(lively music) - Welcome to "A Shot of Ag," my name is Rob Sharkey.

I'm a fifth generation farmer from just outside of Bradford, Illinois.

How about these farm kids?

You think they'll ever amount to anything?

How about a farm kid that ended up going to be a pilot?

Well, his grandparents were farmers.

It's confusing, isn't it, Phil?

- A little bit.

- Yeah, so Phillip Chamberlain from... You're from Lake James, North Carolina?

- That's where I live now, yes.

- Did you fly in here?

- We drove, actually.

We didn't have to fly.

- How long of a drive is that?

- It was about 12 hours.

- What's that?

Anymore, that's as good as flying.

As bad as the airlines are.

(chuckling) I'm joking, I'm joking.

North James Carolina, you thought you were born, were you born and raised in Bloomington?

- Yes, yep.

Born normal.

- You were born normal.

- I was born normal.

- Yes.

- Oh, that's clever, that's a joke.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, Bloomington normal.

- Raised in Bloomington.

(both laughing) But you did have grandparents, a farm.

What, up north?

- In Dickson and (indistinct).

Yeah, yep.

- Okay.

- Dairy farms.

- Do you remember the farms much?

- Oh, absolutely, yeah.

Had a big dairy farm, huge dairy barn.

And we'd go up there, and I didn't do too much.

But I got to watch.

- They didn't force labor on 'ya?

- A little bit, but not too bad, I was pretty young then.

- Do you remember, did you do milking?

- Yeah, yeah, I do.

- Did they make you do that?

- No, no, no, no, no.

I did it at a fair.

But I never actually had to do it.

- I've done that, too.

That's because you get paid a dollar, but then you get the ice cream cone.

- Right, right.

- Those dairy people are clever, aren't they?

- But your parents did not farm?

- They did not farm, no.

- Okay.

- So I was raised right in the City of Bloomington.

- And you are, what do you say, you are a pilot?

Or an instructor?

- Both, so I'm a captain for Spirit Airlines, and an instructor.

So, I teach in simulators and I fly the airplane.

- You're teaching future commercial pilots?

- Yep.

Future ones that are new pilots to the airline.

And the current pilots, keeping them current for their yearly check rides.

- Why pilot?

Why flying?

- It's just something I always wanted to do.

When I was a kid, I flew down to Orlando, saw the airplane, the instruments inside, decided that's what I wanted to do.

- You looked into that cockpit, and saw that maze of switches, and dials and all that, and you were like "Oh, yeah, that's all me."

- Yeah, pretty much.

- [Rob] Really?

- Yeah.

- I mean from that age on, is that kind of when they said, "Oh, Phillip, what are you gonna be?"

And, it was always a pilot?

- Yep.

I never veered from then on, so.

- Okay.

- Went to Southern Illinois University for it.

And (bell ringing), and been doing it ever since.

- [Rob] Carbondale?

- Yeah.

- Salukis?

- Yes, I'm a Saluki.

- And you are married to my wife's best friend.

All through, I don't know when they met, junior high, in high school, and college.

- She's a Saluki.

- [Rob] You wanna hear some wild stories about her?

(Phillip laughing) - Sure.

- I don't really have any.

(Phillip laughing) I'd say she's kind of boring.

So, it is what it is.

- She's great.

- That's what I meant to say.

- She's great.

- Yes, she's fantastic.

Except that one time.

Ah, just leave it.

I don't, I wish I did, I wish I had something where she was dancing on a bar with a lamp shade and that.

But, you think Annette could of gave me one story, this whole time.

- Some people never change.

- Some people never change.

(both chuckling) Southern Illinois University in Carbondale does have a very, I don't know, prestigious flight school.

Is that what it's called?

Aviation?

- Yeah, aviation management was what my degree was in.

But we fly down there, as well.

And it's a very large flight school.

- So do you start with, I don't know.

I don't even know the terms, like the Piper Cubs, the small stuff?

- Yeah, Cessna 152.

And you just work your way up from there.

Then I went and flew cargo, that's where the eggs come in.

I started flying car parts and chickens, baby chickens.

- [Rob] Car parts and chickens.

- Car parts and chickens.

To build my experience before I went to my first airline.

- So tell me the process of flying a flight of baby chickens.

- So usually leave at midnight, fly to some small airport outside of a farm, where they would sell thousands of chickens.

You pick them up, they're all compacted, and we would fly them up, usually to northern Canada.

Where a farm would buy them, and we would, they had to stay cold, because they were so compacted, and we would have to keep the airplane extremely cold for an uncomfortable flight up into Canada.

- You can't turn the heat on in cab, and not?

