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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

“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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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.” [...]

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 [...]