Hey flippy spinny twisty jumping folks...

[midget]

all i can say is HELMET CAM!!!!

[mrw]

Dude, that is sweet! I've always wanted to fly a Sukhoi or Extra 300. My training was done in a Super Decathlon. I heard a story about a guy in a SU-31 who actually failed a wing spar in positive loading, the wing started to peel upward, and he was quick thinking enough to roll it over, fly it in inverted, and at the last minute rolled right side up for the landing, at which point the wing finished breaking off.

That re-defines gnar.

Have you had a chance to pick up the 170 yet?

[bio-smear]

The 170 is sitting in the hangar up in Oregon... I just had the prop overhauled, had to send it to Puyallup. It's off limits for aerobatics though. Those 50 year old spars are fine, but why stress em?

Red Baron, you are going to have a great time. I can't image a 300 mph takeoff. Watch the altimeter bearings for smoke, and stay psyched for the whole ride.

[bossass]

Lucky MFer. When I was 8 all I wanted to be was a fighter pilot. I'd still give my left nut to go up in plane like that. Have fun.

Thread reminded me of an article my dad forwarded me a few months back. Pretty funny.

Below is an article written by Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated. He
details his experiences when given the opportunity to fly in a F-14
Tomcat. If you aren't laughing out loud by the time you get to "Milk
Duds," your sense of humor is broken.

"Now this message is for America's most famous athletes:

Someday you may be invited to fly in the back-seat of one of your
country's most powerful fighter jets. Many of you already have ... John
Elway, John Stockton, Tiger Woods to name a few. If you get this
opportunity, let me urge you, with the greatest sincerity...
Move to Guam.
Change your name.
Fake your own death!
Whatever you do ..
Do Not Go!!!

I know. The U.S. Navy invited me to try it. I was thrilled. I was
pumped. I was toast! I should've known when they told me my pilot
would be Chip (Biff) King of Fighter Squadron 213 at Naval Air Station
Oceana in Virginia Beach.

Whatever you're thinking a Top Gun named Chip (Biff) King looks like,
triple it. He's about six-foot, tan, ice-blue eyes, wavy surfer hair,
finger-crippling handshake -- the kind of man who wrestles dyspeptic
alligators in his leisure time. If you see this man, run the other way.
Fast.

Biff King was born to fly. His father, Jack King, was for years the
voice of NASA missions. ("T-minus 15 seconds and counting ..."
Remember?) Chip would charge neighborhood kids a quarter each to hear
his dad. Jack would wake up from naps surrounded by nine-year-olds
waiting for him to say, "We have a liftoff."

Biff was to fly me in an F-14D Tomcat, a ridiculously powerful $60
million weapon with nearly as much thrust as weight, not unlike Colin
Montgomerie. I was worried about getting airsick, so the night before
the flight I asked Biff if there was something I should eat the next
morning.

"Bananas," he said.

"For the potassium?" I asked.

"No," Biff said, "because they taste about the same coming up as they
do going down."

The next morning, out on the tarmac, I had on my flight suit with my
name sewn over the left breast. (No call sign -- like Crash or Sticky
or Leadfoot ... but, still, very cool.) I carried my helmet in the
crook of my arm, as Biff had instructed. If ever in my life I had a
chance to nail Nicole Kidman, this was it.

A fighter pilot named Psycho gave me a safety briefing and then
fastened me into my ejection seat, which, when employed, would "egress"
me out of the plane at such a velocity that I would be immediately
knocked unconscious.

Just as I was thinking about aborting the flight, the canopy closed
over me, and Biff gave the ground crew a thumbs-up. In minutes we were
firing nose up at 600 mph. We leveled out and then canopy-rolled over
another F-14.


Those 20 minutes were the rush of my life. Unfortunately, the ride
lasted 80. It was like being on the roller coaster at Six Flags Over
Hell. Only without rails. We did barrel rolls, sap rolls, loops, yanks
and banks. We dived, rose and dived again, sometimes with a vertical
velocity of 10,000 feet per minute. We chased another F-14, and it
chased us.

We broke the speed of sound. Sea was sky and sky was sea. Flying at
200 feet we did 90-degree turns at 550 mph, creating a G force of 6.5,
which is to say I felt as if 6.5 times my body weight was smashing
against me, thereby approximating life as Mrs. Colin Montgomerie.

And I egressed the bananas. I egressed the pizza from the night
before.

And the lunch before that. I egressed a box of Milk Duds from the
sixth grade. I made Linda Blair look polite. Because of the G's, I was
egressing stuff that did not even want to be egressed. I went through
not one airsick bag, but two.

Biff said I passed out. Twice. I was coated in sweat. At one point,
as we were coming in upside down in a banked curve on a mock bombing
target and the G's were flattening me like a tortilla and I was in and
out of consciousness, I realized I was the first person in history to
throw down.

I used to know cool. Cool was Elway throwing a touchdown pass, or
Norman making a five-iron bite. But now I really know cool. Cool is
guys like Biff, men with cast-iron stomachs and freon nerves. I
wouldn't go up there again for Derek Jeter's black book, but I'm glad
Biff does every day, and for less a year than a rookie reliever makes in
a home stand.

A week later, when the spins finally stopped, Biff called. He said he
and the fighters had the perfect call sign for me. Said he'd send it on
a patch for my flight suit.

What is it? I asked.

"Two Bags."

[mrw]

\Bananas," he said.

"For the potassium?" I asked.

"No," Biff said, "because they taste about the same coming up as they
do going down."

I realized I was the first person in history to
throw down"

That is some funny shit

[Theodore]

A few years ago I was at the Topeka Airshow and there were MiG 29's there. They were offering 30min rides, however you wanted it cruising or aerobatic, for $10,000. I was in my teens then and 10 grand seemed like an incredible amount of $, but if I run into that deal again in a few years... I'll be 10 grand poorer and have a HUGE grin on my face.

