Getting your
Trinity Audioplayer ready...Joby Aviation — the electric air taxi outfit — may have a new marketing slogan on its hands: “So easy even a mayor can fly one!”
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan piloted a successful first flight on Joby’s flight simulator at San Jose Mineta International Airport on Tuesday, the eve of National Aviation Day. Inside the simulator cockpit and faced with a 120-degree screen, the mayor managed a vertical takeoff, some turns around the area around the airport and a smooth landing during the short flight of about 10 minutes.
“I just made it through without a crash landing, so I’m pretty proud of myself,” Mahan said after the flight, joking that if politics don’t work out for him, he might turn to Joby for a job.
You don’t even have to be mayor to try out the flight simulator, which is housed inside a blue Joby-branded trailer behind the “XO” sculpture at Terminal B. It’ll be on site until Friday, and people can sign up to reserve a session at calendly.com/nicole-rivera-jobyaviation/sjc-vip.
Joby Aviation, which is based in Santa Cruz, is hoping to start offering real flights by 2027 after it receives FAA approval, Joby Chief Product Officer Eric Allison said. San Jose Mineta is the first airport in the country to host the simulator, and Allison said the company wants to engage communities in the different areas where they eventually want to offer the service.
“We think it’s really important to be able to show this, that people experience it and to kind of get a taste of what’s coming soon,” Allison said.
Mahan said technologies like Joby Aviation’s air taxis — which seat four people besides the pilot — could be part of the solution for easing traffic congestion in Silicon Valley.
“We can’t just have everybody in a car with our current infrastructure, and it’s expensive to build new infrastructure,” Mahan said. “So having this kind of technology, this innovation, happening right here in our backyard, creating the jobs of the future and maybe helping to solve one of the area’s biggest challenges — which is congestion — is pretty exciting.”
BRADY OPENS THE CARD VAULT: Legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady surprised fans in Palo Alto when he showed up Saturday to help cut the ribbon on the newest location of CardVault by Tom Brady at Town & Country Village. Brady, who grew up in San Mateo and went to Serra High School, was joined in his scissor-wielding duties by CardVault co-founders Chris Costa and Ed Kane, as well as Palo Alto Mayor Vicki Veenker and Police Chief James Reifschneider.
CAPITOLA CAMEOS: If you’ve seen Pizza My Heart’s newest commercial, you may have noticed the ad has more cameos than their Big Sur pizza has toppings. Owner Chuck Hammers broke down all the special appearances in the spot, which was filmed on Capitola Beach, the chain’s birthplace.
“We really wanted to make this new commercial as a bit of an ode to Santa Cruz County,” Hammers said.
The special appearances include “Jimmy,” the longtime face of Pizza My Heart, who is played by Capitola resident Robert “Wingnut” Weaver of 1994’s classic surf film, “The Endless Summer II”; “Survivor” contestant Lex van den Berghe, whose name inspired the D’Lex Slice and is wearing a vintage Pizza A Go-Go shirt from the 1980s; James Durbin, the current lead singer for Quiet Riot who finished fourth in the 10th season of “American Idol” and grew up eating Pizza My Heart in Santa Cruz. Durbin is singing “Good Lovin’ ” in the ad.
And you might notice two guys in robes nodding along to the music. They are Luke and Jude Hammers, who are now working for Pizza My Heart and learning from their dad (and apparently Jimmy).
Chuck Hammers said there were two more cameos that could have happened: Aptos native and former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer wanted to be in the commercial but they couldn’t make the schedule work as he’s now coaching in Nashville. And Hammers couldn’t reach “Severance” actor Adam Scott, who went to Harbor High School and was once a delivery driver for Pizza My Heart. Maybe next time he can send his “innie.”
THE BARD AND BOLLYWOOD: Silicon Valley Shakespeare is having fun with the comedy “Much Ado About Nothing,” adding a Bollywood flavor to the comedy, which is being performed at Sanborn Park in Saratoga through Sept. 6. This adaptation, directed by Kunal Prasad, has all the expected deceptions, misunderstandings and farce from the play, just sprinkled with vibrant music, dance and lots of color as a South Asian American family gets ready for a wedding.
This weekend’s shows include Desi Dress-Up Night on Saturday, with an onstage photo opportunity for audience members who come dressed to the theme, and Sunday’s performance will be ASL-interpreted. Tickets are available at svshakespeare.org.