OWNER

Growing up in Southern California, I was a very avid surfer, carpenter and amateur photographer. At the age of 26 I made my first skydive which changed my life forever. I made the skydive not because I wanted to jump out of an airplane but because I was assigned to jump out of an airplane as an exercise in a class meant to have you face your fears head-on. I definitely believed I could NOT jump out of an airplane in 1978!

Fast forward to today….. I have over 8000 skydives and have spent the last 40 years filming the most high profile skydiving projects ever brought to TV and theaters. I’ve filmed skydiving scenes for the Patrick Swayze movie Point Break, three different James Bond movies, Hawaii Five-0, Mountain Dew Commercials and many others as well as skydiving into the Olympics and jumping with President George H.W. Bush. My resume can be viewed here on my photography/cinematography web site www.tomsandersaerialfocus.com

Surfing, skydiving, hang-gliding, BASE jumping and photography have consumed my life since my mid-20’s. In 1978 I started a photography business filming student skydivers which gave me the time and money to surf and hang-glide during the week and skydive on the weekends when the parachute center was busier. I combined my passion for photography, skydiving, hang-gliding and BASE jumping and have traveled the world on amazing adventures for high profile clients as well as my own projects. My still images have been published world-wide in magazines such as LIFE, TIME, STERN, National Geography, Outside Magazine, Parachutist, Para-Mag, and many books, calendars and other publications.

In the early 1990’s I released my award winning film “Over The Edge” which won first place in every film festival it which it was entered in and every category it was entered. Later I was awarded the prestigious “Gold Medal For Meritorious Service” from The United States Parachute Association.

In 2015 I was inducted into the United States ARMY Golden Knights as an honorary member for my decades of service to them – the premier skydiving team in the World. I have taught the ARMY Parachute Team and the Special Forces Delta Force Team freefall camera skills as well as jumped with these skydivers on major projects such as the Olympic Rings Skydive and President Bush’s skydives.

I have worked as a Screen Actor Guild (SAG) Hollywood stuntman specializing in skydiving, hang-gliding and BASE jumping for over 20 years. My photography/cinematography company Aerial Focus has a perfect safety record and is known world-wide for coordinating very challenging and dangerous aerial stunts for TV, film and commercials where I normally work as both the aerial stunt coordinator and freefall cameraman. This “safety first” attitude has served us well at Paradise Air Hawaii, Inc. We are very proud of our perfect safety record and over 16,000 flights.

I am an FAA Certified Flight Instructor with over 6000 hours in this type of aircraft making me one of the most experienced in the world. I am also and FAA Certified Light Sport Repairman with a Maintenance Rating which allows me to perform all of the aircraft maintenance. I maintain our aircraft and I am your pilot.