Leaving any job in aviation can be hard. Particularly if you’re a pilot, and even more so if you’re an RAAF fighter pilot. How do you deal with giving up a lifetime’s work? There’s probably no person in Australia who has managed the transition better than Jim Whalley, who co-founded Nova after a hugely successful career flying Hornets. In this interview, Adam and Jim discuss his career, what possessed him to take the gamble of moving into business, and what the future holds for one of our industry’s most influential companies. Plus, the pair chat about why it’s so important to get the next generation of young Australians interested in STEM subjects, as aviation faces years of huge disruption and growth.