Alan Murray

Alan is a retired American Airlines Captain and Check Airman who lives in Grapevine, Texas with his wife Karen. Alan grew up in the United States (Ohio and Georgia), as well as England and Nigeria in his youth. He began flying while a college student at Georgia Tech (Electrical Engineering) where he engaged in Radar and Bio Physics research as a Co-Op student and Georgia State (Physics). While at university he learned to fly initially in gliders and then added the various power ratings.  He flight instructed, flew fire patrol, bank checks and night freight (in DC3s and BE-18s) to accumulate flight time and then left school one quarter short of graduation to accept an offer with Pennsylvania Airlines. He never did complete that degree! Alan first met the Perlan Team while attending Soaring NV’s Wave Camp 2015 in Minden. He participated in the camp for four years and worked the Badge Desk for the last two. He is co-owner of an 18-meter LS8 sailplane which is flown mostly out of Minden, Nevada and Midlothian, Texas. He is also an Instructor, Chief Tow Pilot and a part of the towplane maintenance team at the Texas Soaring Association. Alan has been a Perlan Team member since the 2019 mission to El Calafate and is a back-up Senior Observer for FAI records, is on the cameras team and serves as odd job man wherever needed.