Education

Aviation Masters

Hosted by Mike Busch, Aviation Masters features in-depth conversations with the innovators, engineers, mechanics, and visionaries shaping the future of general aviation.

Each episode dives into how these leaders got their start, what drives their work, and the breakthroughs transforming how we fly, maintain, and think about airplanes.

Tune in for:

✈️ Expert insights from aviation pioneers and industry leaders

✈️ Deep dives into aircraft technology, maintenance, and engineering

✈️ Candid conversations about leadership, innovation, and problem-solving in aviation

✈️ Forward-looking discussions about where general aviation is headed

Subscribe so you never miss a conversation.

Latest Episodes:

Who’s Buying GA? Bill Alderman on Private Equity in General Aviation Nov 06, 2026

Show notes

Private equity now owns your propeller maker and is buying your engine maker. Bill Alderman has spent 25 years on the sell side of aerospace deals, and he says he has never seen this much capital chasing general aviation.

Bill is the founding partner of Alderman & Company, a middle-market M&A firm with more than $2 billion in aerospace and defense transactions, including this year’s sale of Aerox. He is also a longtime Cirrus SR22 owner and a volunteer pilot for PALS SkyHope.

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He and Mike cover what private equity actually wants when it buys a GA supplier, and what Continental’s return to U.S. ownership could mean for owners already watching Hartzell prices. They also discuss whether AI can shrink the cost of STCs and PMAs, and why engine makers still know less about their engines in the field than Savvy does.

If you care where GA is headed: who owns it, who maintains it, and what it’ll cost to keep flying, this episode is for you .

⏱️CHAPTERS

0:44 Introducing Bill Alderman

1:57 New Haven, Apollo, and the astronaut dream

5:12 A private certificate and closed doors to the cockpit

8:04 From a bank job to Kellogg and Wall Street

11:43 GE aerospace deals and a Concorde to Paris

15:16 Starting Alderman & Company, and 9/11

19:11 What an aerospace M&A banker does

22:43 AI, venture capital, and selling mature companies

25:39 The 20M–150M sweet spot

27:27 Private equity vs. venture capital

35:48 Continental returns to U.S. ownership

45:48 Hartzell, captive markets, and parts pricing

57:00 Can AI lower the certification moat?

1:00:27 Why engine OEMs should collect sensor data

1:06:28 Flying the Cirrus: parachute, speed, and handling

1:13:01 Why there’s no national GA maintenance chain

1:16:32 The mechanic shortage and the airline pay gap

1:23:25 Young techs on the floor and the apprentice ruling

1:27:21 Slowing down and flying for PALS SkyHope

1:30:43 Savvy’s data, AI, and the future of work

1:39:34 Wrap-up

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📚 Resources & Links

Alderman & Company - https://www.aldermanco.com/

Find Bill on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamalderman/

Savvy Aviation - https://www.savvyaviation.com/

📍 Subscribe to Aviation Masters for more long-form conversations with the people shaping the future of GA.

Mid-Air Collisions, Alien Life, & Light Sport Aviation: Dr. Paul Shuch's Remarkable Journey Oct 02, 2026

Show notes

In this episode of Aviation Masters, Mike Busch sits down with his longtime friend Dr. H. Paul Shuch — engineer, educator, flight instructor, and executive director emeritus of the SETI League — for a conversation that goes from moonbounce radio to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence to the math behind mid-air collisions.

For pilots, the heart of the episode is Paul's doctoral research on near mid-air collisions. He explains why about three-quarters of collision risk is random, where the preventable quarter comes from, and why ADS-B still doesn't give pilots all the information it could.

If you fly, instruct, or have ever looked up and wondered if we're alone, this conversation is for you.

