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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Last night I had the pleasure of attending The Claraty Arts Project Gallery Opening in Santa Cruz. The Claraty Arts Project is a visual arts center where artists with developmental disabilities create, exhibit, and sell art. And last night the gallery was packed by with patrons purchasing these nine artists’ works.

From the beginning, The Claraty Art Project set out to focus more about the person then about the art. The amazing staff there give these artists a vehicle to have an identity and express their humanity in forms other then words. Five days week, staff such as Art Instructor Adam LaVoy, inspires and works with these artists to create unique pieces of art. Interacting, motivating and teaching them new techniques, The Claraty Art Project becomes less of a job and more of a home for the artists. And these images are their words.

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“Space… the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before.”  I must have heard this line a thousand times as I was growing up. And it was always right before the start of an exciting adventure to some distant world where my imagination could run free. And starting this week, over a hundred of thousand Trekkies will have a chance to see first hand over 200 authentic Star Trek memorabilia at Star Trek: The Exhibit at The Tech Museum in San Jose.

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Flying to me is like being a kid and wanting to go out and play. At first you are allowed to open the door and stare outside, BUT you can’t actually go outside. This was the first few days of my training. I read the books, sat and starred at the airplane, but it was just there…tempting me. Eventually, you are allowed to venture into the yard, but are kept under close supervision by Mom, or in my case Josh Smith, my instructor at the West Valley Flying Club. I went up with Josh and we stayed in the “yard” and learned the basics. And eventually the time came that I was allowed to play in the “yard” all alone. This was once I solo’d! I could be out there alone, but still, I could only go up the the fence of the front yard.

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As the sun set, I did a final check of my supplies. Flight plan,
sectional, watch, headlamp with a red bulb, bottle of water and a
granola bar. And tonight I was going to have dinner at 3500 feet with
the twinkling lights of California below me. FAR 61.109 requires
private pilot applicants to have 3 hours of night flight training (in
the appropriate category and class of aircraft)  that includes 1 cross
country flight of over 100nm total distance and 10 takeoffs and 10
landings to a full stop at an airport. And tonight was my first taste
of flying at night. Read the rest of this entry »

After 22 hours of flying around the skies of Palo Alto and it’s various neighboring airports, I was nearing the end of the first major phase of my flight training. Looming off in the distance was the oh so imposing “Solo” flight. Webster’s dictionary defines the noun Solo (So•lo) as “something undertaken or done alone.” Whereas I define it  as “What do you mean I’ll be the only one in the airplane flying this squirrel killing death machine?!?!” But it was an inevitable  progression of my training.For the past couple of months, my instructor, the oh so funny (at least in his head) and king of the one liners (“Oh I’m sorry, were you trying to land in the duck pond? If so, the please don’t let me interrupt you.”), Josh Smith was unknowingly helping me hone my flying skills for this very moment in time.

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Every year the Hiller Aviation Museum holds the largest all helicopter airshow on the west coast to much fanfare and celebration. In it’s 9th year, the event was as strong as ever, with helicopter performances from the California Highway Patrol ASTAR, the California Department of Forestry UH-1 Huey, and a California Army National Guard CH-47 Chinook, amongst others. And as in past years, the headliner was the Red Bull BO-105 CBS Helicopter; capable of loops and rolls!!! Read more on my flight aboard that at: http://horizontalrain.com/blog/2008/07/02/behind-the-camera-vertical-challenge/.

Here are a small selection of images from the show; for the full set, please visit:  http://www.horizontalrain.com/Galleries/VC09/index.shtml

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