- No, no, it's a small airplane, so everything, we're all together.

- [Rob] Huh.

- So you had a constant, thousand, baby chickens chirping away at 'ya, while you're trying to fly the airplane.

- [Rob] Were they loud?

- Oh, yeah.

- Huh.

So like, I don't know, back in the day when we didn't know better, we ordered, like, I don't know, like a hundred chicks, right?

And then the post office calls you, and says, "Hey, your chicks are here, "come get them before they aren't chicks any more."

You were the guy that brought them from the farm, to wherever?

- Right.

Thousands of them.

An few would escape, so you always would have to corral them.

Sometimes during flight.

- [Rob] The chicks would escape?

- Oh, yeah, yeah.

- Didn't you have like a cage, or a box, or a?

- They're all in boxes, but they found their way out.

- How's a baby chick find it's way out of a cage that's meant to contain them?

- It's like having snakes on the plane, but baby chickens on a plane.

- Was that a true story, by the way?

- Yes, that is true.

- The snakes?

- Oh, I don't know about that.

- The movie wasn't based off of?

I mean, you're a pilot, you guys talk.

- I'm sure there's been snakes on planes.

Yeah there's- - But not one where, have you seen the movie?

- No, I have not seen that movie.

Especially when I'm in that business, I don't wanna- - Oh, you don't wanna be scared.

Yeah, I get that, I understand that.

- We've had monkeys on planes.

We've had chicks on planes, and always something.

- [Rob] Some interesting.

Where rowdy people, you gotta (mimicking popping) bop on the head.

(Phillip chuckling) You probably can't talk about that, though?

- No, not too much.

- It's flying, flying is unique, right?

Because you've got a lot of people that are trying to get someplace.

They're all frustrated, they're all grumpy, because we all had to wake up at three in the morning.

- Right.

- And here you guys are trying to keep everybody happy.

That's gotta get old.

- It's just part of the job.

- Is it?

- Yeah.

- I do have a suggestion for you, if that's all right.

- I'll take it.

- As a pilot, I don't know what you guys, if you guys learned this in school, but you all talk the same when it comes across the- - A little bit of a delay before everything we say.

- I don't know what it is, it's like, 'cause you don't sound like it here.

But if I put a walkie-talkie in front of you- - Then I would have to add the "Uh," before I say everything.

- Yeah!

It's just part of the- - So, they teach you that?

- Yeah, they teach it.

That's day one.

- "Uh, ladies and gentlemen-" - Yeah, that's the first thing we learn.

- We're about ready to take off in 15 minutes.

- Yeah, that's our lingo.

- That's how you do it.

My suggestion is, to keep people happier, the planes that have the little TV screens in front of.

When you talk, don't interrupt my movie.

'Cause every time you come on, or the flight attendants, they stop, so it pauses the movie.

- So you listen.

- I've flown before.

You should have a little button on there, "Is this your first flight?"

And then, you would have to pause the movie.

But for us that have done it so much, if I wanna watch Jason Bourne just go through a bunch of bad guys, I don't wanna be interrupted with you telling me you're gonna find some turbulence, and then the flight, the service is gonna be delayed for 10 minutes.

I don't care, Jason Bourne's on.

- Well, we gotta get the people to listen.

So sometimes we gotta cut you off.

(Phillip chuckling) - I am, I'm guessing, that maybe you are not gonna take that suggestion.

- I can send it up.

- You can send it up, that's the worse you can do.

- Yeah, that's what I'll do.

- Okay.

(both chuckling) Do you enjoy it?

- I love it, love it.

- [Rob] Really?

- Yep.

Great schedule, great job.

Always exciting, adventurous.

- It's gotta have some pressure to it.

'Cause I mean, what's the most people that you've ever flown in a plan?

- Probably about 230.

- [Rob] That's a lot of people - That's a lot of people.

- Yeah, and they're all relying on you to take off and land safely.

- That's right.

- And that doesn't bother you?

- No, no.

It's our job.

- Okay.

- It would worry me.

- Yeah, we make sure we get there safe, and they're sitting behind me, so.

We're all in it together.

- Do you ever get surprised any more by weather, or whatever, or is all that planned out beforehand?

- It's always planned out with a dispatch beforehand.

So, it's always done with safety the most paramount thing.

But, you're always dealing with a changing environment, everything is very fluid for every flight.

- So is it, would it be easier to say, "Where have you flown?"

Or easier to say, "Where haven't you flown?"

- I fly pretty much all domestically, and Central and South America.

- [Rob] Okay, so you don't go over the pond so much?

- No, no.

- Is that like a different license?

I don't know what you would call it?

- No, no, it's more different training.

