Street: When did you first become interested in flight?
Ali Dhanaliwala: I wanted to be a pilot since I was six, but my parents convinced me that it would be an awful job because I would always be away from my family and that I should be a doctor instead. The trade-off was that I could start taking flight lessons. I started when I was 15 at the local airport in New Jersey.
Street: Is flying an expensive hobby?
AD: Yes. It's usually $60 an hour for the plane, and if you have an instructor it's another $20-25. Since I don't own my own plane, I usually take one up for an hour to somewhere in Pennsylvania, grab a hamburger and come back.
Street: Are you still considering a career in flying?
AD: I want to go into aerospace medicine. It's the medicine of microgravity. There are medical officers who go up with the astronauts and other people who monitor space flights from Earth.
Street: Were you usually a pilot for Halloween?
AD: I was usually Aladdin.
Street: Do you ever take girls out on the plane?
AD: Yeah.
Street: How does it go?
AD: Not so well, because the planes are really small so you get sick very quickly. I've had some bad incidents.
Street: How high do you fly?
AD: The highest I've flown is 8,000 feet. Above 10,000 feet you need special license, and oxygen too.
Street: Ever fly high?
AD: Uh [chuckles], no. That would be bad.
Street: Have you ever had any close calls or traumatic incidents?
AD: I almost ran into a plane while I was on the ground. I was going one way and this guy was coming right toward me.
Street: So you faced off like it was a game of chicken?
AD: Yeah, and I lost because the other guy was 50 years old and a big shot at the airport. I went over to the side, and hit the hangar, breaking off part of the wing.
Street: Jeez, how much did that cost to repair?
AD: It was about $5,000, but they made the other guy pay for it because I had the right of way.
Street: Tell us about the organization you founded, Pennflight.
AD: There was no club at Penn to stay active in flight, so I figured I'd start one.
Street: Does Penn fund you?
AD: We got rejected from SAC funding the first time, but we're in the process of applying again.
Street: Is there an enormous membership fee?
AD: There's a membership fee now, because we don't have any funding. There are 80 people signed up for the club, and four people are currently taking flying lessons.
Street: Have you ever thought about joining the Air Force?
AD: I have, but then I realized I can't kill people.
Street: Preferred mode of travel: airplane or magic carpet?
AD: Magic carpet, hands down.
