The Hangar Z Podcast

The Hangar Z Podcast occupies a fascinating niche that most aviation shows completely ignore: public safety aviation. Host Jon Gray, along with co-hosts Jack Schonely and Jason Quinn, focuses specifically on the helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft used in law enforcement, firefighting, emergency medical services, and search and rescue operations. It's the side of aviation where the mission isn't getting from A to B -- it's saving lives. With 331 episodes and a weekly release schedule, Jon has built a remarkable archive of conversations with the people who fly these missions. Guests include helicopter pilots who chase suspects through urban canyons, medevac crews who land on highways at night, and wildfire tanker pilots who fly through smoke that would ground commercial operations. The interview style is thorough, often spanning multi-part series that trace a guest's entire career from military service through civilian public safety work. Produced in partnership with Vertical Valor Magazine and sponsored by industry heavyweights like Airbus and Bell, the show has legitimate industry credibility. Recent episodes have taken the team international, recording at the European Rotors conference in Germany. The 4.9 rating from 97 reviews comes primarily from people actually working in the field, which says a lot. The mental health angle in the show's genre tags isn't accidental -- Jon regularly addresses the psychological toll of public safety flying, from PTSD to the daily stress of high-stakes missions. That willingness to go beyond the technical and into the human side makes Hangar Z something special in the aviation podcast world.