The Hangar Z Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 76- HAI Special #2 with Diane Dollar from Forever on the Fly Mar 20, 2023

Show notes

Episode 76 of The Hangar Z Podcast brought to you by Vertical Valor Magazine is live.

I Didn’t make it to HAI due to our snowplcalypse here in Southern California, Jeff was there and did an excellent job stepping in to host some episodes from the floor of HAI. This is the second of three episodes Jeff recorded at Heli Expo.

Thanks to Ryan from the Flight Suit Friday Podcast and Quinny from the Real Resq podcast for the work they put into developing a recording booth that we all used to record from.

The podcasts that we had the pleasure of collaborating with include Flight Suit Friday, The Real ResQ Podcast, The Pilots Lounge and the Forever on The Fly Podcast.

So a huge thanks to the US Coast Guard for allowing us to use their booth to record.

In this episode, Jeff sits down to talk to Diane Dollar from the Forever on the Fly Podcast. She is also the executive director of the Forever on the Fly Non-Profit organization which is dedicated to inspiring and mentoring the next generation of aviators.

During the episode, they talk about mentorship and what Forever on the Fly is doing to inspire today’s youth to pursue an aviation career. To learn more about the Forever on the Fly mission and information on how to become involved as a mentor go to www.foreveronthefly.com

Since I missed everyone at HAI I look forward to seeing everyone in person at PAvCon in Spain in June, APSCON in Florida in July, and the Echo Public Safety Aviation Conference in San Diego in October.

We would like to thank our sponsors Metro Aviation, SHOTOVER, and CNC Technologies as well as our sponsors on Patreon.

Lastly don’t forget to check out and purchase one of the Hangar Z shirt designs Brotallion created in a collaborative release.

The proceeds of the shirt sales are being donated to the Blue Skies Foundation.

Check out the shirts at Brotallion.com and the Brotallion Blue Skies Foundation to learn more.

Episode 75- HAI Special #1 The San Diego Tank Rampage with Tactical Flying's Phil Cady and Matt ZDunich Featuring a Special Co-Host Mar 13, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to episode 75 of the Hangar Z Podcast brought to you by Vertical Valor Magazine.

I didn’t make it to HAI due to our snowpocalypse here in Southern California, Jeff was there and did an excellent job stepping in to host some episodes from the floor of HAI. This is the first of three episodes Jeff recorded at Heli Expo.

In This episode, we talk with Phil Cady and Matt Zadunich who work with our friend Nick Minx, from Tactical flying.

Phil is a retired San Diego PD officer and is now an instructor with Tactical Flying.

Matt Zadunich is the Chief Pilot for San Diego PD and is also an instructor for Tactical Flying teaching a course developed to teach TFOs how to teach new TFOs.

We love Tactical Flying and the training opportunities they offer. Check them out at Tacticalflying.com.

During this episode, they talk about the San Diego Tank Rampage of 1995 and cover a wide variety of other topics.

We would like to thank our sponsors Metro Aviation, SHOTOVER, and CNC Technologies as well as our sponsors on Patreon.

Episode 74- The Southern California Blizzard, Goodwin's Market and the Johnstone's Mar 06, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to episode 74 of the Hangar Z Podcast brought to you by Vertical Valor Magazine.

Last week a historic snowstorm began which eventually ended up dropping 10 feet of snow on our community.

Many people's homes and businesses fell victim to the weight of the snow as they saw their roofs and decks collapse. The weight of the snow has damaged many natural gas mains causing homes to burn down and even a few have exploded.

My best friend's grocery store Goodwin and Son's Market which feed’s literally thousands of people and serves as the center of the community had its roof collapse. This collapse crushed the contents of the store and obviously forced their closure.

The volume of snow has made roads impassable and heavy equipment traditionally used to clear the roads ineffective.

The impassable roads have trapped thousands of residents in their homes and has threatened our most vulnerable and fragile segments of the population who depend on these roads to get medication, food, and supplies.

I felt that I needed to record an episode of the podcast to document what has happened to my community and in particular Goodwin's Market as they are not only great friends but a critical piece of infrastructure in our community.

This isn’t the traditional public safety aviation content that we typically cover.

Join me as I interview Mike and Jessica Johnstone. They are some of the kindest and hardest working people you will meet on the face of this earth.

