#08 Ag Spraying, aircraft comparisons, QandA

The Pyjama Pilots are back! Jimbo, Pedro and Hoodie are tackling the big questions in aviation, business and technology — with varying levels of expertise and absolutely no shortage of questionable decision-making. This episode, Jimbo tries to convince the boys that his $40,000-plus collection of old car parts is actually a brilliant business opportunity, while Pedro and Hoodie do their best to talk him out of digging an even deeper financial hole. We get into the future of agricultural aviation, million-dollar spray drones, AI-powered weed killing, and whether pilots are about to become obsolete. Then things take a turn down memory lane, with tales of airborne magnetic surveys, sleeping operators, dodgy navigation, terrifying thunderstorms, and some memorable adventures flying around Africa — including questionable approaches, mysterious airport fees, and a few situations where just getting back on the ground was an achievement in itself. Three pilots, plenty of opinions, questionable business plans, and stories that probably shouldn't be repeated in front of the CAA. Get comfortable, put your flying helmets on, and join the boys for another episode of the Pyjama Pilots.

After accidentally turning up to record with absolutely no plan, Jimbo somehow manages to drag Episode 22 into existence with Hoodie and Pedro joining the chaos shortly after. What follows is a proper hangar-style yarn covering everything from firebombing in Perth, topdressing careers, Coast to Coast training, and sky-high fuel prices, through to chemical ratings, old aviation stories, and whether drones will eventually kill ag flying. Along the way, Jimbo reveals his latest business venture — buying a mountain of dead-stock auto parts and storing them in the shed — despite Hoodie repeatedly calling it a terrible idea. There’s plenty of laughs, questionable financial decisions, aviation nostalgia, and the usual sideways tangents that somehow keep the whole thing airborne. Buckle up your seatbelts, folks — this one feels less like a podcast and more like sitting in the hangar after knock-off with a beer in hand.

A loose, unfiltered catch-up with the boys covering everything from flying over Christmas with medevac runs and life in the cockpit. What starts as casual chat quickly turns into a string of “whoopsie daisy” moments—ground loops, rough strips, turbulence hits, and the kind of decisions that seem like a good idea… until they aren’t. There’s talk of taildraggers vs nose-draggers, operating into sketchy strips, and how quickly things can unravel when conditions, experience, and instinct don’t quite line up. It’s equal parts storytelling, lessons learned the hard way, and classic pilot banter. If you’ve spent time around aircraft—or just enjoy hearing how things go wrong and right again—this one hits home.

In this episode, Jimbo, Hoodie and Pedro dive into the debate around modern spreading tech — variable rate systems, cockpit mapping, and whether it’s actually improving outcomes or just adding cost and complexity for farmers. Is the technology genuinely helping pilots and cockies get better results, or is it a half-finished system that’s shifting risk and responsibility onto the people flying the job? The conversation drifts (as it always does) through real stories from the cockpit — dodgy fert density, spread tests, long days in Gizzy, and the reality of life as an ag pilot when the weather, the boss, and the cockies all have different expectations. Along the way the lads also get into: Why constant-rate spreading actually is an improvement

In this episode the lads cover everything from the serious to the downright ridiculous. Pedro debriefs the Ag Aviation Conference — mental-health panels, medical reforms, and why pilots still fear losing their medicals — before the crew dives into training pathways, turbines vs pistons, and the future of the industry. Then the gold starts flowing: wild strip operations, tailwinds that make no sense, hybrid-electric ag-planes, and farmers doing farmers things. And topping it all off: the Mesopotamia Station story — two blokes accidentally sprinting 80 km/h down a strip hanging onto a moving aircraft . A mix of industry insight, pure chaos, and some of the funniest rural aviation yarns you’ll hear.