Straighten Up and Fly Right Podcast

Episoade

• If You’re Not Making a Million, Don’t Talk About It 23.06.2026 1h 1min

  The speaker argues that if someone wants to pursue certain ambitions, they need to be earning a million dollars a year by high school (9th–12th grade), otherwise they are not doing it right and are just saying things to appease others. He recalls that at that age he wanted to fly fighter jets like an F-14 pilot after repeatedly watching Top Gun, along with Full Metal Jacket and Platoon. After arriving at the Naval Academy, he learned about Jim Gday, the first Navy SEAL to graduate from the Ac...
• From Air Force Acquisitions to Airline Pilot: TC’s Career Change, Flight Training Lessons & Leadership 08.06.2026 50min

  TC shares how he went from a military-brat upbringing and a failed plan to play football into Air Force ROTC at UTSA, ultimately becoming an acquisitions officer—work he describes as broad “cradle to grave” program management with lots of paperwork, meetings, and long timelines. Around the 10-year mark and facing career-pressure options he didn’t want, he began flight training as a hobby in Los Angeles, researched the airline shortage, and chose to separate in 2019 with his wife’s support des...
• U-2 Pilot Chris Duckett: From F-16 Poster to 737 Captain 08.06.2026 45min

  Kenny T interviews Chris Duckett, a pilot from Louisiana who trained at Louisiana Tech, joined the Air Force, and flew C-130s, the M-28 Skytruck, PC-12s, Cessna 208s, and ultimately the U-2 Dragon Lady before retiring and becoming a United Airlines 737 captain. Duckett explains how seeing an F-16 poster led him to join ROTC, credits mentor CMSgt Edward Fowler for instilling discipline, and shares why he loves general aviation, including owning a Piper Comanche 250 and building an RV-8. He con...
• Eyes Above the Horizon: How Legacy Flight Academy Introduces Underserved Youth to Aviation 08.06.2026 17min

  Legacy Flight Academy’s Eyes Above the Horizon is a free, full-day aviation experience for underserved youth ages 11–19 that turns exposure into real opportunity through hands-on STEM learning, mentorship, leadership development, and the history and legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen. Students rotate through stations covering aerodynamics, weather, and aircraft systems, participate in teamwork and trust-building exercises tied to real-world aviation and the Red Tails’ WWII escort legacy, and explo...