During the interview, we talked about the storm, and they give us an overview of the path that led them to where they are in the family business that was established in 1946 in Crestline California.

They provide a history of the business and talk about the heartbreak surrounding the collapse of the store's roof that has closed the store.

We would like to thank our sponsors Metro Aviation, SHOTOVER, and CNC Technologies as well as our sponsors on Patreon.

Episode 73- Samantha Poirier Northern Colorado EMS Pilot Feb 27, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to episode 73 of the Hangar Z Podcast

In this episode, we sit down and chat with Samantha Poirier. Samantha is an EMS pilot flying for Reach Air Medical in Northern Colorado.

Samantha has a very impactful and inspirational story that led her to her position as an EMS pilot.

Samantha's aviation career started working for a helicopter utility company in Alaska performing oil changes, sweeping hangar floors, and answering phones in exchange for flight time. From there she worked her way up to owning a helicopter wildlife capture company where she had the opportunity to fly in the world's most beautiful places that include Alaska.

She owned the company with her husband where they did everything from capturing big game wildlife for scientific study to drying cherry trees, air tours of Hell's Canyon, wedding flights, photo flights, and wine tours. When she wasn’t flying she was running the company's business end.

Tragedy struck when her husband and 19-year-old cousin were involved in a terrible helicopter crash. The crash took the life of her cousin and catastrophically injured her husband.

Samantha’s life was completely ripped out from underneath her. And she swore she was never going to fly again.

Samantha’s passion for aviation would not allow her to stay away. She boldly built up the strength to get back in the seat where she put herself in the position to become an EMS pilot.

Her motivation to become an EMS pilot stems from an ATV accident her sister was involved in.

A Reach Air Medical airship responded to her sister's crash, which she credits with saving her sister's life.

Samantha now works at the same base the ship launched from and with the same crew who saved her sister's life.

This is an inspirational story you won’t want to miss.

We would like to thank our sponsors Metro Aviation and SHOTOVER as well as our supporters on Patreon.

Don’t forget to check out our YouTube channel where we post shorter 10-20 min segments from. Each episode.

Also if you could leave us a rating and a review on the platform you use to listen to the hangar Z podcast we would be very grateful.

Episode 72- Riverside County Sheriff's "Rescue 9" APSA Aircrew of the year award for 2022 Feb 13, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to episode 72 of the Hangar Z Podcast.
This is a unique episode for a few reasons. Jason Quinn from the Real ResQ Podcast and I have teamed up to create a podcast mashup.
This will be episode 127 of the Real ResQ Podcast.
During this episode, Jason and I interview the crew of Riverside County Sheriff's Department, Aviation Unit Star 9 that won the Airborne Public Safety Association Captain, “Gus” Crawford Memorial Aircrew of the year award for 2022.
The crew consisted of Deputy Chad Marlatt acting as the PIC, Corporal Andy Rasmussen acting as the SIC, Deputy Drew Pigott acting as the Crew Cheif, Deputy Michael Edwards Rescuer, and Deputy Mike Doyle acting as the catcher.
I actually recorded a version of this episode in person at RSO’s annual safety fly-in this last year at their hangar. Due to some technical difficulties, the audio was unusable, unfortunately.
With us to re-record this episode is Corporal Marlatt.. Congratulations on the promotion to Corporal, Deputy Pigott, and Deputy Edwards.
In the interview, the Rescue 9 crew breaks down what ended up being an officer-down type rescue and incident.
For those who have not listened to The Real ResQ podcast, Jason Quinn goes behind the scenes of the rescue stories we hear and read about.
We interviewed Jason Quinn way back in episode 21. Jason is a former Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer and host of The Real ResQ Podcast.
I would like to thank our sponsors Metro Aviation and SHOTOVER as well as our supporters on Patreon.

Episode 71- Unit Funds and Creating Unit SWAG with BROTALLION. Feb 06, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to episode 71 of The Hangar Z Podcast.

This is another one of our shorter content-focused episodes where we get to sit down and chat with the Brotallion Brothers Brett Kroll AKA "CHERUB" and Spencer Payne AKA "SMOKEY."

To hear how they got their call signs and more about their aviation careers, plus how Brotallion was created check out episode 36 of The Hangar Z Podcast.

