I was a corporate jet pilot who flew many celebrities. I have many stories to tell - AMA

Did you ever joke around with any passengers? Like "accidentally" leaving the PA on and saying to your co-pilot, "I swear to God Bill I'm going to crash this plane into the side of a mountain if you say one more thing about my wife..."

This made me laugh! I never did this, but there are plently of people I have flown that deserved it.

have you seen any famous boobies?

Jenny McCarthy

Who's the shadiest person you've had the pleasure of jetting around?

Jesse Jackson Sr. Spent 10 days with him, and every place we went there was a limousine with a beautiful woman waiting for him in the back seat.

What kind of women, black or white?

All young to middle age black women

How many Angelina Jolie adoptees can you pick up in one trip?

The plane seats 8, but I'm sure you could squeeze some in baggage storage.

Which celebrity was the coolest and which one was the worst?

Dennis Rodman was the coolest by far. He was just a down to earth guy. He was very polite and very courteous. Damen Waynes was the worst. His golf bag was so damn huge you couldn't get it in the plane. He was really full of himself, and acted like he was "all that."

It's getting late for me. Thank you for all your questions. This was a lot of fun! I hope I was able to answer enough of your questions. I'll try and answer more tomorrow. Good Night!

which celebrity freaked out the worst during turbulence?

Definitley Karl Malone. Total white knuckle

What are your most interesting "I promise not to tell" moments?

left santa barbara after a previous day of mexican food on our way back to chicago. had a fruit plate for breakfast in flight and thats al she wrote. had to divert to pueblo to go to the bathroom my copilot asked why i was doing 250 knot in the airport traffic pattern and told him i would have to pull a circuit breaker to do 300! could not walk back and crap in front of the ceo of proctor and gamble had to stop lol

What in the hell did you tell the CEO of proctor and gamble?

We had to stop for a fuel stop some time along the way, so we stopped a few hours early to refuel and relive myself.

Which airport did you fly out of in Chicago?

Do you still fly for fun?

DuPage Airport. I don't get to fly for fun as much as I would like. I do miss it.

Have you ever seen the green flash? Ufos?

Have seen multiple shotting stars and even a B-2 bomber fly right over me at 45K feet. Have seen stars and planets that any normal person would say that it was a approaching aircraft, including me

Could you explain how a star could look like a plane?

Variations in reflecting light makes it look like an approaching aircraft. You can't believe it until you see it. You get 2 pilots with 20 year each experience questioning. You just have to see it

That's awesome you got to see the B-2 though!

Wish I had my camera ready, it happened so quockly going from Houston to Chicago

Whats the best place you visited? And who were you with there?

kalamazoo, Michigan. Sounds lame, but I flew my wife there while we where still dating. It was the most romantic moment of my life.

Upvote for Kzoo!

Thanks, 10 minutes after I landed I got my Fed Ex letter telling me I was fired. A matter of a chief pilot feeling threatened that he was a crappy pilot and spread bad words to the boss. Best thing that ever happened to me. Got a way better job 20 minutes later.

Did you ever have to restrain, or threaten to restrain/control a passenger? What was the most obnoxious thing a celebrity has done on your craft?

Never had to restrain anyone. Most obnoxious thing involved Dennis Rodman. He was with Carmen Electra, and some other girl who I didn't know. They where completely wasted, and he wanted to fly to Las Vegas to marry both of them. His manager told us to fly him to Rockford and back (To Chicago), until he passes out.

I thought you said Dennis Rodman was cool?!

He is! I have flown him several times. This was just a strange occurrence.

Any close calls/issues with celeb clients on board? Did they know?

Was flying Karl Malone, and while we where over Alabama we encountered some heavy storms. He was freaking out from the turbulence. It wasn't exactly a close call, but it's the only thing that comes to mind. He was so happy to get off the plane, he tipped my co pilot and I $500.

Damn. Fellow pilot here who flew a celebrity for 3 years. It was a fun job with lots of interesting stories to share. I enjoyed yours.

Welcome to reddit.

You know what i am talkin aboot. Lol

Did the celebs tip you and what was your best tip?

Jenny McCarthy tipped 250, Karl Malone tipped 500, but Peter Forsberg from the Colorado Avelanche tipped a 1000 because when we took him from Toronto to New York, the custom agent said he had more than 10k in cash coming into the country, so ha tipped us in order to have less cash. Lucky me!

Forsbergs always been a class act. Thanks for sharing!

He was totally cool. His girlfriend was really nice but was the one in charge. Lol

How much did you make?

i started at 35K in my early days and ended up at close to a 100K the best part was that I never spent any money on the road. The boss paid for everything!

