WASHINGTON — I’m flying at 12,000 feet above the Virginia countryside with the plane doors wide open. There is nothing separating me from the ground except a military-grade strap across my waist. Flash forward a week later and I’m at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, doing the same thing. How lucky am I?
In the Medill Washington Program, we have access to the AP and Reuters daybooks. However, if you want to fly with the US Army Parachute Team- Golden Knights or other fun things, like I did, say goodbye to the daybook.
Yes the daybook gives you lots of great things to cover, except I have found that the most fun stories to cover come from The Washington Post events page, Googling the key words kids and events and via our professors.
By far the most exciting story I covered was the Warrior Aviation “Wings, Wheels and Warriors Air Show” in Manassas, Va. Warrior Aviation is an organization that provides veterans with scholarships for job training and placement in the aviation field.
Ellen Shearer, one of my professors, told me about the organization and I started doing some digging. After deciding to do a story, Warrior Aviation invited me to the show, where I could basically do whatever my heart desired. That’s when I flew, along with my colleague Maureen LaForge, for the first time with The Golden Knights, who were there to help raise money for the veterans.
While interviewing a Golden Knight, he asked if I was going to the Joint Service Open House and Air Show at Andrews Air Force Base, once again getting a great story idea without using the daybook.
Not only did I get to fly with the Knights again, but I also had the option of flying with the Blue Angels — the Navy’s flight demonstration squadron. I declined the latter because my stomach would not be able to handle it, but Maureen went.
While there we met the Andrews public affairs chief, who has subsequently given me more story ideas and invited me back to Andrews.
So don’t always rely on the daybook if you want to do some out-of-this-world things — but don’t forget the dramamine.