Flight Funded Experiment

Building a
Flight Funded Career

I'm a commercial pilot building income streams to fund the next block of flight hours. FeedFare is live, the Kalshi weather bot is paused for redesign, and KDP has now sold 17 paid units for $139.88 so far, with the PPL workbook leading the pack.

✈️
369.5
Total Flight Hours
Part 135: 500 · ATP: 1,500
💰
$74.34
KDP Royalties This Month
9 paperback orders · 0 KENP reads
📈
7.9
Avg Hours / Month
Lifetime avg · Grounded since Oct 2025
⏱️
~17
Months to Part 135
~17 mo at 7.9 hrs/mo · 500 hrs minimum
🎯 Part 135 Minimum — Near-Term Goal 369.5 / 500 hours (130.5 remaining · ~17 months)
Takeoff 74% to Part 135 Goal: 500 hrs
✈️ Flight Hours to Airline Minimum (ATP) 369.5 / 1,500 hours (1,130.5 remaining)
Takeoff 25% to ATP minimum Goal: 1,500 hrs
💸 Verified Funding Progress $139.88 KDP royalties verified so far
KDP verified so far Conservative proof over hype $226,000 flight gap

Last updated: April 13, 2026 · Follow the journey on YouTube →

☕ Support the experiment
Every dollar goes directly toward flight hours. Tracked publicly above.
☕ Buy me a coffee → flight time
What’s Funding the Hours
Kalshi Weather Bot
⏸️ Paused
Weather-only realized PnL is -$142.16 after stripping sports. Trading is paused and the bot is being rebuilt around calibration and cleaner scoring.
iOS App
🎉 FeedFare LIVE
Build 26 approved Apr 2. New onboarding funnel, quiz-driven walking rules, delayed paywall. First trial conversion watch begins.
Aviation Study Products
Live
KDP so far: 17 paid units and $139.88 estimated royalties. April alone is 9 paperback sales and $74.34, with the PPL workbook carrying most of the revenue.
OpenClaw Playbook
Early
The playbook is live as a digital product, but it is still early and not yet a meaningful revenue line.

What Flight Funded Is Measuring

01

Flight hours

The whole point is to close the gap between where I am now and a Part 135 cockpit. This page tracks the hours, the pace, and whether the timeline is actually improving or just getting romanticized.

02

Income quality

Not all revenue is equal. I care about whether an income stream is durable, repeatable, and boring enough to count on. That is why KDP matters more right now than hype around one lucky trade or a flashy launch week.

03

Capital discipline

If a system is unstable, it does not stay live just because it sounds cool on the internet. That is why the Kalshi bot is paused while the weather strategy gets rebuilt around calibration instead of ego.

Read next if you want the full picture

These pages explain the flying path, the weather bot post-mortem, and the aviation products funding the experiment.

🤖 Kalshi Weather Bot ✈️ Commercial Pilot Career Guide 📘 Commercial Workbook Launch
Kalshi Bot Status
⏸️ Kalshi Bot — Paused for Redesign
The original live weather run lost money once sports activity was stripped out. The current job is to rebuild calibration and scoring before any live return.
PAUSED · redesign
Weather-only realized PnL: -$142.16 · LaunchAgent off · no live restart
How the Experiment Works
01

The Problem

I need 1,130.5 more flight hours to reach ATP minimum. At about $200 per hour, that's roughly a $226,000 gap. Instead of waiting until I can afford more flying, I'm trying to build assets that help fund the next block of hours.

02

The Strategy

I'm testing three real funding lanes: iOS apps, aviation study products, and small digital products. Kalshi stays paused until the redesign earns its way back.

03

The Bot

The original weather bot compared NOAA and Open-Meteo forecasts to Kalshi prices, but the live version was overconfident and structurally flawed. It is now paused while I rebuild it around calibration, cleaner scoring, and better abstention.

04

The Transparency

I update this page with real numbers from the experiment: flight hours, revenue, and major milestones. No fake wins, no inflated screenshots.

Milestones
Apr 13, 2026
KDP is now at 17 paid units and $139.88 in estimated royalties. April alone is up to 9 paperback sales and $74.34, with the Private Pilot workbook clearly leading the line.
Apr 10, 2026
I corrected this page after separating sports activity from the weather bot results. Kalshi is paused for redesign, and the weather-only realized result is -$142.16.
Apr 6, 2026
The Complete Commercial Pilot Workbook is live on Amazon. The aviation catalog now includes PPL, IR, and Commercial study products.
Apr 3, 2026
FeedFare momentum and KDP traction both improved. The app kept moving forward, and the workbook catalog continued to validate that pilots will pay for useful study products.
Apr 2, 2026
FeedFare Build 26 approved. New activation-first onboarding, quiz-driven walking rules, and a delayed paywall shipped into the App Store review process.
Mar 31, 2026
KDP became the cleanest proof line in the stack. The first ebook royalty hit for the Instrument workbook, and the paperback sales kept proving the aviation workbook idea was real.
Mar 28, 2026
Kalshi went live, then got humbled. The live launch happened, but the later post-mortem showed the weather strategy was not capital-ready. That is why it is paused now instead of being dressed up as a win.
Mar 2, 2026
🎉 FeedFare went live on the App Store. My first shipped iOS app is now public, with free and premium tiers. Download on the App Store →
Feb 26, 2026
First KDP sale landed. The PPL Workbook generated its first paperback royalty, proving aviation study products can sell to strangers.
Feb 23, 2026
Flight Funded launched. I put the experiment in public: track the hours, track the revenue, and see whether the stack can help fund more flying.

Study Resources

Chill lofi beats for your next ground school session. Pair it with the PPL Workbook or the Commercial Pilot Workbook and get to work.

Related Aviation Guides

If you're here for the pilot path, read these next

This experiment exists to buy more flight time. These are the pages that explain how I'm training, studying, and trying not to light money on fire.

✈️ Checkride Prep Guide 📱 Best Apps for Student Pilots 🛩️ Commercial Workbook on Amazon 💸 Cheapest Ways to Build Flight Hours