Ep. 286 The Long Way Back: Man Phung on Persistence in Aviation
Ready 4 Pushback
Nik Fialka
4.8 • 716 Ratings
🗓️ 6 October 2025
⏱️ 32 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, Nik sits down with his friend Man Phung for a two-part conversation that’s as real as it gets. Man’s path through aviation is full of twists, setbacks, and victories—and at the heart of it all is a powerful message: don’t quit.
Man fell in love with aviation as a kid in Hawaii, saving money as a teenager to earn most of his ratings before he even turned 18. But when the money ran out, he stepped away from flying for nearly two decades, building a successful career in sales and business. Then, during the hiring boom, Man reignited his aviation dream—buying his own airplane, building hours, and grinding through training while balancing family and work life.
Along the way, there were engine failures, an off-airport landing, multiple checkride failures, and plenty of moments where it would have been easier to give up. Instead, Man doubled down, gave himself grace, and kept pushing forward.
In this conversation, you’ll hear:
How a discovery flight in Honolulu lit the spark for Man’s aviation dream
The realities of training as a teenager with limited resources
Why he stepped away from flying for 20 years—and what brought him back
What it takes to buy your own airplane to build time (including smart financial strategies)
The story of surviving an engine failure and off-airport landing
Lessons learned from failed checkrides and the power of slowing down
Why persistence, patience, and tenacity are the real keys to a long aviation career
Man’s story is a reminder that aviation isn’t just about flying airplanes—it’s about resilience. Whether you’re a young pilot just starting out or a career-changer chasing your second chance, this episode will inspire you to stick with it, no matter what comes your way.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, pilot. |
| 0:03.2 | Welcome back to Ready for Pushback. |
| 0:05.1 | I'm Nick Fialca. |
| 0:06.2 | Today's interview is with my friend Mon Fung. |
| 0:09.8 | And this is a story. |
| 0:12.1 | It has a lot of interesting twists and turns. |
| 0:14.9 | If you are a pilot or a parent that is thinking about getting your kid into aviation, |
| 0:20.8 | Mon crushed it. |
| 0:22.3 | He got most of his ratings before he was 18 years old. |
| 0:25.0 | We talk about the experience of going through flight school and flight training at a young age |
| 0:31.1 | and then running out of money, going into the civilian world, |
| 0:35.8 | into the regular world, having a regular job, and then |
| 0:38.6 | getting back into aviation as a grown adult, as a second career kind of thing. And then |
| 0:45.2 | it just, we talk all sorts of really unexpected things. There's mishaps, there's failures, |
| 0:54.0 | there's successes, there's victories. And it is a fun, |
| 0:59.9 | interesting conversation. A lot of twists and turns. And the moral of this story is don't quit. |
| 1:06.4 | The moral of the story is aviation is for everybody. Aviation is for you. Aviation is for you if you succeed. Aviation is for you if you have a trip up. Just like I'm having a trip up talking right now, like stick with it. Have the grace that you can give yourself to continue, to push hard. And that I, is what this entire conversation is about. So, |
| 1:30.5 | here we go. Sit back. Relax. Let's get ready for pushback. It all started as a spark. |
| 1:39.7 | Maybe it was the sound of jets racing across the sky. |
| 1:44.3 | Or the feeling of your heart racing as you watch Crop Duster flying low and slow. |
| 1:50.5 | Even then, you knew you were meant to fly. |
| 1:54.2 | For pilots, it's more than just a job. |
... |
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