⏱ Chapters

00:36 – Welcome & Introducing Dr. H. Paul Shuch

02:05 – Pre–Silicon Valley San Jose, Ham Radio & Moonbounce

04:57 – 1962: First Flying Lesson, John Glenn, JFK & Three Life Goals

07:25 – Engineering vs. Juilliard, Civil Rights Marches & Choosing the Air Force

13:02 – Aerospace Work in Sunnyvale & the $1,000 Satellite TV Receiver

20:26 – Learning to Fly & 30 Years With a Modified Beechcraft Sierra

29:26 – The Dinner That Led to a Doctorate & an Accidental Professorship

39:06 – NASA SETI: The Targeted Search vs. the All-Sky Survey

47:12 – How Congress Killed NASA SETI — and What Came Next

50:30 – Founding the SETI League With Ham Radio Operators

1:01:44 – A Promising Signal… and a Classified Satellite

1:05:02 – Are We Alone? Planets, Water & the "Water Hole"

1:12:18 – Marbles in a Box: The Math of Mid-Air Collisions

1:19:53 – GPS, ADS-B & Why "Traffic, Traffic" Isn't Enough

1:26:44 – The Binaural Doppler Collision Alert System

1:28:35 – Discovering Light Sport & Trading the Sierra for a SportStar

1:32:03 – Two Decades Running a Flight School in Lock Haven, PA

1:41:10 – What MOSAIC Means for Sport Pilot Training

1:51:47 – TBO, Liability & a Courtroom Scenario Every CFI Should Hear

1:58:49 – Rotax Training, Maintenance Ratings & Motor Gliders

2:09:18 – Declaring Emergencies Without Hesitation

2:15:05 – Wrap-Up

📚 Resources & Links

Dr. H. Paul Shuch’s Website - http://drseti.com/

Savvy Aviation - https://www.savvyaviation.com/

📍 Subscribe to Aviation Masters for more long-form conversations with the people shaping the future of GA.

Inside the Race to 100 Octane Unleaded AvGas : Chris D'Acosta of Swift Fuels: Sep 04, 2026

Show notes

For over a decade, general aviation has been chasing one elusive goal: a true 100-octane unleaded avgas that works across the entire piston fleet.

Swift Fuels CEO Chris D'Acosta has been at the center of that effort since 2012, and in this episode, he lays out exactly where the industry stands, why the process has been so slow, and what's still ahead.

If you fly a piston aircraft, this conversation matters to you.

D'Acosta breaks down:

✅ which portion of the fleet is already covered by Swift's STCs

✅ what's holding up the high-performance engines

✅ the real story behind the university valve-seat recession controversy

✅ whether the industry will hit the FAA's 2030 deadline for eliminating leaded avgas.

⏱️CHAPTERS

0:00 – Introduction: Chris D'Acosta's Journey from Oil & Gas to Swift Fuels CEO

8:00 – Why Major Oil Companies Walked Away from the Unleaded AvGas Race

12:44 – Swift's STC Numbers: 1,200 Engines, 1,600 Airframes, 55% of the Fleet Covered

15:28 – Inside the FAA's Seven Test Engines and Swift's High-Performance Fleet Partners

21:10 – STC vs. ASTM vs. PAFI: Untangling the Certification Alphabet Soup

30:50 – Why Swift Chose the STC Path Over PAFI (Liability & Control)

36:42 – Could the Transition Require 150,000 Individual Sign-Offs?

40:07 – Why the STC Covers Both Engine and Airframe

44:37 – Drop-In Fuel or Engine Modifications? The Historical Debate

53:38 – What Really Happened with the University's Valve Seat Recession Tests

59:44 – Retiring UL94: Why 100R's Additive Package Is Superior

1:01:18 – Eagle vs. PAFI: Who Oversees the Unleaded Transition

1:04:57 – One Winning Fuel or Multiple? Plus, Can Competing Fuels Be Mixed?

1:08:21 – Clearing Up the FAA's Comments on the 2030 Deadline

1:12:22 – Current STC Scope and Swift's New AI-Powered Aircraft Lookup Tool

1:17:41 – Where 100R Is Available Today and the Nationwide Rollout Timeline

1:20:53 – How to Get Your STC at SwiftFuelsAvGas.com

1:24:12 – Closing Thoughts

📚 Resources & Links

Swift Fuels AvGas - https://www.swiftfuelsavgas.com/

Savvy Aviation - https://www.savvyaviation.com/

📍 Subscribe to Aviation Masters for more long-form conversations with the people shaping the future of GA.