But it's all the same thing.

- [Rob] You could do it.

- I could do it.

- [Rob] Yeah.

Are you, I mean is it, like a pilot, I don't know.

Do you guys start out and you're like, oh, the goal is to get to the whatever, the biggest plane there is, or are you just content where you're at?

- Yeah, you want good schedule, people like to change airplanes.

The airline I'm at has only only type of airplane.

So, you start as a First Officer, and work your way up to being a Captain.

- [Rob] What type of airplane.

- An Airbus.

- An Airbus.

Does that have the TV screens?

- Ours do not, so we do not have that problem.

(Rob grunting) So, they'll probably look at me weird, when I move that up the chain, since we do not have the screen.

- Yeah, but it's still a valid point.

And I don't know, I think people at home will be, that's a great idea.

Okay, I have another question, not a suggestion.

- Why don't we load the back of the plane first?

And then back to front, instead of front to back?

- They do now, they mix it up, different zones, as they figure out more efficient ways.

Some airlines do it by zones, and some will usually send people to the back.

Some people that paid more for their ticket will wanna board first, so they get priority.

- I was unaware.

The only time, of all the flying I've ever done, there was one time we loaded the back first, is because they said we're super-late, and we need to load it quickly, so we're gonna start in the back.

And like, why don't we just do this all the time?

But the lady that was working on the calendar, honestly could care less about my thoughts on the issue.

- That's probably true.

- Yeah.

Okay.

(both chuckling) What is Lake James, North Carolina like?

- It's beautiful there, right in the foothills of, right in the Pisgah National Forest.

It's the first lake in the Catawba River.

Very clean, beautiful, right by Mount Mitchell, the highest point on the East Coast.

- Hey, honestly, I don't know anything you just said.

Yeah, but it sounds nice.

- And the people in North Carolina, though, appreciate that.

- We got a big North Carolina audience watching.

(Rob laughing) - Just east of Asheville.

- How did you end up there?

- I had family there.

We always loved going to visit there.

The climate's very good.

So, we decided to just move there.

- I remember you, when you and Annette first go married, you guys, just newlyweds, and you didn't have kids.

And boy, you guys, you were like globe setters.

You could go everywhere.

- Not anymore.

- Is it, kids tie you down?

- Oh, no.

But they slow you down when you're driving 12 hours across the country.

Six and 10 year old.

- [Rob] Yeah, I supposed.

- It makes the driving more fun.

- I mean, it had to be fun.

Because not everybody gets to travel.

- That's right.

- What was your favorite place?

- That we traveled together?

- Oh, probably Cancun?

- [Rob] Yeah.

- Can't beat Cancun.

- [Rob] Kind of hard to beat Cancun.

- Yeah, yes.

(Rob laughing) - With the instructor part, so are you just for Spirit?

- Yes, only Spirit.

- And these are, I would guess if they got to that point, are they, at least been through school?

- Yep, they're professional pilots.

They're getting, learned to train.

Train on the Airbus for Spirit Airlines.

- Do those have, do you put them through the worse-case scenario?

- Oh yeah, they do training in the simulator.

The simulator is about 20 feet tall.

It's a full-motion simulator.

That's where they get all their training in.

And they're able to fly the airplane right after the come out of the simulator.

- Mm-hm.

Can you watch movies at all that have anything to do with planes?

Because I imagine that they're so off-kilter, that you just gotta laugh.

- Yes, pretty much.

- That one were they had to fly the plan upside-down.

- Yeah, yes.

- Was it Denzel Washington?

- Yes.

- Did that make any sense?

- No.

(Rob laughing) - It was a good movie.

(both chuckling) - That man's a fine actor.

- Yes, yes.

- Even I, as someone who is not a pilot, am looking at that going, "That just doesn't make sense."

- Probably not a good idea.

- Yeah.

(both chuckling) - Is it frustrating sometimes that people don't quite understand what it takes to do what you do?

- No, it's interesting to talk about it.

I enjoy telling people about it.

Now's a great time to become a pilot.

It's booming like I've never seen before.

- [Rob] Really?

- We're hiring about a 100 pilots every month.

So, it's a great time to enter- - Is it just that, 'cause that airline is doing so well, or what's the increase?

- Growing, huge demand.

- [Rob] Are you stealing from other airlines?

I don't know how that works.

- Oh yeah, they're always, pilots are coming and going.

- Flipping back and forth, huh?

- I mean is it?

I don't know how to ask this?

Let's take trucking.

Do you know anything about trucking?

- A little bit.

- So, there's a company that's called Swift, right?

And they are kind of known as generic, or so.

