Alex MacPhail Podcast

Would you like to know what it's like to become an astronaut? Do you want to know what it's like for an astronaut for that first blast off into space, to be in space and what it's like to see Earth rotating around every 90 minutes you’ve orbited the Earth? Maurizio Cheli is a lieutenant colonel in the Italian Air Force, a European Space Agency astronaut and a veteran of one NASA Spa...

Bruce Whitfield is a multiple award-winning financial journalists whose work on radio, television and print give them unique access to some of the biggest power brokers in the business and money.  He also presents The Money Show on 702 and CapeTalk, hosts Taking Stock, a weekly TV show on eNCA, and is a Contributing Editor for Financial Mail.  Bruce has developed the ability to tell compelling sto...

At 3 years old Mike Ling attended an airshow at Biggin Hill and told his mum that he wanted to be a Red Arrows pilot. Fast forward 20 odd years and he became a Red Arrows pilot and not only that he spent the better part of a decade on the team and in various different roles, Mike left the Royal Air Force in April 2019 as a Squadron Leader after 21 years of service. He has since become a commercial...

What are UAVs and what are they used for? UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), also called drones and have no human pilot onboard. Drones are either controlled by a person on the ground or autonomously via a computer program. Alex MacPhail talks to Nicola MacPhail, who is Alex’s sister, has had several careers and right now she's busy completing her PhD. In this episode, Nicola shares some intere...

Alex MacPhail  talks to Candice Mama, who is an activist, published author, and speaker in her own podcast ‘Coffee With Candice’. She is truly an inspirational woman. She's also Vogue magazine’s Top 33 most inspiring women in the world alongside Nicole Kidman and Michelle Obama. Named Africa's Top 20 Women by the African Union and the United Nations. The United Nations also celebrated 75...

In this episode Alex MacPhail talks to Warren Ingram, understanding his background growing up in Cape Town and how he got into thinking that he could be a professional basketball player but ended up becoming a financial advisor and with an investment company. Warren is an award-winning Wealth Manager, author, public speaker and also the co-founder of Galileo Capital. Warren brought out his new boo...

From fighter pilot to the owner of a fleet of luxury aircraft. Alex MacPhail  talks to Glenn Gonzales  who is the co-founder and CEO of Jet It, Gonzales, a Lieutenant  Colonel Air Force veteran, started his career flying F-15s in 2005. He served as an instructor pilot and was later deployed to Kyrgyzstan. He transitioned to the reserves in 2009 and began working at planemaker Gulfstream while purs...

Alex MacPhail   talks to Verity Price , who is a former singer/songwriter who is currently a professional speaker and facilitator, speaking passionately about helping people and businesses change their thinking and write a different story. She went to the Waldorf School in Cape Town, ended up in a more formalised competitive high school, and studied psychology and anthropology. She's been in...

Well, what does it take to go from licking envelopes as your first job, to senior partner and exco member of Deloitte? Ursula Fear is just that woman, she knows how to get her hands dirty, she knows how to be tenacious and not saying no. Typing skills of 3 words a minute, “Don't close the door on me, give me another chance and I'll prove myself.” Alex MacPhail and Ursula had a delightful...

What do you get if you cross an aunt who is a Concorde Stewardess, a father who is an airline executive with TWA, and a mother who ran the first tour operator business in Tenerife in the 1960s? You get Jon Howell. Alex MacPhail talks to Jon Howell , about all things aviation, diversions, and resilience. Jon is the Managing Director and Founder of AviaDev. AviaDev is a platform providing for the la...

In this episode, Alex MacPhail  speaks to Mike Stopforth  about his time in the Pipe Band and competing at the Pipe Band World Championships in Scotland. This later evolved into a rock band and his life on stage, teaching, entertaining, and training began in his early 20s. Mike shares his horrifying story about when he was out skateboarding with his friends. He saw a light aircraft crash into his...

Matthias Dolderer  is a German Professional Race Pilot.  He was not only the first driver to win a race on the legendary Speedway, he is also the first German World Champion ever in the Ultimate Motorsport series of the skies and the first air race pilot to take the world title ahead of schedule . He gained a glider and ultralight license at the age of 17 and the following year obtained his privat...

Jesse Twum-Boafo  is a System and Application Architect with 5+ years of experience working for organizations with data.  He studied BSc in Mathematics, Statistics, and Economics at the University of Cape Town. He came from a humble beginning with a truly inspiring life story. He likes to explore everything, but also to love thy neighbor as thyself.  ALEX MACPHAIL:  Email: alex@alexmacphail.co.za...

