Talking Flight

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.

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.

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.

Mike Swanigan is his own guest on Talking Flight. His longtime friend, Tom Clark, interviews him on this podcast. Tom is a veteran broadcaster and he is the voice on the intro to Talking Flight. He is presently serving as the Commissioner of the South Carolina Film Commission.

Mike tells us how his aviation dream was almost derailed when he was a 16-year-old High School Student, and how he overcame many obstacles in his quest to become an airline pilot.

Captain Kevin Kay is the first former Fighter Pilot to join us on Talking Flight.

Kevin took an unusual path to become a USAF pilot. He was accepted to Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) after applying through the Air National Guard.

Kevin tells us about how he built a network of connections at Air National Guard units around the country to help him figure out what it took to be selected for the program.

This is a great story about how hard work and perseverance helped Kevin to Achieve his dream job of flying the F-16.

We sit down with writer Beth Ruggiero York and talk about her new book Flying Alone, a memoir.

Beth's aviation journey begins in the mid-1980s when she started taking flying lessons and started a job as a line person at the local airport.

Her book takes us on a wild ride that shows the exhilaration of flying airplanes and the dangers of having to work for a few unscrupulous aviation companies.

Beth shares her story with a striking level of honesty. She was not afraid to write about some of the flying mistakes that she made that could have taken her life.

The underlying theme of this book is how a young woman did all of the hard work that it took to be hired as a pilot for a major airline.

Today's episode is an interview with Alaska Airlines Captain Ron Limes. He is one of the two Chief Pilots at the Seattle Pilot Base.

Captain Lines shares his story about growing up in New York City, and how his 5th grade teacher got him interested in flying airplanes.

It was his High School Guidance Counselor who told him how to get his aviation dreams off of the ground.

Captain Limes also had a brilliant career in the USAF Reserves, ultimately commanding a C-17 squadron.

Mr. Nigel Sargent is the Director/Flight Simulation at Alaska Airlines. He is considered to be one of the foremost experts in the field of Flight Simulation.

Mr. Sargent grew up in England and worked on Simulators all over the world before joining Alaska Airlines. He started his career right after high school when he landed an intern position with the British company, Redifon. The company later changed its name to Rediffusion Flight Simulators.

Nigel tells us about his career and the exciting changes happening in the world of Simulators.

Captain Phil Pope joined Alaska Airlines in 1964. He started in Ground Operations and worked his way into becoming a Flight Engineer on the Lockheed Super Constellation. He later flew the Lockheed C-130, the Boeing 727 and the Boeing 737.

Phil tells us about his part in helping to build Alaska Airlines into the Major Carrier that it is today.

Captain Mike Swanigan talks about how he helped his Niece get through a stressful day.

He would sometimes use the same strategy near the end of a long day of flying.