[Mr. Altagirl]

Cool RB, you will love it. I got to work with those guys a few times, they will leave you with a big smile for sure. One word of caution, don't be cocky during any pre-flights or briefings. I remember this one tool who got a ride and was very loud in proclaiming nobody could make him puke. Guess who was puking his entire ride (the pilot was brutal on him)? Congrats man.

[BenWA]

The 170 is sitting in the hangar up in Oregon... I just had the prop overhauled, had to send it to Puyallup. It's off limits for aerobatics though. Those 50 year old spars are fine, but why stress em?

he smear, are you the proud owner of a 170? That would be a fun airplane to own, I have always thought. Or a 180. Are there many backcountry strips around you? I haven't ventured much outside of WA with a small airplane, except for OR and AK.

p.s., I live about 15 minutes from Puyallup. Were you at the tradeshow a couple of weeks ago?

[SkiingBear]

RB, congrats...you're a lucky man, that's always been a dream of mine.

..and since no one has mentioned it yet, can I call dibs as your back-up in case you need to cancel? Seriously, I would love for you to do this...but if for any reason you can't...

[InspectorGadget]

Lucky! [/Napoleon Dynomite voice]



^^^ My aeronautical claim to fame is flying the SR71 simulator at Beale AFB. ^^^
Somehow it's just not the same.

Enjoy the ride RB.

[Red Baron]

heh, this is TOMORROW! FKNA, I can't wait. Look for a TR soon, including video from the three cameras inside the plane...

[The General]

Yeah, that looks weird to see the wing of a Cessna like that. Man some of you guys are lucky!!!! I would give anything to get some time in a Pitts or an Extra. I've never done anything in an A/C that it wasn't certificated for, nor do I plan on it, I guess I'm a bit of a pussy like that. But, I've been very tempted by the SR22 though, that thing handles like a dream!

edit: Wow! There's more pilots on here than I thought.......

[Crinkle]

soo jealous, now on with the funny:

RB will think his world is ending twice in one week

[shmerham]

So, what do you anticipate being the most grueling part: the marathon, the jet ride, or the wedding?

Sounds like an awesome week. Perhaps good enough to be on VH1's Best week ever.

[Dirty Hoar]

I know it sounds strange... but put a glob of chunky peanut butter on the tip of your nose and you won't get sick at all. Something to do with the chunky.

Wow... I'm jealous. I've been amazed by flight ever since I was a kid and have always dreamed of flying in an F-16. ENJOY!

[13]

In a past life, I was a fighter pilot. Sooooo jealous.

heh, this is TOMORROW! FKNA, I can't wait. Look for a TR soon, including video from the three cameras inside the plane...

Raw and unedited I hope.

[Trackhead]

heh, this is TOMORROW! FKNA, I can't wait. Look for a TR soon, including video from the three cameras inside the plane...

Please have handy a lens cloth, to whipe the gastric contents off the lens.

Nice Baron, that should super fun.

[filthyfrenchbum]

Probably the last fun ride you'll have before a marriage, enjoy
I would absolutely love doing something like that, the extreme sensations must be overwhelming if you don't pass out.

Oh and check this out, this is what you're likely to be like tommorow

http://www.break.com/index/f1goodnight.html

[The General]

Probably the last fun ride you'll have before a marriage, enjoy
I would absolutely love doing something like that, the extreme sensations must be overwhelming if you don't pass out.

Oh and check this out, this is what you're likely to be like tommorow

http://www.break.com/index/f1goodnight.html

I'm surprised this guy didn't choke on his gum!

[Red Baron]

that video cracks me up, and so does the description - he's actually a reporter for the Atlanta Journal Constitution and didn't pay for anything- he's flying with the Blue Angels in that video, and it's only from last month.

The Blue Angels don't use g-suits - the Thunderbirds do, and I'm happy to know that...

[springsproject]

last week i got to shoot the thunderbirds for work at the air force academy graduation. those guys are absolutely nuts and they seem to fly sort of fast. needless to say i am jealous.

[Staggerwing]

Growing up at a small, general aviation airport, I used to bug rides in almost anything that flew. Have some Citabria time (from an ex-Luftwaffe instructor), but the most fun were the rides in a Pitts S2A. While certainly not in the F-16, or even Extra 300, class, it was major fun.

The pilot that owned it was a little hesitant to take me up, because prior excursions with family and friends generally resulted in a dirty cockpit. I kept it clean, and was able to score a couple of additional rides. He was an OK pro baseballer, that got bitten hard by airplanes and acrobatics, even trying his hand at competion. Got the full rock-n-roll treatment, extended inverted flight, inside loops, outside loops, airleron, barrel and snap rolls, tails slides, excetera. Every couple of manuevers, he would give the controls and let me play; partially to share the joy of the machine, and partially to keep his airplane clean. Keeping the mind busy piloting quickly clears any queasiness. Everything was good until the multi-turn, inverted flat spin. Like riding very wobbly merry-go-round upside down. Still kept it clean though, just had to pause for a couple of minutes.

Wish I still had such friends as I can't justify $250+ /hr dual time in such a beast.

Have a great flight, and post the full TR. Eat a light, non-reactive bite prior, and try to relax and enjoy.

[Red Baron]

oh yeah, apparently I get some stick time too. I've been warned that you don't have to push quite as hard as on a videogame joystick, apparently you just lightly push in the direction you want to go.

i've also been warned not to touch anything black or yellow in the cockpit, to help avoid an accidental ejection...

[midget]

good luck with the no-vomit thing!

[truth]

So cool RB. So jealous.