![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Alex-Andereggedit.jpg\")
As with many pilots, Capt. Anderegg became interested in\naviation at a very young age. \u201cMy uncle was a pilot for Air Jamaica, and he\nwould send me little model airplanes of the jets that he flew,\u201d said Capt.\nAnderegg. \u201cAlso, growing up in my hometown of Muskegon, Michigan, there was an\nair show every summer that I would always attend. Watching the planes fly was\nalways so fascinating to me. Even today, I can sit at an airport and just watch\nplanes fly for hours. I love everything about it. It was at a very young age\nthat I knew I wanted to be a pilot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Capt. Anderegg flies in the 100th Fighter Squadron, which is\none of the four original Tuskegee Airman squadrons that made up the 332nd\nFighter Group during WWII. \u201cThat is our direct lineage, and we still wear the\nsame patch today that they wore during WWII,\u201d said Capt. Anderegg. Surprisingly\nenough, it did not play into his decision to join the military. \u201cMy grandfather\nserved after WWII and seeing pictures and hearing about his time in the service\nsparked my interest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As clich\u00e9 as it might sound, having seen the movie Top Gun\nat the age of about nine or 10 is what really sparked his interest to fly in\nthe military. After having seen that movie, he took a keen interest in the\nmilitary aircraft performing at local air shows. The speed, raw power, and\nnoise from those jets drew him in \u201clike a moth to a flame.\u201d In 2014 when he was\napplying to Air National Guard units, he came across the 100th Fighter\nSquadron. \u201cUpon looking up the history of the squadron, I discovered it\u2019s true\nsignificance in military history, which, as an African-American pilot, made me\nwant to fly for the squadron that much more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Capt. Anderegg, who has experience in over 30 different\ntypes of aircraft, is passionate about sharing his love for flight with others.\nHe volunteers with the Red Tail Scholarship Foundation, a non-profit organization\nthat focuses on training young African-American students in the aviation field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the Captain\u2019s parents who inspire him the most. As a\nyoung adult now, he is experiencing firsthand the challenges in his career and\nin life in general. \u201cThe sacrifices and selflessness shown by my parents to\nhelp me achieve my flying goals, is something I now truly appreciate,\u201d noted\nCapt. Anderegg. \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for my parents, and many other friends and\nmentors I\u2019ve met along the way, I wouldn\u2019t be where I am today. They are who\ninspire me to do the same, to aspiring pilots looking to enter the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Capt. Anderegg\u2019s callsign is \u2018SANKA.\u2019 Traditionally, to hear\nthe story behind a callsign, you have to buy the individual an adult beverage.\nCallsigns spelled in all capital letters signify it is an acronym, and\ncallsigns usually stem from \u201cbuffonerous mistakes\u201d made during flight upgrades.\n\u201cLet\u2019s just suffice it to say that my callsign stems from my Jamaican heritage\nand a character from the movie Cool Runnings. I\u2019ll let you and the readers do\nsome research on that if you\u2019re interested!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Alex \u201cSANKA\u201d Anderegg was born and raised in Norton Shores, Michigan. He took his first flying lessons and soloed at the age of 16. Before graduating from high school, Alex earned his Private Pilot\u2019s License and Instrument Rating, then attended Western Michigan University where he studied Aviation Flight Science while continuing his professional flight training. During his time at Western Michigan University, Alex also served as a Certified Flight Instructor within WMU\u2019s aviation program.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 In 2014, Alex joined the Alabama Air National Guard where he currently serves as an active F-16 fighter pilot with the \u201cRed Tails\u201d of the historic 100th Fighter Squadron – one of the four original Tuskegee Airmen squadrons during WWII, still active today. Since 2018, Alex has served in the role of a Check Instructor Pilot, conducting pre-solo and pre-checkride phase evaluations for foundation students. Alex holds a Multi-Engine Airline Transport Pilot Certificate with experience in over 30 different types of general aviation, corporate, and high-performance military aircraft.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Kim J. Stevens For Captain Alex \u201cSANKA\u201d Anderegg flying the F-16 is an absolute thrill. \u201cThe speed, pulling Gs, and employing the jet as a weapon never gets old,\u201d said the pilot who flies for the 187th Fighter Wing of the Alabama Air National Guard based at Montgomery\u2019s Dannelly Field. \u201cIt\u2019s an extremely perishable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":17810,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,98],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alabama","category-aviation-education"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Alexedit.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17809"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17812,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17809\/revisions\/17812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}