As a pilot would you...as a truck driver, since we are gonna talk about you, would you stay away from a company like that?

Or is it all just kind of the same thing?

And the backside of it is up to somebody else?

- Yeah, it's all fairly similar.

People go to other places based on schedules, quality of life, pay.

So, everybody's got their reasons to work at different places.

Every airline got unique opportunities, whether you're home every night, or you get a certain amount of days off between trips.

If you're based locally.

If you're able to drive five minutes to airport.

I'm based in Houston.

I usually teach in Fort Lauderdale, and I live in North Carolina.

So, it's always a unique thing for my job.

- As a pilot, do you have to go through all the stuff we do?

The security, and all that?

- We do have other methods to go through security that sometimes make it more expeditious, but sometimes not.

- [Rob] You're kidding me?

- No.

- Boy, that would get old.

- Yes.

- I mean, I would think that you would come up with little wings, and they'd just be like, "Okay."

Maybe go through the metal detector.

- Yeah, sometimes.

So, they keep it mixed up.

So you know, nobody can plan anything for security.

- Where did the eggs come from?

- These came from my mother-in-law.

They actually got them as early as this morning.

She was nice enough to put dates on them.

- She did.

- You can see that they're dated.

So that's to represent the start of my career when I was flying chickens.

- [Rob] Yes.

- Which came before the eggs.

The chickens came before the eggs.

- Okay, I think one thing we're learning is that maybe pilots don't have the best sense of humor.

- Maybe not.

- With the jokes, and that- - That's true, we're working on it.

- We're working on it, it's funny.

- I should of delayed, I should of put the "Uh..." (both laughing) - What we have here, is uh...eggs lays- - You know how to tell if they're hard-boiled, or not?

You spin 'em.

And if they spin, they're hard-boiled.

But if they don't...this one's ready to be- - They're dated.

- They are dated.

- There's no question about it.

It's the first dated egg I've ever seen.

It's the born-on date, I guess.

- Is that just what she does?

- That's what she does, apparently (chuckling).

- Okay, I mean, I guess it's good.

- Yeah, it's great.

- Because I think when you have chickens, you end up with a lot of eggs, and some of them might be in the refrigerator for years.

Could be.

- It's like gold, nowadays.

- Yeah.

You're in-laws are from Princeton, Illinois?

- Yes.

- North of Princeton.

Yeah.

And they got lots of foul.

- Yes, they do.

- Do you think that's why Annette was so attracted to you, because her parents had avion birds, and you were a pilot?

- Is that good humor?

That's...uh?

- Apparently not.

Apparently, that's not good humor.

- You should be a pilot.

(both laughing) - Where did you guys meet?

- We met in Orlando.

I was in between jobs, and was going through training in a new company, and a friend of a friend, 'cause we all went to college together, called her up, and we all went out.

But we knew each other from college, but we did not meet in college.

- Okay.

Was it love at first sight?

- Of course.

- [Rob] That's not what she said.

- Probably not.

(both chuckling) - [Rob] How long have you guys been married?

- Coming up on 18 years.

- [Rob] 18 years.

- 18 years.

- [Rob] How many kids?

- Two kids.

- How old?

- Six and 10.

- Six and, oof.

- So it was a long drive, six and 10 year old.

- Do you have like the DVD, where they can play the Disney movies?

- No, they have their own, just like the airline, they have their own.

So that way when I talk, it doesn't interrupt.

They just keep at it.

- Does that bother you?

- Yeah, it does.

(both chuckling) Nobody listens.

- Do you just like continually turn around, talk to the kids, saying how far they're out from the final destination?

But you know, the weather looks clear?

- Yeah, well they ask me how far they are from the final destination.

- [Rob] Are we there yet?

- About every two minutes.

- Ah-huh.

So, with a job that you travel a lot, I mean, is it hard with two kids?

- Yeah.

That's the bad part of just being away from home.

It's the best place to fly, is back home.

And but yeah, it's challenging.

But then, we get a lot of days off, as well.

So it equals about half a month.

- Oh, like half-on/half-off?

- Half-on/half-off.

- That's pretty nice.

- Yeah.

- Are you a good boat pilot?

- I'd like to think so, I used to live on a boat, so- - [Rob] You used to live on a boat?

- Live on a boat, yeah.

- Like, what kind of boat?

- A troller, like a comfortable troller.

- I don't know what that is.

- It's a cabin-cruiser type boat.

- Just for fun, you lived on a boat?

- Yeah, yeah.

That way go flying, and then when I wasn't flying, I was on a boat, right in the harbor of Baltimore.

It was a lot of fun, lots to do.

- You sounded like you used to be really cool.

- Yeah, I was a little cooler back then.

