No G Forces = No Glory ..... Beeger's Aerobatic Experience

[Beegerite]

Mullets;

Just got back from Disney World where I was presented with an opportunity to break a psychological block about flying which I developed 15 years ago after a pretty active career as a flight instructor (was probably all those students trying to kill me day after day).  Here's the poop and the pictures to prove it.  

I saw an ad about http://www.warbirdadventures.com and decided to give it a go.  Actually two gos at $300.00 a pop because the first ride I hadn't quite built up the necessary testastorone level and had to go back and spend another $300 in order to have something worthwhile to share with all of you.

Let me tell you right out that it's totally fubared the AH experience for me. Adding G forces adds a totally new dimension to flying. Let me tell you what happened, first Erik the instructor asked me if I wanted him to demonstrate a 1 G aileron roll. In a clipped professional matter I think I said something like "let's roll". He dropped the nose to gain airspeed to 170 IAS and then began with a 20 degree pitch up immediately followed by smooth but firm left aileron and left rudder. The Texan just rolled around it's longitudinal axis in a smooth rolling motion. I noticed the G forces which as advertised was only 1G. Only thing I can tell you is that it was different and not entirely unplesant. Erik then asked if I wanted to try it. Sensing a wild rush of testastorone I said yes and he talked me through the aileron roll which I executed pretty good with the minor exeption that I applied down elevator at some point and the roll wasn't exactly in line with the direction of flight. So far so good, though my remark at the end of my roll was that I wouldn't necessarily want to do this every day.

THEN! The moment of truth came and Erik asked if I wanted him to demonstrate a loop in which we would incurr 3Gs. Again, with some bravado I said yes and he told me to tense up all the muscles in my stomach, back and I suppose my A-hole. What he didn't know was that I've got 59.5 years of flab there instead of muscles. Anyway, I grunted, breathed in deeply and tensed up for all I was worth as he pulled up into the loop. No question about it. This was not for me. The blood rushed out of my head, past the wimpy flab attempting to keep it in place and rushed down somewhere around my big toe. Instant nausea, lightheadedness, queazyness and an overall desire to puke all over the instruments. Thankfully I managed to control myself and didn't puke but it immediately told me that this just wasn't for me. I'll leave my upside down flying for AH where the strongest G force is felt when I drop something and have to lean over the side of the chair to pick it up. After a bit of recovery I told Erik that I would rather just do some gentle maneuvers and he graciously agreed. The rest of the flight was just like the first with me flying the airplane to the final approach and doing the gentle and medium turns which my flight experience amply qualities me for. Now I can say I did it but believe me, never again except in here where I can't hurt myself.

Beeg

P.S. I may not be doing aerobatics in the future but I'm surely going to renew my tickets and ratings and if any of you find yourself in the Orlando area I heartily recommend Warbird Adventures.

http://www.gonocos.homestead.com/flightpics.html

[discod]

Hey I saw you on CNN!  Yeah weren't you the guy who thought you were still playing AH and shot down a Cesna??  

Way cool Beeg!  Wish I was there!  Someday.....

[streakeagle]

Yeah, it's all about the g's. I can't ever get enough. I can barely feel anything on rollercoasters. I want to pull g's until I black out

[airspro]

THanks Beegerite
 

That is so cool .

  Don't know if my shoulder could take the strain of inverted flight ? I was in a moving simulator this winter and was hanging on the strap , and it hurt for a month after  but when you did your loop you don't just hang , is that right ?? ( had shoulder fixed from 3 wheeler acc. in 1984 )

I checked the prices , what flight did you pick out , and what option's ?

Anyway , thanks for shareing the photo's etc , really must have been something to make you want to do it twice .

take care
spro

[Daff]

"Don't know if my shoulder could take the strain of inverted flight ?"

Depends on the harness. On modern aerobatic-type harness', you will be hanging from the waiststrap, rather than the shoulder straps. The harness in the Pitts I fly, got a 2.5 inch wide, padded waiststrap, with a ratchet to tighten it; Once you are strapped in, you wont move . Shoulder straps are mainly for restricting forward/back/sideways movement.
On old style Sutton-harness',  you would end taking the weight on your shoulders, but very few planes still got those.
With a standard 5-point harness, you can again adjust the waist-strap to take most of the weight, although it will depend on seat and err, body-shape .
Finally, most people trying aerobatics the first time won't be exposed to a lot of inverted flying..pretty much all of it will be transitional (ie, floating over the top in the loop).

Daff

[Beegerite]

Airspro;
The first time I took the non-aerobatic option with 3 camera video and 35mm stills for $300.00 and the second time I added the aerobatics for an additional $20.00 so the total expenditure was $620.00 plus developing.  As far as the strapping in goes, I can tell you I felt secure with big bellybutton web belts and steel buckles to hold my "body shape" in place.  As Daff said in a subsequent post I suppose that the proper way to introduce somebody into aerobatics would be with aeleron rolls etc. which I would have been happy to do.  However, the loop at 3 to 4 Gs was a bit of a punishment to inflict on myself after being away from flying for 15 years.  I also forgot while in it that it isn't only the G forces which mess with you but your other senses e.g. balance and sight which get totally confused by the conflicting signals.  Overall, I think anyone who plays AH owes it to themselves to get a little humility by finding out what it would feel like to try to engage an enemy while your body is being subjected to G forces.  I guarantee it will give you a deeper respect for fighter pilots.
Beeg

Originally posted by airspro
THanks Beegerite
 

That is so cool .

