In a major announcement by the DoD last Friday, the Deputy Secretary of Defense recently signed a new policy regarding the use of internet based capabilities. Recently members from around the blogosphere had a chance to speak with Mr. Price Floyd, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, in another installment of the DoD’s Bloggers Roundtable and hear first hand how these changes will affect the Armed Services and its’ members.

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Day two was setting up to be a busy one. Our goal was to squeeze in two flights and get an intro to Spins and Aerobatics. With the same format as the previous day’s flight, we did a through briefing, hopped into the plane, Tim demonstrates a maneuver, Sagar demonstrates, repeat, head back to the airport and then debrief. It was hard to keep all of the information straight as each maneuver and flight built on the previous ones. But Tim was quite patient and reminded me that this was just an introduction.

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You look outside and all you see is the ground flying past you; greens and browns all blurring into one shade. A second ago you were performing an immelman in your new Pitts Special S-2B, and now you and your plane are in a spin hurdling towards the ground. Your instincts kick in, you pull the power back to idle, let go of the stick, look over the nose and figure out which direction you are spinning, full opposite rudder, stop the spin, and recover.

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With my ticket in hand, I was ready to fly to the far reaches of the globe. Or at least as far as my Piper Cherokee could go before I had to land for fuel or return the airplane to the flying club. But before I flew away, I noticed that somewhere over the last 7 months during my training I had accumulated a substantial list of people that wanted me to take them flying. Friends, cousins, co-workers, random cute girls in the bar, and a few not so cute ones.

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Last week, I had the chance to get some air to air images of San Jose Police Department’s Air Support Units’ EC-120. What made this a special shoot was that over the past few years, I’ve gotten to know the men and women of the Air Support Unit and consider them friends. If they are not patrolling the skies over San Jose, CA, they are selflessly supporting the community through programs helping kids with cancer or their fellow police officers. But today the camera was pointed at them.

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Half way around the world, four zebras cautiously wait near a watering hole not knowing the danger that lurks in the bush. Luckily the four pictured above are at the Lion Country Safari in West Palm Beach Florida where their biggest concern is when the next feeding is. Last year I was treated to an afternoon adventure through the “safari” with my cousin. What a cool and unique experience! As we drove through the park, we were just a few feet away from these beautiful animals. Here are a few images from the day. Enjoy! Read the rest of this entry »

After two weeks of trying, she reached over and offered me her congratulations on becoming the newest private pilot in the United States. But this story began years before this moment. At the young age of 10 months old, I took my first flight from India to Germany to the United States. And for as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to fly; and I didn’t care how I got in the air. Jumping off my bed for that millisecond of freedom from gravity, to staring skyward watching planes lumber overhead, or flying across the country alone to spend the summers with my family in Philadelphia. And over the past 30 years, I managed to have dozens of aerial adventures, from doing night time aerial refueling over the Atlantic ocean, to flying in an open cockpit biplane, being shot off an aircraft carrier in the middle of the Pacific ocean, flying with the Blue Angels, breaking the sound barrier in an F-15E, doing inverted flat spins in an Extra 300 (and not passing out), to loops and rolls in helicopter, and a lot of things in-between. But the one thing that eluded me this whole time was being at the controls of the plane by myself. To be able to go where I wanted, and when I wanted to. To turn to someone and say “Why yes, I am a pilot.” Read the rest of this entry »

Once a year, about 120 kids stricken with cancer are given an day where they can be be “normal” and celebrate the holiday as it was meant to be….with family, fun, games, Santa Claus, gifts and lots of laughter and smiles. And thanks to the Cops Care Cancer Foundation, for that one afternoon, these kids forget that they have a hospital bed, rounds of chemotherapy, and a life threatening disease to go back to.

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This past Sunday I had a chance to attend my first ever regatta hosted by the Bair Island Aquatic Center (B.I.A.C.), and it was a blast! While I did not get a chance to bust out my white deck shoes and captains hat, I did get to cheer on my friend Aly as she and the women of the B.I.A.C. Novice 8+ kicked some serious ass! So with camera in tow, I set off to the canals of San Mateo and watched over 150 boats with filled with 600+ men and women ranging in age from high schooler’s to seniors competing in the final regatta of the USRA Fall racing season in California.  The 5K course was extremely challenging as the boats race head to head through the canals, dodging other competitors, buoys, birds, and rowing under narrow bridges, all the while testing their endurance and skills.

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