When I first got to the RGV in 1979, the pilots flying contraband into Mexico were living large. A hundred grand a year when money was real money instead of just inflated paper. They were also getting killed at a pretty high rate. I knew more than a few of them, and I used to give them their biennial flight reviews (now simply called a Flight Review; required of current pilots every two years under the supervision of a CFI who then has to endorse their logbook). Using an inflation calculator, that hundred grand in 1979 is worth $339,000 today. So, yeah,