Episode 01: Hello!

In this episode of the Path to Pilot podcast, hosts Trevor and April Zawlocki share their journey into aviation, discussing their early experiences, discovery flights, and the transition to private pilot training. They reflect on the excitement and challenges of learning to fly, including overcoming initial nerves and the joy of flying together as a family.

Transcript

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April Zawlocki (00:12)
Welcome to the Path to Pilot podcast with your hosts, Trevor Zawlocki and April Zawlocki. Today on the podcast, we're going to tell you a little bit about why we're starting this podcast about becoming a commercial pilot. I am one of your hosts, April Zawlocki, and I'm the mom. Trevor Zawlocki, and I'm currently an instrument -rated pilot working on his commercial ratings. So as you can see,

TMAN (00:30)
I'm the other host, Trevor Zawlocki, I'm currently an instrument -rated private pilot working on his commercial rating.

April Zawlocki (00:40)
We have been on this journey for a little while now. It's actually been about three years or so, two or three years since Trevor started his pursuit of his commercial license. And when we started this journey, it was a bit of a shock as to how much both Trevor and I needed to know about the process in order to help him be successful.

I know that I got on Facebook groups and did a lot of Googling to try to figure things out. And part of what we're doing with this podcast is kind of helping you do that without having to struggle through it yourself.

TMAN (01:19)
So you might be asking yourself how we got started on this journey of becoming a commercial pilot. Well, in 2018, my mom signed me up for a Young Eagles flight, and I was taken up in a 172 and made a short circuit near the airport. And about two, three years ago, my mom took me and my sisters on a business trip to California, where we stayed there for a week. During our time in California, she also decided to take us to the USS Midway.

April Zawlocki (01:19)
asking herself how we got started on this journey of becoming a commercial pilot. in 2018 my mom signed me up for a Young Eagles flight and I was taken up in a 172 and made a short circuit near the airport and about two three years ago my mom took me and my sisters on a business trip to California where we stayed there for a week. During our time in California she also decided to take us to the USS Midway where she thought we might be standing there for one two

TMAN (01:46)
where she thought we might be staying there for one, two, three hours, we ended up staying from opening to closing.

April Zawlocki (01:49)
That's no joke. Trevor, can I just tell you that that really is the truth? I thought that we would be there for no more than an hour or two and when you were like

TMAN (01:55)
We saw, or I saw, every inch of the shift from the bottom to the top to the deck. It was amazing. And I really loved the airplanes that they had on display.

and when you survive, no...

April Zawlocki (02:17)
no, I want to see this plane and I want to see that plane and talking to the docents and asking them questions and just loving every minute of being there. I knew that you were hooked then and your sisters and I had to go to the the gift shop and the restaurant and try to kill a bunch of time while you were exploring the planes. It was awesome.

TMAN (02:42)
I kind of felt bad for my sisters because they are definitely not into the same topics that I am in. But I loved the deck of the aircraft carrier, especially just because of all the aircraft they had a A4, they had I believe an F4 Phantom, they had a couple radar aircraft, they had.

April Zawlocki (02:43)
sisters because they are definitely not into the same topics that I am in.

the aircraft carrier especially just because of all the aircraft they had a A4, they had

They had a couple radar aircraft. had... So Trevor, for those of us that are not familiar with those kinds of terms, are they big planes, little planes, military planes? What are they? They're all military planes. They range in size. Think of a...

TMAN (03:11)
They're all military planes. range in size. Think of a common F -16. They range from about that size to around a Boeing 737. All depends on what type of aircraft it is. Then moving off from Midway, maybe a couple months later, my mom has signed me up for another Young Eagles flight.

April Zawlocki (03:18)
They range from about that size to...

737. All depends on what type of aircraft it is. Then moving up from Midway, maybe a couple months later, I'm on a SOMIA for another young Eagle's Wife, and this one was at a Royal British Boy Airport, and it was absolutely packed. I am now part of that EAA Traptor, Traptor 579, and

TMAN (03:39)
And this one was at a Roar municipal airport and it was absolutely packed. I am now part of that EAA chapter, chapter 579. And I was taken up and once again, just a short circuit around the airport. And I got out and I was literally jumping with joy that my mom signed me up for a discovery flight with this flight school called Simply Fly, which was just east of the.

April Zawlocki (03:51)
I was taken out and once again just a short circle around the airport and I got out and I was literally joked with joy. My mom signed me up for a Discovery flight with this flight school called Simply Fly which was just east of the place where we did this Discovery flight. I got to be one -on -one with an instructor on a light sport aircraft so it's very, very small single engine.

