Feature Interview
From the Back of a Lear
to the Left Seat
of a CJ3+
A former public company CEO got tired of the airlines, bought a DA40 in Austin, and never boarded a commercial flight in the US again. This is how he got there — and what business aviation actually looks like from the owner’s seat.
Justin Siems with Jason Rhode · Ep. 364 · ~60 min
Most guests on Pilot to Pilot want to fly for the airlines. Jason Rhode is not most guests. The former CEO of Cirrus Logic — a public semiconductor company — came to aviation the way a lot of non-pilot business travelers eventually do: he got exhausted by the airlines, watched a finance colleague pull up ForeFlight on an iPad, and thought, I want that.
What followed was one of the most honest aviation progression stories I’ve heard. A sweaty preflight in 110-degree Austin heat. A DA40 with air conditioning that changed everything. A DA62 serial number 10 that taught him why you don’t buy serial number 10 of anything. A TBM that took him all over the country and, by his own account, extended his career as a CEO by four or five years. And finally, a Citation CJ3+ that he took to 45,000 feet on the demo flight — before the seller had ever been there himself.
From the episode
“Having transitioned to private aviation, it extended my longevity as a CEO by four or five years. I literally would have just said — guys, I can’t do this anymore.”
What makes Jason’s story different isn’t the aircraft progression — it’s the why. He wasn’t chasing ratings or building hours toward a career. He was solving a problem: getting himself and his wife between Austin, Telluride, and Santa Rosa without losing half his life to airports. The plane is a tool. A remarkably capable, increasingly expensive tool — but a tool.
He walks through what Textron Aviation’s pro ownership program actually looks like from the inside, why finding the right insurance underwriter matters more than almost anything else in a jet transition, and makes a strong case for landing Runway 27 at Telluride. He also admits he has engineered every trip so far to avoid Teterboro — but is thinking about finally biting the bullet.
Jason Rhode with his Citation CJ3+ — the plane that took him to 45,000 feet on the demo flight.
What to listen for
→
Why a DA62 serial number 10 is a bad idea — and what coolant streaming down the nacelle teaches you mid-flight
→
How Textron Aviation’s pro ownership program works in practice — mentor pilots, Flight Safety sim training, maintenance coordination
→
The insurance broker conversation nobody tells you about before a jet transition — and why your underwriter matters more than your carrier
→
Landing Runway 27 at Telluride — and why Jason thinks skipping it is actually the riskier choice
→
Pilot and Paws missions, concert chasing in a Citation, and what lobster and champagne on a Cape Cod to Telluride leg actually looks like
From the magazine
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