Day three of our Story Stop Tour at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2026 takes us to two booths with very different products and a surprisingly similar lesson.

First, we visit ALSIM, a French company that has been building certified flight simulators since 1994. Suliman from ALSIM explains what separates a professional training simulator from the flight sim on your laptop. He covers how engineers use real flight data and computational fluid dynamics to build a sim's flight model, and why real avionics and muscle memory are shaping the future of pilot training.

Then we head to the FLYTE tent, where an Australian sunglass company built by pilots arrived at Oshkosh with no stock and no tent and still built one of the best hangouts on the field. Co-owner Mick shares how aviators learn to stay calm when the red lights come on. Filmmaker and CFI Dakota Cyhaniuk explains why practice beats talent. Airshow pilot Patrick McAlee of Team Extreme Flight goes from the kid at the fence to the pilot in the cockpit. Natalia McAlee, host of the Wonder Women of Aviation podcast, explains why she wrote a kids' book to answer her own questions about aerobatics.

• Sims aren't video games. Professional simulators are certified by aviation authorities like the FAA and EASA, so flight schools can use them for part of a student's required training.
• The flight model is the brain of the sim. ALSIM combines data from real flights with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to make its simulators respond like the real airplane.
• Muscle memory matters. Sims built with real Garmin avionics put every screen and knob where it is in the airplane, so your hands learn the cockpit before you ever fly it.
• What's next in sim training: higher-fidelity devices, mixed reality, and AI-powered tools that help both students and instructors.
• Procedures beat panic. Mick's four-word reaction to warning lights ("Don't like that much") shows how pilot training builds resilience you can use anywhere.
• Sometimes the best call is not to go. A 40-knot crosswind at Bryce Canyon turned into an overnight stay and a lifelong friendship.
• Talent is mostly practice. Dakota Cyhaniuk says his aviation films got better one shoot at a time, the same way pilots improve one landing at a time.
• Mechanics keep everyone flying. Patrick McAlee reminds young listeners that the shortage of mechanics and engineers is even bigger than the pilot shortage.
• STEM + Art = STEAM. Natalia McAlee uses books, coloring pages, and simulators to get kids off their screens and thinking.

Time

Segment

00:00

Opening: from a hangar somewhere near the flightline

01:20

Story Stop #1: ALSIM, a flight simulator company from France

03:09

Are professional sims just expensive video games?

04:21

Building a flight model: real flight data + computational fluid dynamics

06:21

The future of sim training: muscle memory, mixed reality, and AI

10:35

Story Stop #2: FLYTE, and the shipment that never arrived

12:07

"Don't like that much": Mick on staying calm when the red lights come on

13:55

Dakota Cyhaniuk on why practice beats talent

15:50

Patrick McAlee: from the kid at the fence to the airshow pilot

18:19

Natalia McAlee on aerobatics, her kids' book, and STEAM

Hear the full interviews

• AviNation YouTube channel: full-length Story Stop interviews → https://www.youtube.com/@AviNationUSA

Story Stop #1: ALSIM

• ALSIM: https://www.alsim.com/
• ALSIM on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alsimflight/

Story Stop #2: FLYTE

• FLYTE sunglasses: https://flyte.aero
• Team Extreme Flight (Patrick & Natalia McAlee): https://extreme-flight.com
• Wonder Women of Aviation podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/5t8NwklCL4QDjqZFqikrBV
• Dakota Cyhaniuk: Instagram @dakotacyhaniuk · YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DakotaCyhaniuk

The event

• EAA AirVenture Oshkosh: https://www.eaa.org/airventure

Subscribe & review

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Day two of the Story Stop Tour takes Jacob and Shawn straight into the action at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh for three conversations that all circle the same idea: somebody has to build the thing before the next generation can use it.

First, a stop at the SUN ‘n FUN booth to trace how the Aerospace Center for Excellence turns curious kids — like the members of the Lakeland Aero Club — into licensed pilots, with insight from ACE's Eric Crump and SUN ‘n FUN CEO Gene Conrad on what it actually takes to fund that pipeline.

Then it's over to LIFT Aviation, where marketing lead Cody Wozniak explains how a single pair of shoes turned into a full line of pilot safety gear, and aerobatic performer Patrick McAlee explains exactly why he wears every piece of it.

Finally, a visit to McFarlane Aviation, where engineer Val walks through the unglamorous parts — fuel primers, shimmy dampeners, flight control cables — that quietly keep general aviation aircraft flying.

• The Aerospace Center for Excellence's mission — "engage, educate, accelerate" — funds year-round programs (Storytime, summer camps, scholarships, the Lakeland Aero Club) entirely through net proceeds from the SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo
• Three Lakeland Aero Club members share how the program's glider-first training path shaped their paths in aviation — from powered flight, to aerobatics, to a seaplane rating scholarship
• SUN ‘n FUN CEO Gene Conrad breaks down the scale of running the event: 3,000+ volunteers, 62 air traffic controllers, and a "logistical ballet" that funds ACE's "other 51 weeks"
• LIFT Aviation's origin story starts with a single pair of pilot shoes at Oshkosh 11 years ago, built around a patented rudder-control heel slider
• Aerobatic pilot Patrick McAlee explains why full safety gear — helmet, fire suit, visor, gloves — isn't optional, including a firsthand account of landing after an in-flight oil line failure coated his canopy
• McFarlane Aviation's engineering team builds and bench-tests small, often-overlooked parts (fuel primers, shimmy dampeners, flight control cables) based directly on customer and pilot feedback

Time

Segment

0:00

Cold open — from the hangars at Oshkosh

0:43

Lakeland Aero Club: Blythe on gliders and stick-and-rudder training

1:18

Lakeland Aero Club: TJ on chasing aerobatics over the airlines

1:44

Lakeland Aero Club: Camille on her seaplane rating scholarship

2:35

Eric Crump on ACE's "engage, educate, accelerate" mission

5:08

Gene Conrad on running SUN ‘n FUN and funding "the other 51 weeks"

9:17

LIFT Aviation: Cody Wozniak on the company's "shoe in a box" origin

12:12

Patrick McAlee on why full safety gear isn't optional

15:34

McFarlane Aviation: Val on old-fashioned customer service

17:22

McFarlane Aviation: Val on expanding the shimmy dampener line

• • Aerospace Center for Excellence
  • SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo
  • LIFT Aviation
  • Extreme Flight — Patrick McAlee & the Blue Demon
  • McFarlane Aviation