Yoshi Muroya is a Japanese aerobatics pilot and race pilot of the World Championship Air Race. He started entering the Red Bull Air Race from 2009, and won its Chiba round for his first time in 2016.  In 2017 he became Red Bull Air Race's World Champion.  He also holds air shows throughout Japan to generate public awareness in aerobatics. He actively works to bridge the earth with the sky and...

Maj. Trevor Aldridge served as the Left Wing Pilot for the United States Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, the Thunderbirds. Aldridge is a 2009 graduate of the Air Force ROTC program at Texas A&M University. He completed the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program, Sheppard AFB, Texas in 2011. After pilot training, he was assigned to the F-15C at Kadena AB, Japan where his squadron won...

Steve Jones is a British airline pilot and an aerobatics pilot who competed in the Red Bull Air Race World Series, flying a Zivko Edge 540, before taking up the post as race director. Jones had his first flying lesson at just five years old, in 1965, in a Cessna, on the knee of a family friend. He became a pilot both commercially and competitively. Commercially, Jones is a senior Captain for Briti...

As an Olympic rower, Cath competed at three Olympic Games. She is the winner of the World Championships in 2003 and an Olympic silver medal at Athens, in 2004.  Cath, who spent over a decade serving as a diplomat, specialised in conflict issues, with postings to Bosnia and Iraq, as well as leading in Whitehall on the UK civilian contribution to stabilising conflicts around the world. Cath’s expert...

"I always tell my team that I refuse to let anybody work harder than me, they might beat us, but they are not gonna work harder than us we’re gonna get up every morning and we’re gonna outwork everybody. I think that mindset is what got us here and that's what is going to continue to make us successful in the future."   -   Kevin Coleman, on building his race team for the 2022 seaso...

At 65 Robert Owens completed five of the world’s toughest endurance events, in one year. He also completed 7 marathons in 7 countries in 7 days! He has competed in an 8-day race over 200 miles across Greece; a combination run/ocean swim event lasting more than nine hours; an Ironman Triathlon; and a 50-hour challenge modelled after a Navy SEAL-style Hell Week. Robert says he is an average guy. Tra...

Paul has done many interesting things in the course of his life. He has pioneered activities, but the last decade is where he has left his mark in the world. Through various adventure sport series, most notably IRONMAN, Paul and his team have delivered World Class events, on the South African landscape. Get in touch with Alex to improve the performance of your team:  alex@alexmacphail.co.za https:...

Jimbo Reed is an aerospace engineer and Team Technician who is advising the WCAR (World Championship Air Race) on all aspects of their technical regulations as well as engineering safety management protocols. Get in touch with Alex to improve the performance of your team:  alex@alexmacphail.co.za https://twitter.com/AlexMacPhail1 https://www.linkedin.com/in/flyingmogul www.alexmacphail.co.za

Terence Marsh heads up Red Lined Motorsports. He has a  fascninating and varied background. Red Lined Motorsport builds Dakar race ready vehicles. They also provide driver training for Dakar style events. The engineering works are located in South Africa, they also have offices in UAE and China. We discussed all aspects of the racing journey, entrepreneurship and build solid products, to be used i...

Martin Šonka is the 2018 Red Bull Air Race World Champion. Martin, from Sezimovo Ústí, claimed his first overall crown, and the first for the Czech Republic, in a gripping title battle in 2018. If Šonka can deliver another outstanding campaign this season, he could become only the second pilot in history to clinch the sport’s highest honor two years in a row. Šonka began flying gliders and parachu...

Bryan Roseveare grew up in aviation. Having been around his father who flies and shown a keen interest since a tender age, he was destined to become a pilot. Today, like thousands of others, Bryan has his wings clipped, first by a crippled airline and closely followed by COVID-19. Never someone to back away when the difficulty starts, Bryan doubled-down on an already solid beginning with Bryan Air...

Melanie Astles is a six-time French Aerobatic Champion in five separate levels, from Espoir in 2007 – to Elite/Unlimited in 2020 and reigning British Unlimited Champion. She made history as the first woman to compete in the famous Red Bull Air Race as a Challenger Cup pilot. In 2022 she will join the prestigious WCAR (World Championship Air Race) in the premier “Aero GP1” class. Mélanie’s story is...