Why did you quit?

It's a great job if you're single, but it's very hard with a family. I was away from my wife and kids too often. I now run a small business with my wife.

What sort of business do you have? Was it an easy transition between the two?

My wife had started a Mr Handyman Franchise in the Chicago suburbs. It was a bit tough at first but has been fantastic for a long time

Who was the nicest celebrity you ever flew with?

Walter Payton by far.

What is the craziest thing you have witnessed?

Warning my young co pilot to not fly too close to a thunder storm and watching him get suckered into flying between two very large cells that were converging. We proceded to get our butts kicked. My fault for letting him go too far. His fault for having the presumption of being invinsible

Shit man, that sounds pretty tough, thanks for answering

The next one was flying into Aspen in a snow storm. That will make you pucker. Damnnnn!

How do you go about becoming a corporate just pilot

Get you private pilot license, and keep getting additional ratings, i.e., instrument, commercial, multi engine, and network with guys that run charter companies

Were there ever conflicts over unsafe flying conditions vs. the client insisting on getting somewhere? How easy is it to maintain command of an aircraft when powerful people are paying a lot of money to be kept happy?

Yes Plent of times. You just have to say better to arrive late than not at all. If you don't like it. Please call someone younger.....lol

What is your favorite destination? Who was the most famous person you took there?

Favorite destination is Savanna Georgia. Third biggest saint patricks celebration there. I love it. My favorite person to fly was Walter Payton. I flew him to Mayo Clinic for his cancer treatment once a week. I'm a huge bears fan, and I have a lot of respect for him. He was a very humble man.

Hell yea. Jackson, MS resident here. Thank you for flying Walter to treatment!

Walter was the MAN. He used to ride with Matt Suey (spelling?) his fullback. Great guy. Walter picked my pocket 4 days before he died. Never lost his sense of humor throughout his medical ordeal. Never jumped the organ donor line to get a liver. Flew many organ donor trips after that and it was always more rewarding than flying a celeb

Man, you've done things right.

Thanks man. We went on a trip to get a liver. Always after midnight. Got back to Chicago, doc said wait 2 hours, ame back after he cut part of the liver off for a child and then we flew the remaining liver to Madison for an adult. I was so drained but got a second and third wind after hearing what we had to do!!!!! Life!!

Btw. Been to Jackson many time and Xavier too. Love that town. What great people

Savannah is amazing. Next time you are here with time look up a soul food joint called "Sisters of the New South". The BEST

Will do bro. My wife and I want to retire there. For real!

Have you ever had an intoxicated passenger attempt to enter the cockpit and fly the plane?

No, he was too drunk to get off his seat. on the way to Vegas, showed up drunk and burried a fifth intwo hours

Sounds like an amazing job, how realistic are the flight simulators?

Regular computer simulators aren't very realistic. But flight training centers are extremely realistic. You would think you're in an airplane.

Any pointers for someone interested in becoming a pilot?

Take introductory classes to see if you really enjoy it. Have some fun with it. Getting a lot of solo flight hours will help you a lot if you want to fly commercial or corporate planes.

Or get in with a female chief pilot???

What is the weirdest thing you have seen a celebrity do on a flight?

dennis Rodman tried to marry 2 women in Vegas

Aside from your majestic voice, what other sounds have been played over the PA system? Any music?

Nothing really comes to mind, but we would randomly play funny movies for our passengers all the time. Most of the time it was The Waterboy.

Best plane you've flown?

Most fun plane you've flown?

Lear 23. Straight pipe jet with great handling. Small cockpit but hold on brutha

How much drugs do they do and how insane are celebrities when you spend 5 hours with them in a metal box?

Never saw the drugs but always had plenty of drink

What is the most surprising moment/story you have?

Flyi g into Aspen in a snow storm and could not slow down because the engine computers were not working right and would not slow down.....crazy stuff in the mountais when you can't see them

You said you've flown every type of Learjet. Which one is your favorite? Do you enjoy all the new technology in cockpits today?

60 and the 60 and the 60!!! It has the most ballls with a 31 wing

Ever visit KROG in Arkansas?

Did do some part time flying with ConAgra and went to Rogers a few times. walmart baby

I worked at BLA from '05 - '08. Hope we treated you well!

Always, it was my goal to treat the FBO crew better than they could treat us. We always tried to buy lunch for the ground crew because they were awsome

What's the weirdest stories that happened in the cabin?

The pilots I flew with were pretty stable. We were usually laghing about our pax