Talking Flight

Our guest on this episode is Retired Alaska Airlines Captain David J. Smith.

I first met David Back in 1983, when he began training as a newly hired pilot at Alaska Airlines. That meeting resulted in David becoming my longtime friend. David has an interesting story about our first meeting, which I will neither confirm or deny.

David was one of the small numbers of civilian pilots who were able to break into the airlines back in the late 1970s. At that time, more than 70 percent of the pilots hired by US Airlines had a Military background. A few years after David joined Braniff Airlines, the company fell into financial hardship. David was furloughed, and the company later went out of business.

His second chance to land an Airline job came when someone told him that a small company named Alaska Airlines was hiring pilots. David did well at the hiring interview, and the rest was history.

Direct download: DJ_Smith_aac.m4a
Category:Aviation -- posted at: 8:06pm EDT

Captain Michael Hendrix joins us on this edition of Talking Flight. He was our very first guest when we started the podcast. At the time, he was a First Officer at Alaska Airlines. He subsequently upgraded to Captain on the Boeing 737 and he retired in January of 2020.

Michael made the decision to become an airline pilot at age of 40. At the time, people advised him that he was too old to be successful in getting hired by a major airline. Fortunately, he decided to go for it anyway.

Captain Hendrix tells us about the various training events that he went through during his career. When he upgraded to Captain at Alaska Airlines, he was shocked at how it differed from the world of being a First Officer.

 

Direct download: mHendricks.m4a
Category:Aviation -- posted at: 12:25pm EDT

Our guest today is Air Wisconsin First Officer Hunter Bevis. Hunter is the son of one of our previous guests, Mr. Bob Bonkukian, former Director of Flight Control at Alaska Airlines. Even though he grew up in an airline family, Hunter did not start his flight training until age 35.

Before flying, Hunter was a US Army officer, and he tells us how his service as a Tank Commander later helped him as he transitioned into the world of aviation.

Hunter is the host of the podcast Time In Flight.

 

Direct download: Hunter_release.m4a
Category:Aviation -- posted at: 8:10pm EDT

Stefan Holt is one of the  News Anchors at WNBC Television in New York City. He is also a Private Pilot with an Instrument Rating. 

Stefan tells us about his lifelong interest in aviation, and how he worked as a busboy in New York City to earn money for his flying lessons.

His experience as a pilot has helped him in his televisions news career to report on aviation stories with a higher level of insight and accuracy.

Direct download: Stefan_Holt_Release.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 1:36pm EDT

Our guest on this show is my long time friend, Alaska Airlines Captain Elliot Wilson.
I have known Elliot since he was a young child, and he has always had the goal of flying jets for Alaska Airlines. His father was a close friend of mine, and sadly, he passed away several years ago.
Elliot tells us about growing up with his Dad and about his journey to becoming a successful Airline Captain.

Direct download: Elliot_Release.m4a
Category:Aviation -- posted at: 5:18pm EDT

Mike sits down with his long time friend, Tom Clark, to talk about his passion for flying airplanes. Tom has had an amazing broadcast career and he is presently working as the Film Commissioner for the State of South Carolina. He has a Commercial Pilot Certificate and a Certified Flight Instructor License. 

Tom does a lot of flying and he instructs pilots on how to fly vintage "Tail Dragger" airplanes.

Direct download: Tom_Clark_release.m4a
Category:Aviation -- posted at: 2:49pm EDT

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