Talking Flight
Episode 19: Alaska Airlines Captain Carlos Zendejas,

Captain Mike Swanigan sits down with Captain Carlos Zendejas to talk about his life and his career.

Carlos moved to the Untied States from Mexico with his family when he was a 5th grader. Spanish was his first language,but he found out by accident that he could speak and read english. Their new home was in the traffic pattern of Laughlin AFB Texas, and he was amazed by the T-37 jets flying over him. He decided then and there that he was going to figure out a way to fly them.

In this podcast, Carlos tells us about the hard work that it took for him to get through USAF Pilot Training, and what it was like to be the Aircraft Commander on KC-10 refueling mission. 

Carlos inherited his parents amazing work ethic and applied it to all areas of his life.

Carlos is now one of the Seattle Base Chief Pilots for Alaska Airlines. He serves the 1000 Alaska Airlines pilots based in Seattle Washington. We get an inside look at what it takes to keep an airline operation running smoothly and safely.

I came away from this interview inspired and amazed by this amazing person.

 

Direct download: zendejas.m4a
Category:Aviation -- posted at: 7:59pm EDT

Episode 18: How to Get Through Training

It is just Captain Mike Swanigan on today's episode. He offers some training tips to help the beginning pilot.

This Podcast is a close cousin to Ace Your Next Check Ride. That program was designed to help the advanced aviator get through military or airline training. This Podcast is designed to help newer pilots ease the learning process, and to advance through their beginning flight lessons at a faster rate. Mike's theory is that you can learn some of the hardest parts on the ground while "chair flying".

We hope that our brnad new pilots will find this podcast to be helpful

Direct download: How_to_get_through_training.mp3
Category:Aviation -- posted at: 3:56pm EDT

Our guest on this Podcast is Garin Tentschert. He is the Seattle Base Chief Pilot for Alaska Airlines, and he is currently serving as a Colonel in the USAF Reserve.

Garin shares his remarkable journey that started when he was a "Surfer Dude" in Southern California. 

He mistakenly enrolled in an Aviation class at San Diego State University. On the first day of school, he realized that the class was actually an Air Force ROTC course. He immediately knew that he was going to drop that class as soon as he could. But the Professor saw something in Garin, and talked him into staying. As they say, the rest was history!

Garin tells us about the leadership lessons that he learned along the way, and the struggles that he had early on in Air Force Pilot Training.

Captain Tentschert says "Part of being a great leader is knowing how to follow. Sometimes, you have to shut up and listen".

Direct download: Garin.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:54pm EDT

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