You know you’re in trouble when your pilot asks, “What did you have for breakfast?”
“Nothing,” I replied.
“Well next time eat bananas. They taste the same going down as they do going up.” He quipped.
I knew I was in for it then.
On Friday morning, I got a rare opportunity. I was given the chance to go up in one of the stunt planes that flew in the Great Georgia Air Show at Falcon Field.
My only request was I wanted something fast and would give me an experience I would never forget. They said ‘no problem’ and scheduled me to fly the Red Eagle at 10:30 a.m.
Let me tell you, I was certainly nervous. On Friday morning, I purposely didn’t eat breakfast for fear of later having to clean off the front windshield of whoever was going to give me a ride. Around 10 a.m. Kim and I traveled over to Falcon Field for the adventure.
As I was waiting to check in and get my official sign off, an experienced pilot was walking around. He meandered up and asked, “What plane are you going up in?”
When I answered, a chuckle quickly ensued and he said, “Just tell Buck to go easy on you.”
This was not what a guy who thinks that the Mind Bender at Six Flags is a wild ride wants to hear. The last time I had been on a roller coaster with twists and turns was at Universal Studios in Orlando and I only made it through one go round and had to bow out due to a queasy stomach. My sister and stepson did several loops.
As I moved out towards the little biplane my stomach was already in knots, not a good sign. Despite my nervousness, I certainly had to admire the plane I was about to go up in. It was beautiful.
The Red Eagle is a red and white biplane with wings made of cloth and an engine that gets up
to 220 mph. It was to be piloted by Buck Roetman of nearby Sharpsburg who I later learned coaches wrestling at East Coweta High School.
As Buck approached the plane in his jump suit he had a smile on his face. He looked as if he had the best job in the entire world. He ambled over to the plane and reached out to shake my hand. He got a sweaty one in return.
“You ready to go up?” he asked.
“Yep,” I replied with enthusiasm waning by the second.
“Well there are a few things we have to go over first,” he said with a rye smile, “Like signing this waver where you can’t sue me if you die and fitting into this parachute.”
After signing my life away, getting into my parachute, and emptying my pockets, Buck went over a few safety tips with me.
“Its pretty simple, if you hear me say bail, jump out and pull the rip cord. You won’t hear me say it more than once and if you do it will be from me jumping over the side.”
Now with full confidence in my decision to put my life in this guys hands I had never met before, we were set to go. Dan McClung, his partner in crime, took Kim over to their hangar to await my safe return.
As I stepped up to get into the plane, Buck pointed exactly where I was to put my foot and explained that if I missed this exact spot, I might send my shoe through the wing, certainly putting a damper on the show and weekend yet to come. I was extremely careful as I got into the front seat of the plane. Buck then stood over me buckling me into the seat with not one, but two different seat belts including the five-point harness.
The plane started and the blast from the propeller certainly felt good as it masked the nervous sweat that was starting to erupt. As we taxied out towards the end of the runway, we spotted a flock of geese waddling through the grass.
“We certainly don’t like the sight of those on our pattern. They are bad for airplanes,”
Buck chuckled though my earphones.
As I heard the clearance from the tower whisper into my ears, I felt the throttle jump and was surprised by the amount of torque the little plane had. Before I knew it, we were 1000 feet above the airfield.
As we headed out away from the field an opening occurred in the sky and a patch of blue filled my view.
“That’s what I’ve been waiting for. Ready for the first maneuver? It’s a 4g pull,” Buck said.
As we turned I felt the blood rush to my head and my stomach start to tighten. Before I knew it, it was over.
“How’d that feel,” I heard over the intercom.
“Not bad” I replied.
The next thing I knew we were upside down doing a loop followed by a quick succession of barrel rolls.
My stomach and head were in a daze at this point. I can hardly remember much except the blue sky followed by views of the ground way below. I started getting a queasy feeling. Buck told me to lean my head back and I did as I was told.
Suddenly we are going straight up and as I am looking behind me I can see Falcon Field. As we reach the top of our climb, we banked and before I knew it, I was looking straight at the ground as I learned later, we had just executed a hammerhead turn.
This was the last straw and my stomach could take no more. I started to thank my lucky stars that I really hadn’t ate much that morning as the sweat started to pour and I really was starting to feel it.
As we turned and headed back to the airport there were several planes on approach. I’m not sure if were first in line or if Buck gave a hidden signal that his passenger was about to lose it, but I was thankful that we were able to approach quickly and land right away. Nothing felt better than when the canopy opened and I felt the rush of air as we taxied to his hangar.
Now before you pass too much judgment on the quality of my stomach and my ability to handle the rush of adrenaline, be warned that I have jumped out of airplanes and bungeed off of large cranes. The thrill of excitement is something I am no stranger to, but I now have a whole new level of respect for pilots who fly upside down.
The folks at the Red Eagle team were great and they wanted to make sure I gave a shout out to their sponsor, PPG Aerospace, which has supported the team for years. The Red Eagle and good ole Buck were a joy to ride with and I now have a whole new perspective on flying. Its something I’ll never forget.
If I ever decide to do that again, I’ll make sure to eat my bananas.
And that is the bottom line.
Guthrie is the publisher of the Fayette County News and Today in Peachtree City. He can be reached at matt@fayettedailynews.com. |