TMAN (04:08)
place where we did this discovery flight. I got to be one -on -one with an instructor on a light sport aircraft. So it's very, very small, a single engine prop and two seats. We were barely able to hold enough fuel to keep us in the air for a couple hours, maybe two hours at the most. And he allowed me, the instructor allowed me to.

April Zawlocki (04:21)
and two seats. We were very able to hold enough fuel to keep us in the air for a couple hours, maybe two hours at most. And he allowed me, the instructor allowed me to fly the plane by myself. I got to control the yoke, the throttle, and all the controls on the aircraft. He let me do some turns, climbs. I was kind of sad though. He let me take off their land. He did those.

TMAN (04:36)
fly the plane by myself. I got to control the yoke, the throttle, and all the controls on the aircraft. He let me do some turns, climbs. I was kind of sad though. He didn't let me take off for land. He did those. But it was, I call that, or I say that that is my turning point in my career.

April Zawlocki (04:52)
But was, I called that right, saying that it's my turning point in my career. When you had that discovery flight with Simply Fly. Now, something that I actually didn't realize until very recently, now a couple of years later, was that you actually didn't feel well after that flight. Yeah. Speaking of that Mike Sport aircraft, I don't know what it

TMAN (05:03)
Correct.

Yeah, taking off of that light sport aircraft, I don't know what it was, but I actually kind of felt sick to my stomach. But as soon as I got up to altitude, I, my mind cleared completely and I was just having a blast and I wanted to continue doing it even though I kind of felt sick taking off. was a one -time deal. However, any other time that I went up, I didn't feel that way. I, any other of the times.

April Zawlocki (05:18)
I actually kind of felt sick to my stomach, but as soon as I got up to altitude, my mind cleared completely and I was just having a rest.

That wasn't what I needed, however, any other time I went in, I didn't feel uprooted. Any other time. So I really loved it, it was just marvelous.

TMAN (05:40)
So I really don't know what it was. Maybe it was just nerves. I just got off another airplane and I think I was just, I chalk it up to nervousness. Absolutely. Even if you get air sickness, I know of someone or a lot of pilots actually who have had a experience with air sickness.

April Zawlocki (05:46)
And I think that was just hydroxychloroquine nervousness. That's fair. That's fair. So people who maybe don't feel well, I mean, there's hope for them. Absolutely. If you get a tear sickness, I know...

who have had a...

experience with air sickness, but after you get exposed to aircraft, smaller aircraft, air sickness.

TMAN (06:08)
But after you get exposed to aircraft and smaller aircraft, their sickness normally goes away.

April Zawlocki (06:15)
So Trevor, I think it's fair to say after that then like you said, that was kind of your turning point in your wanting to become a pilot. And then I have to say from the parent perspective, that was the turning point of me really being freaked out because that was you were at the time, I think when you signed up for your private pilot, you were 16.

TMAN (06:36)
And after that you start to have a private life, training, and so it's scary, you know, and I mean, I'm freaking out because you...

April Zawlocki (06:36)
And yet soon after you had just gotten your driver's license or on, you know, on your birthday in May. And then soon after that, you started your private pilot training. And so as a parent, you know, I'm led at, I mean, I'm already freaking out because you are driving places, let alone having you fly places. My mind was completely blown. And I will say that I had not encountered any other parents who had pilot.

TMAN (07:02)
any other parents who had children. so I really...

April Zawlocki (07:05)
children and so I really had a hard time wrapping my head around all of this. So we'll share some of those stories like from my perspective and your perspective on this podcast. So real quick before we end this initial episode, do you want to just go through a little bit of like some of the topics that we are going to talk about this or on this season of the podcast? What are some things you want to talk about?

TMAN (07:11)
So we'll share some of those stories from your perspective on this time. So real quick before we end this.

Do you want to?

Yeah, so as I kind of went over how I kind of got in got into flight. And I will go over my current path what I'm currently doing right now what I like flying visual versus instrument so flying out of the clouds or in the clouds. Oshkosh I went to Oshkosh a couple times already and it's a blast I will talk be talked about my experiences there.

I'll be talking about flying people around, flying the Chicago skyline, my favorite place to go flying. What my future plans are. Why I didn't go into the military. The differences between civil and military aviation. My flight jobs. How to pick a good CFI and what I like and what I dislike about flying.

April Zawlocki (08:08)
favorite place.

the difference between civil rights

Excellent. So those all sound like awesome topics. So I hope that everyone that's listening today will share this podcast with anyone who might be interested from either a parent or a student perspective on becoming a pilot. And we look forward to seeing you in the next episode.

TMAN (08:30)
I hope that today you will share this.