Ready For Takeoff - Turn Your Aviation Passion Into A Career

Jeff Fellmeth, formerly known as "First Officer Jeff" on the Airline Pilot Guy podcast, is now "Captain Jeff" at a legacy airline. When Jeff was 14, his Boy Scout trip to summer camp had an overnight stop at the Air Force Academy, and that's when he decided he wanted to become an Air Force officer. He was initially turned down by the Academy, but was accepted to the Academy Prep School. In Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT), he initially got airsick, until his first spin in a T-37. After that, he was hooked, and determined to become a fighter pilot. Following UPT, he flew OV-10 aircraft as a Forward Air Controller (FAC) in Germany, working practice airstrikes all over the country for three years. After the OV-10, Jeff got his F-15 assignment. The F-15 is a hands-on-throtle-and-stick (HOTAS) airplane, and the only time the pilot takes his hands off the stick and throttles is to turn on the master arm switch and operate the landing gear. During his Air Force career, Jeff flew all models of the F-15, the F-15A/B