- (quietly) I wanted to be a pilot since I was a little kid.
- (quietly) I just decided last week.
- My name
(chalk writing)
is Captain
Wilerson.
Not dude,
not bro,
not teach,
but Captain Wilerson,
and I am here to teach you all
(military drumming)
how to be pilots, now who here read the manual?
Wonderful.
Forget about it.
Because being a successful pilot,
it's not about what you know,
it's about who you know.
- I'm sorry.
We do need to know how to fly though, right?
- Yeah, but in order to be successful,
you gotta hustle, all right?
You gotta network.
- I don't think the FAA says anything about hustling
or mingling.
- When I was your age,
I found myself in the co-pilot seat
next to Karl Reinsdorf.
Now halfway through that flight, he got a heart attack,
and guess who landed the plane?
- A passenger?
- [Captain] Anybody else?
- You?
- Nobody has any guesses at all?
- Someone on Reddit?
- You're the co-pilot, right?
So probably you?
- No ideas?
- You were the co-pilot, so you.
- Who do you think it was?
- We're saying you,
are you hearing that we're saying you?
- You're all wrong.
It was me.
- Yeah.
- Oh wow.
- But, you knew how to fly.
(swish)
- Yeah, I know how to fly a plane,
but the most important part
is that I was there.
- Oh, I actually had a question about that.
- [Captain] Yes.
- So at the altitude that the plane starts falling,
how do you ensure that the engines
have enough thrust--
- Show up!
- What?
- Show up!
- Show up to the plane?
- Show up everywhere!
You want to be the pilot
who's at the airport all the time!
That way if somebody gets sick,
who are they gonna look to?
- (sighs) The person at the airport.
- Huh?
- The pilot that was assigned as alternate?
- They're only gonna have one person to look to,
who's it gonna be?
- You.
- Which person?
- I feel like we're saying the answer
and you're not listening to us.
- Someone at the airport.
- Just--
- A flight attendant who's paying attention.
- You.
It'd be you.
- All right, look.
We're just here to learn the rules of flying.
- Rules were meant to be broken!
- But wouldn't that mean crashing?
- You're afraid of rejection.
Yes you are, you're afraid.
You're afraid, look at you!
Say it, you fear rejection, say it!
- I fear rejection!
- Oh, you didn't have to say that.
- I mean, just look at Sully!
He crashed!
And now he's the most famous pilot in the world.
- I thought we were here to avoid situations like that.
- Wrong!
You're here to learn how to be great.
And greatness is about embracing failure,
make mistakes, people!
- Yeah, but that's putting hundreds of people at risk.
- Use those erasers, that's why you have an eraser!
- That's a pen.
- That's why you have an eraser!
Here's an assignment.
I want you all to go out this week and fail on purpose.
- You want us to crash a plane on purpose?
- Once you crash once,
you'll find out that it's not that bad
and you won't be afraid of it anymore, huh?
Scaredy cat?
Now how many Instagram followers do you have?
- What, I don't--
- [Captain] Come on.
- Three!
What?
My mom, my dog, and my wife!
What does that have to do with anything?
- (laughs) What would you get,
how are you gonna,
I mean, nowadays, you need a following
if you want to book any flights, son!
- I think you're confusing this with something else.
- You know what?
I like the cut of your jib.
You should move to Los Angeles.
'Cause I'mma tell you what,
I don't care how good of a pilot you are,
you're not gonna get discovered in Louisville.
- Wait a minute.
You're the guy from the commercials, the Pan Am commercials!
Right?
- [Everyone] Oh!
- Now I like him!
That's awesome!
We have to take a photo, can I take a photo?
- [Everyone] Wilerson!