From the Constellation to the U-2: TWA Legend Barry Schiff Tells All Aug 07, 2026

Show notes

Barry Schiff has 28,000 hours, 363 aircraft types, five world speed records, and a 34-year TWA career that ran from the Lockheed Constellation to glass-cockpit 767s, and he's still not done asking why airplanes are built the way they are.

Along the way, Barry and Mike dig into the topics that matter most to working GA pilots and owners: why light-aircraft maintenance culture is stuck in the 1970s, the case for running engines well past TBO, the real danger window right after an annual inspection, the mechanic shortage threatening the future of personal aviation, and where autonomy and single-pilot cockpits are actually headed.

If you fly, wrench, or write about airplanes, this one's for you.

⏱ Chapters

0:38 Welcome to Aviation Masters & introducing Barry Schiff

2:55 Learning to fly at 14 and racing through every rating

6:39 Flying the Constellation and the transition to jets at TWA

13:43 Life outside the cockpit: roots in Santa Monica, flying GA alongside the airline career

18:13 Teaching gliders in Hawaii

24:23 The bucket list: U-2, Space Shuttle sim, and a near-miss carrier landing

29:11 63 years writing for AOPA Pilot and predicting ADS-B decades early

33:35 Podcasting, and why light-aircraft maintenance culture needs to modernize

38:29 Engines, TBO, and why GA engines haven't caught up

43:53 Favorite airplanes, world speed records, and the Aerostar/Bushmaster stories

49:54 Safety: loss of control, dangerous Vx climbs, and an unreported unsafe checkride

56:21 Simulator training and recreating the Sioux City DC-10 accident

1:03:32 Operation Peace Flight: the historic Israel–Jordan crossing

1:11:00 Retirement flight, aging pilots, and insurance-driven age discrimination

1:19:20 The future of flight: autonomy, Skyryse, and single-pilot jets

1:24:59 The mechanic shortage as an existential threat to GA

1:33:41 Barry's books and getting the next generation into aircraft maintenance

1:43:09 Aviation trivia: hangar, cockpit, socked in, and hijack

1:47:14 The flight he'd redo, closing thoughts, and sign-off

📚 Resources & Links

Barry Schiff's official site & books - https://www.barryschiff.com/index.html

Savvy Aviation - https://www.savvyaviation.com/

📍 Subscribe to Aviation Masters for more long-form conversations with the people shaping the future of GA.

Dynon Founder John Torode on Cheap Avionics, AI & the Engine Problem Jul 06, 2026

Show notes

Physicist, chip designer, serial entrepreneur — and the man who spent 25 years making aviation cheaper.

Host Mike Bush sits down with John Torode, founder of Dynon Avionics and Vashon Aircraft, for a wide-ranging conversation that runs from vacuum-tube computers and the birth of the PC to the $2,200 glass panel that upended general aviation. Along the way: GPS jamming, the brutal economics of FAA certification, what AI is really doing to software, the end of Moore's Law, and why getting an engine built may be harder than designing the avionics.

Two MIT/Dartmouth classmates of '66, both born in 1944, compare notes on careers that ran startlingly in parallel — and on the cost problem that could decide whether the next generation ever gets to fly.

⏱ Chapters

0:26 — Meet John Torode & two parallel lives

3:38 — MIT, physics & collecting five degrees

6:21 — Learning to fly on $300 a month

8:10 — Vacuum tubes, the IBM 650 & Minsky's AI prophecy

15:36 — Designing chips, networks & the Cypress years

22:20 — Founding Dynon: the quest for affordable avionics

24:19 — GPS is everywhere — and dangerously easy to jam

34:17 — The $2,200 glass panel that broke the mold

40:40 — Aviation's volume problem & dying semiconductors

42:11 — Going certified: the FAA, the STC & DO-178

48:22 — Will AI rewrite (and certify) the code?

