On February 20, 2008, Colonel Cinco Hamilton had a life-changing experience. While dog fighting with another pilot over the Gulf of Mexico, Cinco realized that something was off. But by that point it was too late. The planes were 1,500 feet away from each other, and there was nothing he could do to avoid a midair collision. He ejected himself from the plane and fell into the ocean, mistakenly detaching his emergency seat kit along the way. After floating in the water for over three hours with nothing but a life preserver, Cinco was miraculously rescued by a small fishing boat. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for his wingman, who died on impact.

“I have yet to have that perfect flight. I’m striving for it, but I’ve never had an absolutely perfect flight,” says Combat Learjet, a retired pilot for the Air Force and Air National Guard. Despite having almost 30 combined years of flying experience in addition to running an aviation Instagram account (@combat_learjet) with almost 1 million followers, Combat Learjet still speaks to the importance of never becoming complacent and always working to learn more about his craft

“I would like to land at all the Class Bravo airports in the lower forty-eight,” says Martin Pauly, Bonanza pilot and Youtuber who focuses on instructional videos for pilots and aviation enthusiasts. Martin started his flying career on a glider in Germany in 1985, when he was only 14 years old. He talks with host Mehrdad Zarifkar about some of his most popular videos, and what brought him to his internet-famous Bonanza N70TB.

When we say Top Gun, you probably think Tom Cruise. But in this episode of Deviation Approved, we’re talking with a real Top Gun, Gary Black, who has spent decades flying planes as both a civilian and naval pilot. Gary talks with host Mehrdad Zarifkar about his life as a Top Gun, buying planes with his wife of forty years, what he learned attending the funerals of his friends and colleagues who died in aviation accidents, and much more.