big differance between aerobatics and rollercoasters.  being enclosed makes all the differance i believe.
Have a great time i am sure you'll love it.

Oh? Wings wasn't good enough for you?




































jk you'll have a blast Marco

Almost 2 years ago I had the most fantastic birthday present I could imagine. An advanced aerobatics lesson in the Extra 300 in my avatar. This is something I've fancied doing for as long as I can remember. When I've seen those guys hurling their small aerobatics planes around at all sorts of crazy angles I'd often wondered what it would feel like to actually be up there doing it. I've done simple aerobatics in aircraft like the Chipmunk & Tiger Moth & enjoyed it tremendously but I hadn't taken the controls of a light aircraft for almost 40 years. I also enjoy rollercoasters & fairground rides so although I was now 60 years old I thought I was up for it.

The great day came & after a long briefing including which manoeuvres I wanted to do I was finally strapped in the Extra with an ex Red Arrows team member in the back. I felt fine until immediately after take-off when he demonstrated a gentle climb. The controls are so sensitive there's nothing gentle about anything in the Extra. A small amount of back stick almost threw my stomach through the seat & I felt as though a great weight was pressing on my whole upper body. This baby was no Chipmunk. Then he levelled off & my stomach came up from somewhere below the seat into my mouth & it was all I could do to prevent throwing up. I've never even felt queasy in an aircraft before. At this point I was beginning to think that it was all a big mistake but as everyone had gone to so much trouble decided to press on. I'm sure that my instructor knew perfectly well how I was feeling.

My first loop with him on the controls was like no loop I'd ever experienced before & I was really not enjoying it at all. Then we did an aileron roll. Fantastic as there was no G involved. I'll have more of that. The instructor had told me that the Extra can roll faster than the Red Arrows Hawk. Anyways, he asked me if I would like to try a loop myself. OK, I'm here now so I might as well give it a bash. Well, all I can say is that it was quite different when I was in in control. From this point I stared enjoying myself & my intructor knew it. We put that thing through all the manoeuvres we'd discussed beforehand & I was sorry when it all ended. The last thing we did was a steep turn to check out my ability to withstand G. I've flown in a Hawker Hunter with all the gear, including an anti-G suit. No such luxury this time. My instructor was very surprised when I took 5G, the maximum for a first-timer, with no ill-effects. Not bad for an oldie.

The flight had lasted 25 minutes which they told me was more than enough for the first time. They were right as my whole body, including muscles I didn't even know I had, ached for the rest of the day. I enjoyed it so much that I seriously considered signing up for the full course but as this would involve getting my PPL first I decided against it. My age is another factor as you need to be really fit to do something like this. Just keeping my feet on the rudder pedals during some of those manoeuvres was impossible & I would need to work out seriously before being able to do anything like these chaps do every day. It's all muscle power & knowing how fit they have to be gave me a new respect for those aerobatic pilots.

I hope you enjoy it Marco but I think if this was me I would have taken a trial lesson first. As for me, I would do it all again tomorrow without a second's thought but I don't wish to spoil what for me was a very special day. I can still remember every minute.

Hey guys ... well, I didn't imagine that there were so many folks that had done this.

I am not built like marathon runner (I wish) but I do run twice a week and do my situps and push ups (and I am still overweight). I don't smoke and I generally dont' get sick on rollercoasters (I don't like them, it's not that I get sick on them).

So, while I not exactly your idea of a hot-shot pilot, I might be able to hack it ... (says Marco comfortably sitting at his office chair pulling 1G).

This is a very interesting topic!

I would love to learn aerobatics!!

Quote:

and it's also the one manouver that causes the most  frequent and copious, spontaneous discharge of bodily fluids, I bet. 

yes that grin cannot be faked.

It's caused by spasmodic contraction of the face muscles accompanied by consequent seizure of the nerve endings as a consequence of extreme flight-induced happiness.



Can't wait!!!

I'm 6'4" Charlie, I know what it is like to cram into a small aircraft as I do it quite often. You should see me cram into a Cessna 150!

Aerobatic pilots do come in all sizes , I'm almost 2ft taller than Patty Wagstaff

Looping, rolling, it's all pretty damn fun in the end!

All this talk of airsickness worries me. Im going to be taking flying lessons this summer (very soon! cant wait!), and my main concern is that I'll find out that I get extrememly air sick. Ive never gotten sick on an airplane before, but I havnt been in a light aircraft for probably 10 years. Probably wont happen, but you never know.

Quote:


Don't worry about it. Only time I've ever gotten the slightest bit nauseous on a normal flight was when I was a bit under the weather and had also just scarfed down some fast food. Felt a bit "off" while the CFI was flying, but as soon as I had the controls I was fine.
  If by some chance you do feel ill, best thing to do is relax and keep your eyes outside, on the horizon. Just breathe normally, relax, and don't move your head around too much. It'll probably pass.
If it doesn't, don't be discouraged. One never really knows when airsickness will strike; even old hands get a little queasy now and then.

Quote:

That's all very well but what happens if you're flying solo?

Quote:

Thinking about being sick will most probably cause you to be sick. My advice is to forget all about it & enjoy it. Light aircraft are quite different to the big airliners but you've obviously done it before & have never been sick. Why would this change now? I have always been given a sick bag to carry but in almost 50 years of flying in all types I've never been sick in an aeroplane. A conventional trainer (even an advanced jet trainer like the T-38 ) cannot be compared with a specialised highly aerobatic display aircraft like the Extra 300 or Pitts Special. As Charlie & Rotty confirm, it's different when you're in control. I know people who suffer from travel sickness as passengers, yet these people are perfectly fine when they're driving the car themselves.

Enjoy your lessons chaps.

Quote:

This reminds me of an article I read in the latest issue of Prop-Swing, the official magazine of the Shuttleworth Veteran Aeroplane Society. I'll quote it word for word.

=============================

Q. What are those windows for in the side of the (Hawker) Hind over the lower wing?

A. Windows in Hinds: here I'm sure I'm right. Towards the end of the First World War the activities of gremlins was officially recognised (on the formation of the RAF on 1st April 1918 ). It was recorded that the young gremlins (brought in due to losses at the front) who were unused to flying became airsick. The effluent was highly corrosive, necessitating immediate action. Fortunately my grandfather, who was engineering officer of No 56 sqdn, noticed that when aircraft were damaged by enemy action there were no problems. This led him to the conclusion that, when they could see out the young gremlins were not sick. The result of this discovery has been far-reaching. Transparent panels proliferated, and they can now be seen on the underside of wings. There are also small holes near the trailing edge for gremlin access (check the SE5a). On some large aircraft transparent panels are now fitted on both sides of the fuselage & sometimes in front.

Steve

Quote:


I wouldn't worry about it. All this talk about airsickness is related to flying at abnormal attitudes and pulling Gs ... you won't be doing either.

I was worried about the same thing when I started flying and in the end I never got sick.

I did get sick once (just nauseous, didn't throw up) but that was after 1 hours of instrument practice, under the hood and in miserable turbulence (I am talking about the kind of turbulence that would make you smack your head against the side doors). Turbulence was so bad that I was fighting for control at least once every 3 minutes. It was a choppy, sharp, rythimc type of turbulence... the worst.

I just went out yesterday and I flew under the hood for almost 2 hours in pretty annoying turbulence and it didn't affect me at all.