Welcome to Behind the Prop. Our hosts introduce the show and share their vision for episodes to come.
This week you meet our hosts Bobby Doss and Wally Mulhearn. Both are based in Houston and often spend time behind the prop. Wally is a pilot for a major airline and designated pilot examiner (DPE) with over 400 check rides administered. Bobby owns a large flight school in Houston that trains Part 61, Part 141, and is an affiliate with Liberty University. Both share their passion for giving back and why they are investing in this Podcast. Subscribe wherever you listen to Podcasts!
Intro:
Welcome to behind the prop podcast where each week we will bring you stories, lessons, and some tips from behind the prompt, please subscribe wherever you are.
Intro:
This show checklist, microphones. Check out, check, complete recording. All channels checked and verified. Pre-Show checklist, complete power. Bravo, tango. Papa is holding short. Ready for departure, grandpa tango, Papa. You are clear for takeoff half a great show. You're clear for take off at a Wilco. Bravo, tango, Papa.
Bobby & Wally:
What's up Wally. Hey Bobby, how are you? I'm good. This is something we've talked about maybe three or four weeks ago and it's coming to life. This is the podcast called behind the prop two guys who've spent a lot of time behind a prop. How many hours do you think you've spent behind the prop? Well you know, I haven't broken down my hours by prop and jet, but I'm close to 24,000 hours in an airplane. I'm guessing I have no idea how many of you are behind the prop, but wow. A lot of times the cells and days in the air that is, that is, and I've never worked a day doing it. I'm so fortunate, so blessed to be able to do this for a living. I, I'm an airplane geek when I'm not flying for you know the airline maybe doing check rides, but I'm home.
Bobby & Wally:
I'm reading about it. I'm researching I'm learning and I'm just an airplane geek. So this is episode zero. We'd like to introduce everybody kind of to the show's concept and what we plan to do. My name's Bobby Doss. I am a flight school owner in Houston, Texas. We have a fleet of 13 aircraft and we teach people how to get their pilot's license. Hopefully if you're listening to the show, you're at some stage of your training. And if you want to learn more about my flight school, you can go check it out. It's unitedflight.com and then you are, my name is while I'm all her and I am a airline pilot for a major U S airline here in Houston, Texas. I'm also a designated pilot examiner. I've been an examiner for about four years here in the Houston area.
Bobby & Wally:
And I'm just very active in the general aviation community. And I just want to do my best to give them back to the the general aviation community or the, the aviation community, I should say. Yeah, so we had a few conversations. You've taught some of our courses at our flight school here. We do some free courses in the evening. You're actually doing one tonight. We're going to announce the podcast and share with people, but we've both mutually thought a lot about giving back to GA and aviation in general, we met when you administered my instrument check ride. I don't know if you probably don't remember, like I do course, but it
Bobby & Wally:
Was the calmest day ever for, for an instrument tech ride that was actually calm at all the airports we talked about going to, so it was pretty, pretty easy day for a guy who had to do a check ride, but not everybody's comfortable on the check ride. This podcast is going to be a lot of stories and lessons from behind the prop. We're going to share some tips and tricks. Why we I'm assuming you're pretty busy, man, family work, everything else. Why would you spend this time doing a podcast when we're neither one making any money doing well? I just,
Bobby & Wally:
I just want to give back. Aviation has been so good to me. My father was a pilot. Obviously I'm a pilot, both my daughters are pursuing aviation as a as a career. And it's, it's when I told my father I wanted to get into aviation back when I was in college. His comment was it sure. Beats working for a living. And I feel the same way. I feel like I've never really worked a day in my life. I, I just enjoy it so much. And it's been so good to me. I just want to do my best to encourage people and if I can help them along the way I'd like to do that.
