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The Fighter Pilots' Guide to Living

The Fighter Pilots' Guide to Living

By: Beth Bailey and Mitch Parmentier
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A podcast devoted to the history of aviation, told by the aviators who were in the cockpit. Lifting the curtain on fighter pilot culture, life in the squadron, important moments in Naval history, and the legendary aviators whose stories live on long after they departed for the great O-Club in the sky.Beth Bailey and Mitch Parmentier World
Episodes
  • CDR Chip 'Biff' King - Part 3 - VF-213 and 2001 Afghanistan - The Fighter Pilots' Guide to Living
    Jan 27 2026

    Welcome to the Fighter Pilots’ Guide to Living. Today’s guest is retired Commander Chip 'Biff' King, who accumulated over 5,750 tactical jet aircraft flight hours in his career, including 3,500 hours in the F-14 Tomcat, as well as 969 arrested landings. In the third of four episodes about Biff's naval career, we focus on his time at VF-213 as XO and CO, to include his storied ride with Sports Illustrated writer Rick 'Two Bags' Reilly and the 400,000 lbs of ordnance his squadron dropped over Afghanistan to support the ODAs working to push back the Taliban between October and December 2001.Find Rick Reilly's story about his ride with Biff here: https://dickmartin.wordpress.com/pilot-jokes-archive/two-bags/About Biff:Commander Chip 'Biff' King is a Washington, D.C. native and a graduate of Randolph Macon College. He received his commission in the U.S. Navy through AOCS and was designated a Naval aviator in January 1984.Commander King had tours with VF-84, VF-45, VF-142, and Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 9, and served as a Congressional liaison before being XO/CO of VF-213. His decorations and awards include Bronze Star with Combat “V”, three Meritorious Service Medals, Individual Air Medal with Combat “V”, four Strike Flight Air Medals, two Navy Commendation Medals with Combat “V”, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, four Battle Efficiency Awards, numerous Armed Forces and Unit Commendation Medals and various unit, service and campaign awards. About the hosts:Mitch 'TACO' Parmentier has 16 years of experience with the F/A-18 Super Hornet as a Weapons System Operator (WSO). He has a longstanding love of aviation and history that he brings to the podcast.Beth Bailey was raised by F-14 Radar Intercept Officer Glen 'Wheels' Wheless and grew up around aviators and their unique brand of storytelling for most of her childhood. Beth worked in support of Afghanistan operations as a civilian intelligence analyst for the Department of the Army between 2010 and 2013. She is a freelance contributor to Fox News Digital and the Washington Examiner, and host of The Afghanistan Project Podcast.

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    55 mins
  • CDR Chip 'Biff' King - Part 2 - VF-142 and a Washington tour - The Fighter Pilots' Guide to Living
    Jan 20 2026

    Welcome to the Fighter Pilots’ Guide to Living. Today’s guest is retired Commander Chip 'Biff' King, who accumulated over 5,750 tactical jet aircraft flight hours in his career, including 3,500 hours in the F-14 Tomcat, as well as 969 arrested landings. In the second of four episodes about Biff's naval career, we focus on his return to two-seat fighters with VF-142 after his time in VF-45. We also discuss his brief tour as a Congressional aide.About Biff:Commander Chip 'Biff' King is a Washington, D.C. native and a graduate of Randolph Macon College. He received his commission in the U.S. Navy through AOCS and was designated a Naval aviator in January 1984.Commander King had tours with VF-84, VF-45, VF-142, and Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 9, and served as a Congressional liaison before being XO/CO of VF-213. His decorations and awards include Bronze Star with Combat “V”, three Meritorious Service Medals, Individual Air Medal with Combat “V”, four Strike Flight Air Medals, two Navy Commendation Medals with Combat “V”, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, four Battle Efficiency Awards, numerous Armed Forces and Unit Commendation Medals and various unit, service and campaign awards. About the hosts:Mitch 'TACO' Parmentier has 16 years of experience with the F/A-18 Super Hornet as a Weapons System Operator (WSO). He has a longstanding love of aviation and history that he brings to the podcast.Beth Bailey was raised by F-14 Radar Intercept Officer Glen 'Wheels' Wheless and grew up around aviators and their unique brand of storytelling for most of her childhood. Beth worked in support of Afghanistan operations as a civilian intelligence analyst for the Department of the Army between 2010 and 2013. She is a freelance contributor to Fox News Digital and the Washington Examiner, and host of The Afghanistan Project Podcast.

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    36 mins
  • CDR Chip 'Biff' King - Part 1, VF-84 and VF-45 - The Fighter Pilots' Guide to Living
    Jan 13 2026

    Welcome to the Fighter Pilots’ Guide to Living. Today’s guest is retired Commander Chip 'Biff' King, who accumulated over 5,750 tactical jet aircraft flight hours in his career, including 3,500 hours in the F-14 Tomcat, as well as 969 arrested landings. In the first episode about Biff's naval career, we focus on his training years and tour at VF-84, and his decision to head to VF-45 for instructor duty as an adversary pilot.About Biff:Commander Chip 'Biff' King is a Washington, D.C. native and a graduate of Randolph Macon College. He received his commission in the U.S. Navy through AOCS and was designated a Naval aviator in January 1984.Commander King had tours with VF-84, VF-45, VF-142, and Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 9, and served as a Congressional liaison before being XO/CO of VF-213. His decorations and awards include Bronze Star with Combat “V”, three Meritorious Service Medals, Individual Air Medal with Combat “V”, four Strike Flight Air Medals, two Navy Commendation Medals with Combat “V”, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, four Battle Efficiency Awards, numerous Armed Forces and Unit Commendation Medals and various unit, service and campaign awards. About the hosts:Mitch 'TACO' Parmentier has 16 years of experience with the F/A-18 Super Hornet as a Weapons System Operator (WSO). He has a longstanding love of aviation and history that he brings to the podcast.Beth Bailey was raised by F-14 Radar Intercept Officer Glen 'Wheels' Wheless and grew up around aviators and their unique brand of storytelling for most of her childhood. Beth worked in support of Afghanistan operations as a civilian intelligence analyst for the Department of the Army between 2010 and 2013. She is a freelance contributor to Fox News Digital and the Washington Examiner, and host of The Afghanistan Project Podcast.

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    48 mins
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