(chuckling) - God, think how cool you'd be if you hadn't met Annette?

(Phillip laughing) Man, oh, man.

- Oh, she's great.

- You'd be Tom Crusin' it.

Probably fighter jets, and all that stuff.

Mach 20.

- I really, I hope she's not watching.

- I'm sure she is.

(Rob laughing) Also into wood-working?

- Yeah, wood-working.

That's my big hobby, is boating and wood-working.

On the lake there, we have boats.

And wood-working when I'm not boating, or traveling with the family.

- Okay, now you did go to Southern?

- Yes.

- And possibly, we'd met at some point.

Because what was your job?

- I had multiple jobs.

I delivered burritos for La Bamba.

- [Rob] For La Bamba's?

- Yes.

- Now, I didn't realize it, but when we went down to Southern, I thought it was just the one restaurant, but there's multiple La Bamba's.

The burrito is as big as your head.

- Yes.

- Yeah.

- So, I was delivery driver for them.

- I didn't know they delivered.

It was probably good.

But I did go in every year, because you got a free burrito on your birthday.

(Phillip chuckling) But it wasn't the big one.

- Oh, the medium sized?

- I don't know, it was still big.

- I miss 'em, those were good.

- Were they really as big as a person's head?

- Yes...They were big.

- [Rob] Did you ever see anybody eat the whole thing?

- Oh, yeah.

- [Rob] Really?

- Yeah.

- Some big old boys down there at Southern?

- There are some big boys down there.

(both chuckling) Farm boys.

- What else did you do down there?

- I washed dishes, and then I started getting flight experience.

I started flying car parts and chickens.

And anything else I could do to build flight time.

But that was it.

Then I started, my first airline was out of St. Louis.

- Well here you are, you're an established pilot.

Obviously, very successful.

If a young one comes up to you, a punk.

You know, the youths.

If they came up to you and said, "Hey, I'm thinking about getting my pilot's license."

What advice would you give 'em?

- Do it, I strongly recommend it.

And you can go to your local airport, and do an introductory flight.

I recommend that you try it.

- [Rob] No, I'm good.

- You'd be a flying shark farmer.

- I'm good with my tractors.

- I think you should try it, it's just a flying tractor.

They do have flying tractors, by the way.

- Yes, I am aware of that, the crop dusters.

- Yes.

- Although, they don't like to be called crop dusters any more.

So okay, you bring up a good point.

So, it's exciting to get into my tractor, right?

Because we've got all the electronics, we got the auto-steer, we've got all this stuff.

After about a 100 hours, I'm like really, really bored to be on in there.

Do you get bored of flying?

Because I've always wondered that my pilot, I hope like he isn't just going through the motions on this flight.

(Phillip laughing) - There's flights that have a little bit of boredom built-in, but you're always checking things and doing things.

And checking your fuel, to make sure everything's good.

But it's, boring is good.

- So when you get up, can you hit the auto-steer, I don't know.

- Yeah, we have an auto-pilot.

- And then, you're good until you have to land it.

- Right, but you can auto-land it, as well.

- [Rob] Do you ever do that?

- Occasionally, but it doesn't do as good of a job, believe it or not.

- Do you hear about it if you don't have a nice, smooth landing?

- Oh yeah, yes.

- People are like, everyone going out, and you gotta stand there.

- Good job, chief, because that was a rough one.

- Yes, yes, we definitely hear about it.

Literally- - Only the bad ones.

- As a passenger- - You only hear about the bad ones.

That's one of our favorite parts.

- That's right.

- You only hear about the bad ones.

- If anybody has any questions for you, is there a way they can get in touch a hold of you?

Social media?

Internet?

- The internet, email.

I don't have any social media accounts.

They can get a hold of you.

- [Rob] That's a smart move.

- Yes.

- Not having a social media.

- I have pretty much nothing when it comes to that.

- Okay.

Well, I mean, you can be up, you have wifi up there now, right?

- Yes.

- You could be doing your TikTok videos.

- I could be.

- You know, flying, "Look at me."

- Probably not good for job security, but- - Probably not.

(both laughing) Well, I think it's very cool to actually be able to sit down.

And I always love talking to you, because it is something that a person like myself, and anybody that flies, we always kind of wondered, "What's it like?"

What is that person like, that's up there and has our lives in their hands?

So, I very much appreciate you coming and taking some time with us.

And yes, you did marry a good one.

- Yes, I did.

- She's been a life-long friend.

- She is the best.

- And it's been fantastic to get to know you guys.

So, Phillip Chamberlain, thank you so much.

Everybody else, we'll catch you next time.

- Thank you.

(lively music)