You can also catch Spencer, Brett, and the other Brotallion Brothers on the Pilots Lounge Podcast, which is "aimed at bringing together, aviators from around the world, to share their experiences, and to learn from one another.”

During our conversation, we talk about the awesome custom swag that Brotallion makes including the shirt design they developed for us as a collaboration. To check out the shirt go to the link on our website or go straight to Brotallion.com.

For every item sold, we are donating 25% of the profits to The Brotallion Blue Skies Foundation.

The Brotallion Blue Skies Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing post-mishap support for the Army Aviation community and their families. In addition to providing financial support to the next-of-kin, they ensure that their legacies are never forgotten.

As always I would like to thank our sponsors Metro Aviation and SHOTOVER as well as our supporters on Patreon.

Don’t forget to check out The Hangar Z YouTube channel where we post highlight segments from each episode of the podcast.

Lastly, if you have a question, you would like answered during an episode of the Hangar Z Podcast Slide into the DM’s with your questions or send it to Hangarzpodcast@gmail.com

Episode 70- Officer Down with Jack Schonely Jan 30, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to Episode 70 of the Hangar Z Podcast.

The start of 2023 has already been traumatic for law enforcement as Riverside County Sheriff’s lost two deputies within a matter of weeks. This episode is dedicated to Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Isaiah Cordero EOW December 29th, 2022, and Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Darnell Calhoun EOW January 13th, 2023.

Our hearts go out to their family, friends, and coworkers at RSO as well as the neighboring agencies.

This episode was inspired by those events. Unfortunately, we know this won’t be the last time an Officer Down call goes out and we want to open the conversation that surrounds the Officer down incident.

In aviation, we play a unique role and can have a huge positive impact on the outcome of those incidents but time and effort have to be put in in advance to help us be successful.

There is no one better than Jack Schonely to have this conversation with. This conversation is actually a two-part series of which the second episode will be focused on the aftermath of the officer down call and how we take care of ourselves afterward.

We are taking the month of March to talk about surviving a career in public safety and public safety aviation so the second part of this conversation will fit in nicely with the overall theme.

For those who don’t know Jack you will need to listen to his full episode #23.

Jack is a 36-year Law Enforcement Veteran, with 31 years at LAPD 19 of which were spent in the Air Support Division as both a TFO and Command Pilot. Jack created and instructs a course titled “Apprehending Fleeing suspects.” Jack has also written a book available online with the same title. Jack is a Contributing Editor and writer for Vertical Magazine, Police K9 Magazine, Recoil Magazine, and Police Magazine.

Jack was the 2017 recipient of the Helicopter Association International (HAI) Law Enforcement Salute to Excellence award in Dallas Texas.

2016 recipient of the Robert L Cormier Memorial Award from the Airborne Law Enforcement Association. Awarded in recognition of outstanding achievement in the advancement of aircraft in public service.

2005 Runner up for the Governor’s California Police Officers Standards and Training Instructor of the Year Award.

2004 Air Crew of the Year Award for LAPD Air Support Division.

During this episode, we talk about the three C’s of any call but the importance is stressed in the officer-down incidents which are contain, communicate, and coordinate.

I highly encourage you to seek out Jack’s course or to bring him to your agency or area for training. You can contact him and find more information on Jack through his website Officertactics.com

Jack will also be instructing at the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Aviation fly in May of 2023.

I would like to thank our sponsors Metro Aviation and SHOTOVER as well as our supporters on Patreon.
Lastly, if you could do us a favor and leave us a rating and review on the platform you use to listen to The Hangar Z Podcast we would greatly appreciate it.

Episode 69- The Hangar Z Leadership Summit 2023 Jan 23, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to episode 69 of The Hangar Z Podcast. In this episode we brought the industries best leaders together to discuss leadership and leadership challenges facing public safety aviation today.
This group of leaders include Clay Lacey from Texas DPS, Terry Miyauchi retired Arizona DPS and currently at Bell Flight, Jack Schonely retired from LAPD, Bryan Smith a current law enforcement pilot in Florida and previous Safety Program Manager for the Airborne Public Safety Association and Eric Weidner retired from the Ontario (California) Police Department now the Chief Operations Officer at CNC Technologies.
Each one of these leaders are men that are giants in the industry and have traveled the globe instructing and promoting the public safety aviation industry. To get them all together for this event was truly special.
I would like to thank our sponsors Metro Aviation and SHOTOVER as well as our supporters on Patreon.
Lastly if you could do us a favor and leave us a rating and review on the platform you use to listen to The Hangar Z Podcast we would greatly appreciate it.