1:04:46 — From Apollo's computer to the end of Moore's Law

1:20:07 — Buy today's avionics, not tomorrow's

1:23:04 — Telemetry, the cloud & "there is no privacy"

1:30:19 — Vision Aircraft: building a plane and an engine

1:40:13 — Closing: keeping aviation affordable for the next generation

📍 Subscribe to Aviation Masters for more long-form conversations with the people shaping the future of GA.

Airworthiness Directives, Designees & the PMA Crisis: A Candid Look at GA Regulation with Jimmy Tubbs Jun 05, 2026

Show notes

In this return appearance on Aviation Masters, Mike Busch sits down again with legendary aeronautical engineer Jimmy Tubbs for a deep, technically rich conversation about the regulatory machinery that shapes general aviation.

From the flawed criteria behind Airworthiness Directives to the erosion of Designated Engineering Representatives, and from PMA approval delays to the disappearance of the Small Airplane Directorate's collaborative processes, Jimmy pulls back the curtain on how the system is supposed to work, where it breaks down, and what it costs aircraft owners and the GA community.

This is a candid, experience-driven conversation with one of the most knowledgeable engineers in piston aviation — essential listening for anyone who owns, operates, or maintains a GA aircraft.

⏱ Chapters

00:00 – Introduction & Jimmy's Background

03:00 – What Is an Airworthiness Directive & How Are They Triggered?

07:00 – The Two-Variable Framework: Frequency vs. Severity of Failure

11:00 – Why AD Analysis in GA Lacks Formal Criteria

17:00 – FAA Reorganization: The Loss of Directorates & Senior Engineers

21:00 – The ECI Cylinder AD: Head-to-Barrel Separations & Overreach

28:00 – Corrective Actions That Ignore Supply Chain Reality

31:00 – Short-Wing Piper Rudder AD & the Vintage Aircraft Association Fight

36:00 – Cessna 402 vs. 414 Spar Strap AD: When Scope Goes Too Far

41:00 – What Is an AMOC & How Can It Help Aircraft Owners?

43:00 – The Global AMOC: Continental's V-Band Clamp Solution

47:00 – The Airworthiness Concern Sheet: A Better Way That's Now Gone

53:00 – Twin Cessna Exhaust AD: How Industry Input Saved the Fleet

57:00 – DERs, ODAs & the 2025 Policy Shift Affecting Designee

1:05:00 – The PMA Approval Process: Slower & More Cumbersome Than Ever

1:10:00 – Why PMA Parts Are the Lifeline for Aging GA Aircraft

1:19:00 – The NORSEE Process: A Rare Bright Spot in FAA Approvals

1:22:00 – The Need for Young Engineers & the Future of the Aging Fleet

1:27:00 – Final Thoughts: Lobbying for a Better AD Process

📍 Subscribe to Aviation Masters for more long-form conversations with the people shaping the future of GA.

The Future of Flight Safety: Automation, Training & Hard-Won Lessons with Bruce Landsberg May 01, 2026

Show notes

In this episode of Aviation Masters, Mike Busch sits down with Bruce Landsberg—former NTSB Vice Chairman, longtime president of the AOPA Air Safety Institute, and author of the new book Learning from Icarus—for an extraordinary conversation spanning nearly 50 years of aviation safety experience.

From his early days as a Cessna demo pilot to pioneering simulator training at FlightSafety, leading accident investigations at the NTSB, and analyzing the future of automation in aviation, Bruce shares hard-won insights that every pilot, owner, and aviation professional needs to hear.

This episode covers single-engine emergencies in twins, the value of realistic training, accident investigation philosophy, weather-related crashes, the promise and pitfalls of automation, and why learning from past mistakes is the key to staying alive in aviation.

