance, airline operations, and aircraft.Jeff has flown everything from floatplanes, helicopters, King Airs and Citations to Saab 340s, 727s, 737s, MD-11s and DC-3s. Along the way, he’s spent decades teaching, training, checking, and learning what separates simply being able to fly an airplane from actually managing it.We talk about why pilots get behind the airplane, energy management, planning descents and approaches, situational awareness, automation dependency, instrument flying, understanding aircraft systems, and why simply following the magenta line isn't enough. Jeff explains how experienced pilots are thinking miles ahead of where the airplane currently is—and why that skill matters whether you're flying a Cessna 172 or a transport-category jet.We also get into the importance of understanding why the airplane does what it does. Jeff shares why students should understand the systems underneath the cowling instead of simply memorizing what a control does, and why instructors need to adapt their teaching to the individual student.Later in the episode, we dig into advanced pilot topics including energy management, stabilized approaches, workload management, automation, situational awareness, and knowing when it's time to stop trying to salvage an approach and go around.Jeff's biggest lesson after more than five decades in aviation comes back to planning and knowledge: know what you're going to do, know where you need to be, and have another plan ready when things don't happen the way you expected.Whether you're a student pilot, instrument student, CFI, commercial pilot, or experienced aviator, there's something to take away from this conversation.Our mission at Owens Flight Training is to help you become a safe, knowledgeable, and confident pilot.Owens Flight Training is a flight school based in Lafayette, Louisiana.www.owensflighttraining.comFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/owensflighttrainingInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/owensflighttraining

Who has been a guest on Flight Tales

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Mitchell Walsh
• Chris
• Chaun Kraus

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

Spotify

4.4 / 5

7 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 45 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

60

Social presence

91

YouTube

0

Engagement

32

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