Bobby & Wally:
So we've talked about a lot of show ideas, and if you're listening to this, please don't hesitate to give us your ideas. We'll, we'll give you a way to get that information to us before the show's over, but we think we're going to share a number of different types of podcast shows. We've talked about. We'll tell some stories. We've got a good story coming up in one of our first few episodes about an experience that I had on this airport where I probably should have lost my life, but I didn't. Thank God. And you're going to tell some stories of, I guess, all the mistakes you've ever seen on a checker hide, that might be more than one episode. But we do hope that you tune in probably on a weekly basis as our plan to, to put the show out. And we want to make sure we're both giving back to, to the general aviation community, but aviation in general, from hot topics to news that might come out to things that we think are just going to do you good in the cockpit and behind the prop, while you do a lot of things outside of your corporate world, job of aviation, what are the, some of the things you do outside of your airline job?
Bobby & Wally:
Well,
Bobby & Wally:
Besides the airline, I, I volunteer for an organization called pilots for patients, which is a, an organization based in my hometown of Monroe, Louisiana, while actually Houston is my hometown now, but I grew up in Monroe, Louisiana, and it's pilots for patients is just what it says. It's, it's a organization that flies people around that need, need transportation for medical treatment. And so the majority of the patients that I fly, or between Monroe and Houston, Texas, and the vast majority of them are coming down to MD Anderson for cancer. So it's, it's a total volunteer organization. I donate my time. I donate the airplane, the fuel, everything and I don't get any monetary compensation for it. But the, the compensation I do get for it is just the feeling of being able to help someone who, who is in need of, of transportation, no medical treatment. So it's extremely fulfilling. I always, at the end of the flight, I always thank my patients and they look at me like, well, no, we should be thanking you. And I said, no, I got, I got a lot more out of this than you did. So just something that's very near and dear to my heart and something that I want to keep on doing
Bobby & Wally:
Something. I'm sure the listeners and pilots will be very interested in is the fact that you are a designated pilot examiner, just a few statistics check rides, different States, you've done them. And it's something fun for the listeners to learn about your DPE world in life.
Bobby & Wally:
I I'm at about 400 check rides. I have done, I have been a DP for just under four years. I consider myself one of the new guys in Houston. We've got, we've got examiners here in Houston that have been doing it for 30, 35 years and have thousands of check rides given. So me that I've only been doing it for four years, a little bit less than four years. I still consider myself a new guy, but most of the check rides are, have been done right here in Houston. I would say out of those 400 the vast majority, probably 80% of them have been done right here at this airport, hooks airport. As of now, I'm authorized to do private commercial single engine and multi-engine and instrument, airplane check rides.
Bobby & Wally:
Nice. And for me I've had a previous life where I was in tech sales, did a lot at big companies like Microsoft, Dell. I've worked in and sold technology. Most of my adult life and stumbled across aviation, not, not on a whim. I always wanted to do it and just had a a wife that wouldn't allow me to do it. My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer and she changed her mind, said we'll live our lives the way we want to live them. And I'm not going to be scared anymore. And she reminds me almost daily that she told me I could fly not by a flight school, but I think she likes it. I know I like it and have left my day jobs of, of selling tech for the most part, still dabble here and there.
Bobby & Wally:
But for the most part have left that career for a three minute drive to work in the, a day in an office where I hear planes starting go every day and love what I do. It's got its good days. It's got its bad days, but I've been a lot more good days than bad. And I am always learning. I, I don't think I ever imagined having 400 hours which is about where I'm at and to hear say you've had 400 check rides. I'm thinking you've done more checkride flight time than I have in my log book, but both of us have different experiences, but a lot of it's in general aviation. And I've, I've probably got more pilots stories than the average pilot with 400 hours because every day I've got 14 aircraft in a simulator that are up doing something.
Bobby & Wally:
I've seen a lot of crazy things from bird strikes to planes that had flats in remote locations to all kinds of stories will tell on the show, but general aviation and I would say vacation in general, isn't cheap and it's not for the faint at heart. I say the only thing that's cheap in general aviation is renter's insurance. Other than that, everything's expensive. What are some of the stories at a high level that you hope to share with the listeners and what kind of show ideas do you think we'll, we'll pass on to our, to our show?