  Don't know if my shoulder could take the strain of inverted flight ? I was in a moving simulator this winter and was hanging on the strap , and it hurt for a month after  but when you did your loop you don't just hang , is that right ?? ( had shoulder fixed from 3 wheeler acc. in 1984 )

I checked the prices , what flight did you pick out , and what option's ?

Anyway , thanks for shareing the photo's etc , really must have been something to make you want to do it twice .

take care
spro

[Bluefish]

Congrats on the ride, Beeger!  Very few people have the opportunity, or the intestinal fortitude (uhhh, maybe a bad choice of words...) to try acro at all.

It was interesting that the pilot offered a roll as the first maneuver- I've found that more people can handle loops than rolls (most of them have been on looping roller coasters or similar rides but few rides involve rolls).  The maneuver that has undone most of my passengers, however, was the hammerhead; almost nobody has ever experienced zero G (the only ride that I'm aware of that involves zero is Superman at Magic Mtn in SoCal).

For anybody who wants to experience some G's without necessarily travelling to Florida or forking up the price for a Warbird ride, almost any airport that offers acro instruction will take non-pilots up for a joy-ride (and at a pretty reasonable price).  It'll be different from a T-6 or any other warbird (which are heavy and fast and make BIG maneuvers with extended periods of G), but still the most fun you can have with your clothes on.

[CDR Akira]

Beeg guess what?

I saw your not from the tube but live

when did this happen and was there a lake near by

Cause i saw you with binoculars:D

[Grimm]

Beeger,

Iv taken a ride with Warbird Adventures.  It was an incredible time.

I did the full A/C manuvers thing,  We did Several loops, Yo Yo turns, Cuban Eight, and Even the Barnstormer Roll.    I was pretty into it.   The G Forces are Very cool, and Yes, they take more out of you than folks realise.  

Another thing, Did you have to Trim the A/C during a manuvere, I know I never did,  Just get a fairly neutral Trim and go.  

I was trying to be pretty hardcore, So I flew inverted and with lots of Gs,  Its the Negitive Gs that always get me.  I am proud to report, I flew Manuvers till I puked!  (yes had a bag)  

The Funniest Thing is watching my Video from the flight.  The entire Time I flew with my hand on the Stick, With my Trigger Finger extended,  Just like you might hold your Joystick ready to fire the Guns.

I do agree, this is well worth the money, and recommend the flight to anyone.

[CyranoAH]

I am currently getting my solo in a CAP-10 Aerobatic trainer, and Beegerite, if you fly aerobatics for some time, you'll find out that your body gets used to the rapid change in acceleration in less time than you'd think.

Loops are the safest figure to do with a first-timer, since you go from .5 to 1G all the way up to 3-4G... they'll feel a bit heavy, for sure, but nothing they can't withstand.

Rolls, spins, and all sorts of turning around the longitudinal or vertical axis, now that's different... be sure to have your vomit bags at hand

Ah, and on zero G and inverted flying, my personal experience (having flown on the Airbus 300 Zero-G for a parabollic flight campaign with the European Space Agency) is that Zero-G is much much difficult to adapt to than minus whatever Gs, since negative Gs is just like being hung upside down (you can try that at home, the sensation is almost the same when flying inverted).

Oh, and do NOT tape or take pictures when during a maneouver, since it's a sure way to get you nausea. Just relax and enjoy the flight if you do not have experience.

Have fun!

Daniel

PS: One of the spins I have taped in the CAP-10, if you are interested, is at: http://casal.upc.es/danig27/barrena.rm

(Barrena is spin in spanish )

[Duckwing6]

Very true Cyrano

A big difference that you now what's happening and when...

My instructor once greyed me out at about 4g because i was totaly unaware and looking somewhere else when he pulled up... that's a very nauseating experience

[Vermillion]

Congrats Bee !

I flew with Warbirds Adventures back about 4 years ago.  Thom (prononced "Tom") was my instructor pilot, and we flew the silver/natural metal finish Texan (actually a SNJ-6).  In fact I'm on their website.

I know they also have a yellow Texan they fly sometimes.

I challenged him before we flew "If you don't make me throw up after I get off this airplane, I'll be disappointed" hehehe.  And boy did he try  I'm just glad I don't get airsick, and have a fairly high G tolerance (according to him).  We ended up pulling just about 5 G's, and the only time I grayed out was similar to Duckwing, I was watching the scenery and not paying attention when he started a hard  manuever and got about 80% tunnel vision. Otherwise I loved it.  

Must admitt though, I was scared too death when I flew the Immelman and stalled at the flip over.  It rotated 2.5 times before I caught it, mostly because I was so startled when it stalled that I hesitated and didn't begin the recovery immediately.

Next time I'm in Kissimme (sp?) I'm definitely going to go again. !!

[Eagler]

Beegs

I did it on 4/1/2002 in the green one. It was  a blast!
When were u there?






http://www.hitechcreations.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=463920 G edited this one up for me

http://www.hitechcreations.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=464031
Yep, those loops did me in too, no barf just messed with the head

[Grimm]

Hey,

This means you all must have wandered over to Tom Riellys place too...  that place is So cool!     I remember stumbling into a P38 cockpit out in the weeds!

[Beegerite]

Akira;
It was around 4:30 p.m. on 04/30 and 05/02 south of the Kissimmee, Florida airport near a lake they call Horsehead Lake but I believe is actually named Lake Marion.
Beeg

Originally posted by CDR Akira
Beeg guess what?

I saw your not from the tube but live

when did this happen and was there a lake near by

Cause i saw you with binoculars:D