Blog Alumni
Ray Stark
Captain Ray Stark has been a pilot at Southwest Airlines since 1988. Before Southwest, he served in the US Air Force where he initially started as a Missile Combat Crew Commander sitting nuclear alert in a SAC ICBM silo in Tucson, AZ. When a pilot slot opened up, Ray jumped at the chance and following graduation from Undergraduate Flight Training (UPT) at Williams AFB, he flew T-43s (Boeing 737s) and later, C-130s. His hobbies include motorcycles, karting, and helping people overcome their fear of flying. Ray answers questions about commercial aviation at www.takingflight.us a site built by and for those who grapple with questions or concerns about airline travel. Ray is the author of, “This Is Your Captain Speaking: Flight Training For Passengers.”
Recent Activity:
Recent Activity Posts
Southwest Airlines Salutes Father's Day: A Pilot Remembers His Dad
By: Ray Stark 
Jun 14 2010
Throughout the upcoming week, we will be featuring Father's Day posts from our Blog Team. We kick off the week with this fantastic post from Phoenix Captain Ray Stark.
It was prior to the Great Depression when my grandparents divorced. Two years later, after my father's mom re-married and her new husband voiced great displeasure at having to feed two hungry boys, my grandmother told... read more
Emergency Descent!
By: Ray Stark
Jan 11 2010
Anytime you use the word “emergency” in the context of aviation, people get understandably concerned. A look at what happens during such an event reveals the planning and forethought that goes into aviation. And, as a good friend of mine likes to say, “With knowledge comes comfort.”
In aviation, when a Pilot uses the word “emergency,” it is simply a message, a code word, to the Air Traffic... read more
The (First) Blizzard of 09
By: Ray Stark
Dec 28 2009
An odd thought ran through my mind the week before Christmas. Spending my second night in a hotel while the "BLIZZARD OF '09" dumped a couple of feet of snow on Baltimore and much of the Northeast, I began to realize, we have this all wrong. We need to have Christmas in summer like they do in Australia. That way our Christmas travel plans would never be interrupted by snow or ice... read more
Flight Report: What We Up Front Are Thinking And Doing While Our Passengers Are Thinking: "What Are THEY Thinking up front"?
By: Ray Stark
Jan 04 2007
It is day two of a three-day trip. We are on our fourth and last flight of the day en route from Chicago Midway (MDW) to Long Island MacArthur (ISP). Weather observations for ISP are good, and the forecast is also fine. My partner, Bernie, and I are talking about what dinner options the hotel in Islip offers as he pulls up the ISP weather. Big surprise! The visibility has gone down as unforecast... read more
Fast approach in gusty weather...
By: Ray Stark
Oct 21 2008
Fast approach in gusty weather...
From a frequent flier: While landing in gusty winds it looked like we were going way faster than normal. We floated way down the runway and then pounded on the runway after which the pilots slammed on the brakes! Why would this happen?
Without any winds, the aircraft flies at basically 1.3 times the stall speed. (Stall speed is the speed at which the... read more
Applause--Not Needed but Appreciated
By: Ray Stark
Sep 29 2008
If you fly on Southwest Airlines regularly, chances are you’ve probably been on a flight where the cabin breaks into applause upon landing. This happens from time-to-time for various reasons. Often, it’s in response to a “sporty” approach in gusty winds or bad weather that has the Passengers who are not “comfortable fliers” clutching their armrests until touchdown.
Often, the raucous applause... read more
"I Just Want To Get To Chicago!"
By: Ray Stark
Sep 04 2008
Oakland to Chicago, July 2008.
Like nearly every morning before a flight, I check the weather data for my series of flights that day. This day, I see a band of moisture up near Minneapolis, but that is two states away from my leg into Chicago. Things should be fine. We should handily beat the weather into Chicago.
On the second leg of the day, we arrive in Oakland, and I again check the... read more
"Flying On The Side"
By: Ray Stark
Aug 22 2008
Brian asked me recently if I had been doing much flying outside of Southwest.
As I have mentioned in the past, my daughter is a flight instructor in Phoenix and flies regularly. I flew with her when she was earning her ratings, but now that she is a bona fide instructor, there is no reason to haul a non-paying passenger like me along. She has student loans to pay!
Everything is... read more
Jet Engines: Beasts of Burden
By: Ray Stark
Jul 25 2008
Jet Engines: Beasts of Burden
I noticed the planes my airline flys only sit on the ground a few minutes and they are back in the air over and over again all day long! How can this be good for them? Doesn't it make them break more often? How can they hold up?
Let's use a car analogy. Imagine if your car worked for a taxi company.... It would be running pretty much constantly for three or... read more
Winter Wonderland
By: Ray Stark
Feb 01 2008
I flew from Chicago Midway (MDW) to Las Vegas (LAS) recently, and the view was fantastic most of the way. There were some areas of "chop" around the Front Range of the Rockies, and these clouds show the areas of turbulence at the bottom of the fast-moving jet stream. We felt some of that turbulence up near the top at 40,000 feet. The jet stream core in winter is moving very fast. On my flight at... read more