Episode 68- Fixed Wing Operations with Kings County California Jan 09, 2023

Show notes

Episode 68 of the Hangar Z podcast is live.
In this episode we sit down and chat with Sergeant pilot Jerry Hunter and Senior Deputy and TFO Eric Johnson from the Kings County Sheriff’s Department.
Prior to aviation Sgt. Hunter worked Patrol as a field training officer developing the next generation of patrol officers. He was a K9 handler, was a member of the SWAT team and was also assigned to gangs.
As a K9 handler he found that is agency had very limited access to air support so he spent a considerable amount of time researching and writing a proposal to develop an aviation program for the Kings County Sheriff’s Department. In 2014 his program was approved and their fixed wing program took off.
Being in close proximity to Naval Air Station Lemoore gave them access to a large pool of pilots willing to volunteer their time as pilots for the program when they weren’t flying F18’s or F35 fighter jets.
TFO Eric Johnson has also had a very successful career having the opportunity to work as a field training officer in patrol, he spent approximately 9 years as a K9 handler, he was a SWAT operator and also had a opportunity to work investigations. Eric became a TFO six years ago and worked the assignment as a collateral duty until the program became a full time program.
In this episode we talk about how they were able to successfully research, propose and launch their aviation program. We talk about the benefits of fixed wing aircraft in airborne law enforcement as well as a bunch of other rabbit holes we jumped into.
We would like to wish everyone a happy new year. I hope everyone had some time to spend with friends and family over the Christmas holiday and new years. I also hope you all had an opportunity to reflect and regroup for 2023.
I gladly waved goodbye to 2022 and have welcomed 2023 in with open arms. This year has already been fantastic and I only expect it to get better.
As I mentioned in the last episode we are huge proponents of training, education and networking. In addition to partnering with APSA we have also partnered with ECHO to promote the good work they are doing through their program. They are a non profit organization that created the FAST team which is Flight Crew Assistance and Support. Their mission is to provide assistance and support to flight crew members and their families involved in a critical incident. Services available are zero cost to the affected flight crew and organization. They have a deployable peer support team to assist on the ground after critical incidents. If you are a member of a flight crew and need assistance you can call or text the AIR FAST hotline 24/7 1-833-AIR-FAST. For web access follow this hyperlink to ECHO.
ECHO also puts in a fantastic Public Safety Aviation conference to facilitate training and networking. This year’s conference is in my favorite city San Diego October 2-4 2023. For more information go to echoflightcrew.org we hope to see you all there.
I would like to thank our sponsors Metro Aviation and SHOTOVER as well as our supporters on Patreon.

Episode 67- London Metropolitan Police with Richard Brandon Dec 19, 2022

Show notes

Welcome to episode 67 of the Hangar Z Podcast.

In this episode we sit down and chat with Richard Brandon from the London Metropolitan Police Department.

Richard worked his way from the streets of London to the skies of the London Metropolitan Police Department or MET as they refer to it.

Richard served the department for a total of 30 years as a police officer and is continuing to serve the UK as the Aviation Capability Manager for the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) looking at police aviation strategy and policy nationally.

Richard has as much as a passion for public safety aviation as we do as evidenced in the book he wrote for Haynes that outline airborne law enforcement.

During our conversation we had an opportunity to talk about a variety of different topics from safety to leadership and a lot in between. The common thread of the conversation revolved around the similarities that exist between public safety aviation agencies across the world.
The Hangar Z Podcast is a huge advocate of training and networking. We are proud to announce that we have partnered with the Airborne Public Safety Association for 2023. We will help them to promote training and networking opportunities through the podcast as well as on our website. We have created a training page on our website https://www.hangarzpodcast.com/ where you can see upcoming training and networking opportunities.

You can find information on the Airborne Public Safety Association as well as a list of their upcoming training and a link to The Hangar Z Podcast at https://publicsafetyaviation.org/

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