Drag racing is boring

Osubeaver

Professional Grade
Aug 30, 2008
696
0
16
Oregon
Not really. But it isn't as much fun as flying aerobatics in a small airplane.

Vid is kind of long but if you skip through it you get the general idea. They don't record any audio so it has music. Just as well because I said a couple bad words :rofl:

[youtube]jMQQSjwNH3U[/youtube]


Went down and did a session at Sky Combat Ace in Vegas (Henderson actually). They give you a little briefing, strap a parachute on you, then strap you into the front seat of an Extra 300 LC. I think the parachute is more a technicality than anything. They show you where the canopy jettison is and the d ring on the chute. And don't touch the canopy jettison and to not pull the d-ring unless you are falling out the airplane in the sky.

Did dogfighting of another plane and you get to fly that portion of it. They set the planes up on the merge- so flying towards each other with quite a bit of lateral separation. The when you get wingtip to wingtip you take the controls and get to do whatever is necessary to get behind the other plane and "kill" them with the laser. Pulled 7.5 g's on that part which is something else to feel if you haven't done it before. Crazy.

Then they show you how to fly some simple aerobatics and you get to fly them (loop, barrel rolls, split S, hammerhead). Then they do crazy stuff like spins, a tail slide, Lomcevak (tumble).

Finally they do a simulated bomb run in the desert flying really close to the ground. That was awesome.

My pilot was a former Air Force f-16 pilot and he didn't seem suicidal or like he had a death wish, so I wasn't that nervous. I was most worried I'd puke or pass out from G-lock. Neither happened so that was good :thumb:

Super super fun. The most fun thing I've ever done bar-none. I'll be back :D
 

juddski88

Freedom Diesel
Jul 1, 2008
4,655
120
63
Chesterfield, Mass.
That is pretty cool that it is offered to the public. I had a whole new respect for the profession after I went up in a custom Mustang II. I had never thought that a few G's could feel so extreme.
 

adeso

wait, what?
May 30, 2011
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Minot, ND
I do miss that. I got bored with it after 1300 hours but now I kind of want to go back.

Glad you got to experience it! I always like taking people of for their first few rides
 

AKMAX

New member
Dec 13, 2012
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Alaska
That's awesome. Did you get the tunnel vision at 7.5 G's? I know I did. Hell I even passed out for a bit too!
 

Osubeaver

Professional Grade
Aug 30, 2008
696
0
16
Oregon
Thats awesome man. How much does something like that cost?

You can find all the offerings here: http://www.skycombatace.com

I did the "adrenaline rush"

That is pretty cool that it is offered to the public. I had a whole new respect for the profession after I went up in a custom Mustang II. I had never thought that a few G's could feel so extreme.

Agreed. The Alaska Air flight back on a 737 was pretty tame in comparison.

I do miss that. I got bored with it after 1300 hours but now I kind of want to go back.

Glad you got to experience it! I always like taking people of for their first few rides

What did you fly?

That's awesome. Did you get the tunnel vision at 7.5 G's? I know I did. Hell I even passed out for a bit too!

There was one time I started to get a little weird reddish sensation at the edge. But no problem. The strangest part of the g force for me was how much my head weighed :D
 

durallymax

New member
Apr 26, 2008
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Under The Hood
Looks like a blast, pretty cool you get to fly it too.

I've been watching a lot of the episode of Air Disasters/Air Crash Investigations/Mayday lately so it's odd seeing a video with no crash haha.

The guy that does out crop dusting from time to time is one of those with a death wish I think. A different guy who raises some animals for us was getting married on top of a huge cliff, perfect wedding and the crop duster snuck up in the valley then buzzed them as they were standing there doing their vows. He's know for buzzing lots of farmers back in the day when they were in the fields with open cabs. I think most of the crop duster guys are pretty nuts as it is.
 

adeso

wait, what?
May 30, 2011
1,569
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Minot, ND
I flew the T-37 and T-38 for a year as a student, then the T-6 (the new turbo prop one) for 5 years as an IP. I'm stuck in the B-52 for right now. The first 3 had a G limit of 7.0. The B-52 not so much...