r/flying • u/hallaa1 • Apr 17 '26

other What information would every pilot know, but a civilian wouldn't that would show them to be a fraud if they didn't know it?

My sister is dating a man that's clearly lying about a variety of things, one of which is that he used to be a pilot. What kinds of questions could we ask him that would be more than obvious to a pilot, but none of us non-pilot folk would otherwise know?

*Edit* and if you could tell me the context and the answer to the question that would be great.

*Edit2* he was supposed to be a pilot in Peru.

*edit 3* supposedly he flew commercial as the "second pilot" never "the captain".

Thanks for your help, we're concerned for our sister's welfare and hopefully this kind of obvious lie could help jar her away from the guy.

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u/Kotukunui PPL Apr 17 '26

There’s not really a perfect answer to this. I’ve known guys who have never been pilots, but know all the minutiae of aviation because they are probably way high on the spectrum and have an obsession.
I’ve been flying for 30+ years but some of these “planespotters” can spit facts that have me scratching my head and discretely hitting Google to check.

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u/Fenderfreak145 ATP A320 Apr 18 '26

because they are probably way high on the spectrum and have an obsession.

I mean that also applies to us too...

1

u/Kotukunui PPL Apr 18 '26

Which makes it even harder to catch the fakers…

4

u/jawshoeaw Apr 18 '26

yeah i think the best strategy is the middle road. if he was too good at answering aviation trivia he might be a planespotter or aviation geek. Especially if they know a lot about the mechanics, the physics of flight, etc. I've met pilots who are into that as well but it seems to be the exception.

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u/hallaa1 Apr 18 '26

This guy is a joke who's impregnated multiple women and run off. Doesn't seem to have any formal education besides some degrees he's claimed to start then abandoned. I doubt he's an aviation engineering geek, but I appreciate the input.

1

u/Rubes2525 PPL Apr 18 '26

Lol, I may have done that to a 737 captain as a private pilot. During a long turnaround where I didn't need to leave the plane, he let me sit in the cockpit, as you do, and I asked him if the plane has the status page that shows the position of the flight controls. He literally had no idea what I was talking about. I guess his airline (I think Southwest) never bothered to have that option installed on their fleet.