⏱ Chapters

00:00 – Introduction: 40 Years of Friendship & Aviation Safety

03:00 – The Reality Check: Twin Engine Failures in the Simulator vs. Real Life

08:00 – Growing Up in Washington DC & Getting Into Aviation

12:00 – Vietnam, Air Force ROTC & Learning to Fly at College Park

18:00 – From Psychology Major to Professional Pilot

23:00 – Cessna Aircraft Company & Selling Fleets to Flight Schools

28:00 – The 310 Demo Flight That Changed Everything

35:00 – Moving to FlightSafety & The Revolution in Simulator Training

42:00 – Why Simulators Teach What Aircraft Can't

48:00 – Transitioning to AOPA & The Air Safety Foundation

55:00 – Building the ASI: Philosophy, Programs & Outreach

1:02:00 – JFK Jr.'s Fatal Crash: What Really Happened

1:09:00 – Spatial Disorientation, VFR Into IMC & The "What Was He Thinking?" Question

1:17:00 – Joining the NTSB: From Advocacy to Investigation

1:25:00 – Inside NTSB Accident Investigations: Process, Politics & Public Perception

1:33:00 – The Colgan 3407 Crash: Fatigue, Training & Industry Change

1:42:00 – Weather Accidents: Why Smart Pilots Still Fly Into Storms

1:49:00 – Icing, Convective Weather & The Role of Get-There-Itis

1:56:00 – Automation in Aviation: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

2:03:00 – Tesla Autopilot, AI & What Aviation Can Learn from Automotive

2:09:00 – The Future: Flight Data Monitoring for GA Aircraft

2:15:00 – Learning from Icarus: Writing the Book & Key Takeaways

2:21:00 – Where to Get the Book & Final Thoughts

📍 Subscribe to Aviation Masters for more long-form conversations with the people shaping the future of GA.

🔗 Resources Mentioned in This Episode

Bruce Landsberg's Book: Learning from Icarus – https://learningfromicarus.com/
Email: learningfromicarus@gmail.com

Books by Mike Busch: https://www.savvyaviation.com/resources/#books

How Artificial Intelligence Will Transform Aviation with John Sipple Apr 03, 2026

Show notes

In this episode of Aviation Masters, Mike Busch sits down with Dr. John Sipple — machine learning professor at George Washington University, former Boeing Phantom Works engineer, Google AI veteran, and Diamond DA40 owner — for one of the most forward-looking conversations in the show's history.

From tracking ballistic missiles with Kalman filters to training neural networks at Google to building AI-powered diagnostics for GA aircraft, John brings a uniquely deep and practical perspective on where artificial intelligence is headed in aviation. The conversation covers everything from how to certify ML models with the FAA, to why technicians struggle with troubleshooting, to the Diamond DA40 oil pressure failures that inspired John to found Vyzerion AI.

If you own, maintain, or fly a piston aircraft, and especially if you've ever wondered what AI can actually do for GA safety, this episode is essential listening.

⏱ Chapters

00:49 – Introducing Dr. John Sipple

05:30 – Boeing Phantom Works: Missile Tracking & Kalman Filters

09:30 – From Big Data to Machine Learning: The Career Pivot

11:45 – AI vs. Machine Learning vs. Deep Learning: Defining the Terms

14:00 – How Neural Networks Work & Why 2012 Was a Turning Point

18:00 – Applying ML to Telemetry: From Missiles to Aircraft Engines

26:00 – What Is Explainable AI (XAI) and Why It Matters in Aviation

36:00 – Anomaly Detection in Piston Engines: How It Works

47:00 – Project Spark: Savvy Aviation's AI Diagnostics Initiative

53:00 – Training vs. Inference: Why the FAA Draws a Hard Line

55:00 – How You Certify an ML Model for Aircraft Use

59:00 – Why Tesla FSD Couldn't Happen in Certificated Aviation

1:00:00 – Experimental Aircraft as the Path to AI in the Cockpit

1:05:00 – Three Lines of Defense for AI in Mission-Critical Systems

1:09:00 – The Vision for Self-Diagnosing Airplanes

1:13:00 – Why Mechanics Struggle with Troubleshooting (And How AI Fixes It)

1:18:00 – Project Squawk: Training an LLM on Aviation Maintenance Data

1:19:00 – The Data Funnel: Small Models → Explainability → LLM Reasoning

1:24:00 – The Cadillac Index & Why GA Affordability Is Getting Worse

1:25:00 – Autonomous Aircraft vs. Autonomous Cars: Why Is GA So Far Behind?

