
Episode #6
Ray & Melisa Fowler from Adventure Flying...and a P-40 Warhawk story
Ray and Melisa Fowler run Adventure Flying LLC, a CubCrafters Certified Sales Center covering the mid-Atlantic — Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Both are Delta A320 Captains, and both carry warbird résumés that go well beyond the airline job: Melisa is type-rated in the DC-3, C-47, and B-17, with stick time in the back seat of a P-51. Ray is a retired Air National Guard Lieutenant Colonel, an FAA Designated Pilot Examiner, and Director of Flight Ops for the Liberty Foundation — including flying a P-40N on a live .50-cal mission documented on film this past July. We get into how Ray's start in warbirds was scrappier than his résumé suggests — as a teenager, he washed airplanes just to earn rides in the back seat of a Japanese "Kate" torpedo bomber replica, one of the airframes built for Tora! Tora! Tora! Years later, when the owner had a medical issue, Ray ended up training under a WWII-era instructor and soloing that same airplane himself. There's also a smaller-world moment neither of us expected: one of the Fowlers cut their teeth instructing local kids in a J-3 Cub through a youth aviation program Ron Alexander started at Peach State — the same program that lives on today as RAYAP, right at my own home strip. And then there's the backcountry chapter, which started almost by accident — a favor flying a Carbon Cub out to Utah that turned into an annual pilgrimage, then a CubCrafters dealership, then a full lifestyle. Their take on what backcountry flying feels like, even after a career full of warbirds and fighter jets, is one of the best lines to come out of any episode so far. If you've ever wondered what it looks like to go from fighter jets and airline flying to grass strips and gravel bars, this one's for you. Follow the Fowlers on Instagram Support the Soaring by the Sea Foundation HERE Sign-up for our newsletter, The Scout Report: HERE Want to support Backcountry Aviation Radio? Shop HERE to get the gear.






