About the author:

C.M. McCalla has owned The McCalla Group LLC for fifteen years. He’s consulted for multiple defense contractors, for-profit and non-profit organizations. He was a commercial airline pilot for thirty years, a military pilot for fifteen, and a light airplane pilot for three. When he’s not writing, he’s enjoying seeing the United States from his motorcycle, and supporting charities that are important to him. He’s the proud Dad of two sons.

                                                        Questions from readers:

After flying fighters, how did you deal with the boredom of airline flying?

You hope you click with the other pilot(s). You talk about hobbies, families, your past etc. When you don’t click or someone doesn’t want to talk. The flights can get long.

How did you learn to fly formation (3’ apart)?

Like anything else, it was a building block approach, and I had to trust the system and my instructors. For me, formation flying came pretty easy. I enjoyed it. You learn to control your nerves.

Why Air Force not Navy?

This was a three day fight between my dad and I. His position was: The Navy spends its money or boats. The Air Force spends its money on airplanes. My position was: I thought landing and taking off from a carrier was the epitome of flying. That’s where I wanted to be / that was my goal. After an intense weekend. I changed my mind. I can honestly say I changed my mind.

Are you working on other books?

Yes, one more about my flying career. One about boat trips, and one about motorcycle trips around the United States.

This website is sponsored in part by:

Viking Bags:  https://www.vikingbags.com/pages/motorcycle-saddlebags

Why did you leave active duty?

My last unit had deployed a lot during  my three years. I was married and the deployments were taking their toll. I was able to get hired by a major airline and  the Georgia Air Guard. At least I could continue to fly F-15s and not move every three years. I thought it was the best way to preserve my marriage. It didn’t work.

Some of your stories seem to be cut short. Why?

Yes, a few stories had the potential to get into sensitive maybe classified information. I elected not to go there. I didn’t feel it would add much to the stories.

 Why did you stop flying?

I never wanted to be an airline pilot, and I didn’t  enjoyed it. Due to covid, I was being transferred to another domicile, and I didn’t want to end my career commuting, as my career had started. The company was offering early out packages. I took the package. My stress level is a lot less.