1:27:00 – Vyzerion AI: Smarter Diagnostics, Healthier Aircraft, Safer Flying

1:28:00 – The Diamond DA40 Service Bulletin & In-Flight Oil Pressure Failures

1:35:00 – Broader AI Fears, Regulation & the Elevator Analogy

1:48:00 – Multimodal AI & the Future of Richer Diagnostics

1:49:00 – Using LLMs to Query the NTSB Accident Database

1:51:00 – Annual Inspections: Are They Helping or Hurting Safety?

📍 Subscribe to Aviation Masters for more long-form conversations with the people shaping the future of GA.

🔗 Resources Mentioned in This Episode

Vyzerion AI —https://vyzerionai.com/

Savvy Aviation — savvyaviation.com

NTSB Aviation Accident Database - https://carol.ntsb.gov/

The Future of General Aviation with George Braly Mar 06, 2026

Show notes

In this in-depth episode of Aviation Masters, Mike Busch sits down again with George Braly to tackle some of the most urgent issues facing general aviation today.

From aging aircraft fuel system failures to the FAA’s draft unleaded fuel transition plan, and from certification gridlock to PMA delays, this episode dives deep into what aircraft owners, mechanics, and industry leaders need to understand right now.

If you own, maintain, or operate piston aircraft — this conversation affects you.

⏱ Chapters

03:00 – Elastomers, O-Rings & Why Old Seals Are Causing Fires

07:00 – Upgrading to Modern FKM (Fluorosilicone) O-Rings

11:30 – Why Fuel Leaks Don’t Always Show Up During Inspections

18:00 – FAA Draft Plan to Transition to Unleaded Avgas

21:00 – The Risks of Modifying Engines for Lower-Octane Fuel

26:00 – How Retarded Timing Impacts Horsepower & Twin Safety

33:00 – Is There Already a True Drop-In Replacement for 100LL?

41:00 – FAA Reorganization: Why Certification Is Slower Than Ever

48:00 – DERs, ODAs & Why Delegation Keeps Aviation Alive

57:00 – PMA Parts, OEM Shutdowns & The Parts Supply Crisis

1:04:00 – Is Certification Still Worth the Cost?

1:08:00 – What Aircraft Owners Should Do Now

📍 Subscribe to Aviation Masters for more long-form conversations with the people shaping the future of GA.

Six Decades of Aviation Engineering with Jimmy Tubbs Feb 06, 2026

Show notes

In this episode of Aviation Masters, Mike Busch sits down with legendary aeronautical engineer Jimmy Tubbs for a deep, wide-ranging conversation that spans more than six decades of aviation experience.

From military engineering and piston engine innovation to PMA certification battles and the future of autonomous flight, this episode is a masterclass in how general aviation has evolved and where it may be headed next.

Jimmy shares the untold engineering stories behind cylinder design, chrome vs. nickel processes, engine certification challenges, and the hard lessons learned while building some of the most influential piston engine components in modern aviation.

This is a candid, technical, and deeply human conversation with one of the quiet architects of how we fly today.

⏱ Chapters

03:00 – From Small-Town Texas to Aeronautical Engineering

07:00 – Military Aviation, Engineering Labs & Learning to Fly

12:00 – Inside ECI: Cylinder Reconditioning & Early PMA Work

17:00 – Channel Chrome vs. Nickel Cylinders: What Really Matters

27:00 – Building New Cylinders & The Birth of Titan Engines

36:00 – TBO, On-Condition Maintenance & FAA Certification Reality

42:00 – The Titan Cylinder AD: What Actually Happened

53:00 – Engine Monitoring, CHT Management & Pilot Responsibility

01:05:00 – Life After ECI: PMA Consulting & Supply Chain Challenges

01:19:00 – Diesel Engines, Automation & The Future of General Aviation