Bobby & Wally:
I, I hope to
Bobby & Wally:
Hopefully, hopefully
Bobby & Wally:
Some people out with you know, their, their fears about check rides you know, as an examiner, I'm, I'm just a guy I put put on my pants in the morning, just like everybody else. And I certainly hope I'm the biggest cheerleader of, of the applicant I want the applicant to do really well. I joke now with, especially with instrument check rides, I tell him the best compliment that I can give you on an instrument check ride is boy, that was a really boring check ride. Because you know, it's, it's not like a private or commercial where you're doing a lot of maneuvers and there's a lot of interaction. The instrument check ride is there's a lot of approaches and we're dealing with ATC. So really I'm just sitting over there being quiet. So you know again a boring check ride is a good check ride. So you know, I'm the biggest cheerleader and, and I'm I'm, I feel so honored that the applicant has, let me be a part of this very important day for him, because any check ride is really important. Whether it be private commercial or multi-engine or whatever, it's, it's a, it's a big deal and a big day for all of us. And it's, it's really, it's really rewarding to get to be a part of that.
Bobby & Wally:
So we'll, we'll help with check rods. We're going to tell again, stories before we started recording today. You told one that we'll say for a future of, so, but you, you very clearly remember your solo day. I remember my solo day we'll we'll hopefully get the chance to interview some students right out of the aircraft on their first solo and share some of that excitement with our listeners. One of the advantages we have of sitting at a flight school with it, solos, a lot of students maybe some people right off check ride with other DPS, or maybe even with you and, and, and learn something from that. But we also plan to give some tips and tricks, maybe how to prepare, how to nail the check ride day, how to just act like a professional pilot maybe before you become a professional pilot.
Bobby & Wally:
We, we sit at an airport called David Wayne hooks here in Houston, just on the North side of Houston. We're actually in a little town called spring, but probably in the top five for runway incursions for the FAA it's very unique airport. There's some videos we'll share with you guys on the podcast as well about this airport, but very busy airport, lots of stories to tell about things that have happened amongst three runways at a private, but FAA, towered airport, including a water runway, a short runway in a big jet runway, lots of unique things going on here, for sure. As we wrap up episode zero telling everybody about the show while who do you think should listen to us? Who do you think should come back and hear more over the next few weeks, months, and maybe even years,
Bobby & Wally:
I'm just going to say airplane geeks. And then top of the list if you professional pilot student pilot want to be pilot, aspiring pilot spouse of a pilot. I think I hope that we have something offer for everybody.
Bobby & Wally:
No doubt. And as you said, airplane geeks, I know you already mentioned it, but I did think, you know, one of the things we've talked about is sharing how some of the systems work in an aircraft, right? If you, if you don't know everything about the aircraft, we don't either, but we're going to do some homework. And we might know a little something about how the fuel system works. The electric system, the prop, the Magneto, all those things. We're going to share some of those tips and tricks and how you should be approaching the aircraft as you get ready to take off in your own career. I hope to share ways that people can save money on their training while I'm in the business of running a flight school. I think I see people make big mistakes. I hear people come in with these ideas.
Bobby & Wally:
They've been told other places like don't ever fly until you take your written exam. I think that's the worst advice ever. And, and while he's rolling his eyes in agreement with me, but I hear it almost every week and it takes me a few seconds to talk people out of that. So not just that tip and trick from, from how to become a better pilot, but maybe the books and the things that you can download on the internet for free to Sims building your own home Sam to save time, especially when you're working on your instrument and on and on and on what we're going to share a lot of things to help you with your training. And I think one thing that's going to differentiate us from all the other podcasts that are out there, right? We're not selling anything. Neither one of us are trying to sell you our ground school or anything that we're trying to monetize. We just want to give back to the aviation community. We want to hear your show ideas, please don't hesitate to send those to us. You can send those to us by sending me an email Bobby at behind the prop com. And we will incorporate those and put them on the list and we'll have some good shows. Anything to say while we wrap up. No. All right. Thanks for listening. And until next week, we'll be behind the prop. Thanks, bye.
Outro:
We are clear the active runway and we'd like to park
Outro:
Bravo, tango, Papa, tack to depart great show. Have a nice day.
Outro:
Thanks you too. Thanks for listening to behind the prop. Please follow us on social media at behind the prompt or visit our website, www.behindtheprofit.com until next week. Fly safe, everyone.