Coug Goes Top Gun

[WSUCougar]

As an advanced gift for my upcoming 40th birthday (yeah yeah), my wife bought me a flight package in a restored T-6 Texan (World War II era trainer) with a company called North American Top Gun (Website ).



I took the flight yesterday (Friday), and it was a total BLAST!

North American Top Gun sort of barnstorms around the country, and they are here in the area for only a few weeks. As the day approaches, we get skeptical about our chances of getting this in. Like many places in the Midwest, the St. Louis area has been getting shellacked with thunderstorms and heavy rain lately, but Friday proved to be a break in the action and the weather was simply perfect for a flight. Warm, sunny, nice breeze. We hit the road around 10:30 a.m., heading about an hour or so into the farmland of Illinois where the little airport is. We pull up and there’s a gaggle of old folks sitting around this po-dunk airport, but no airplane.

Soon we meet up with the company rep, a real nice guy from Louisiana who is traveling around everywhere and missing his family…so he bonds with my 2-1/2-year-old son Drew right off the bat. We’re waiting on the plane to return and get fueled up, but he’s already promising Drew all kinds of fun stuff.

After about 15 minutes, the T-6 Texan flies into the area. It’s got the 1944 navy blue paint scheme – very sharp – and has that engine with the good old piston sound. It circles the airport once, and then comes in, does a touch and go, circles again, and does this fancy slow s-turn landing. Beautiful! Then it taxis over to the fuel tank and shuts down. My son’s eyes are as big as saucers! “Can we see the plane?!? Can we see the plane?!?”

Well, yeah, we see the plane. Once it’s fueled up, we get the full tour. My son is quite shy, but eventually we get him to pose with me and the plane. Then I get to climb in and get suited up. First, the Louisiana guy (who kind of serves as the ground crew) instructs me on how to get into the front seat. Hands here, feet there, no pressure on the canopy. Okay, I manage that, and as I’m taking in all of the gauges and stuff he buckles me in. Parachute harness first, then the multiple hooks of the safety harness. Then he gets serious: “If there is a problem with the aircraft, the pilot will say “Eject! Eject! Eject! And then he is GONE. If you want to follow him out, here’s what you’ll need to do. Remove your headset, open the canopy, unfasten the harness release, stand and dive out of the right side of the aircraft, and then pull the chute.” Okay, THAT was kind of sobering. Then my son gets to sit in my lap in the plane for a photo, and I am distracted from my IMPENDING DOOM.

Then the pilot gets in, and we start talking over the headset. The guy is of Polish descent, so he’s a little hard to understand, but he’s a very cool guy. We small talk for a minute, and then off we go.

We take off – it’s a total thrill to be doing this shit for real after countless World War II flight sims – and get into the air, and I have to raise the landing gear lever. w00t!

We climb to around 4000 feet and he gives me a quick briefing, then I get to fly the sucker (using the stick, anyway). Shallow dives, climbs, banking turns, tighter turns, etc. Fun stuff. But then we get into the more serious maneuvers (for me, anyway – the guy is a former acrobatic pilot, so this is like kindergarten for him). I get to do a couple rolls…dive to gain airspeed, climb a bit, loosen the stick, then hard all the way over and ROLL. Yeeeeha!

Then we do a loop. I should say, HE does the loop, while I pull 3gs, look down by looking up, and then feel my stomach flop over like a slinky. Queasy, but I am okay…and I just did a friggin’ loop!

Anyway, it was a 30-minute flight, and was over far too soon. We came in for a gentle landing after another slowwwww s-turn thingy just ahead of the landing strip. What a blast. We taxi over to where my wife and son are waiting, and the pilot fires up some smoke out of the engine just to look cool.

So that was my Top Gun experience. I have a video, some digital photos, and a t-shirt for memories. Drew got a poster and a free ace teddy bear.

If you ever get the opportunity, it’s well worth doing.

[Dutch]

No way! That is so awesome!

[mordhiem]

One word: COOL!!

[mordhiem]

dola

WSU, was that your first time flying a plane?

[JAG]

Nice.

[VPI97]

Wow. Your wife is extremely cool for putting this together for you.

[Rich1033]

Very cool.

[thealmighty]

All I got for my birthday was a bag of cashews.




Too cool.

[sachmo71]

Cougar didn't lose it and turn in his wings! HE'S STILL FLYING!!
Congrats, Coug. I'm green with envy, and I'm expecting pictures. Tell your wife she's wonderful! What a gift!

[EagleFan]

very cool

[Suicane75]

I'd like to spend my birthday in a Texan but Jeeb isn't answering my PM's.

[WSUCougar]

Originally Posted by mordhiem

WSU, was that your first time flying a plane?

Yup.

Don't laugh, but I have extensive flight sim experience. It was interesting to compare reality with the computer version. I was really surprised at how sensitive the T-6's stick was. You can really see why it was a trainer - it had a very responsive and smooth feel.

[Passacaglia]

Easy, Cougar.

[WSUCougar]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Easy, Cougar.

I've lost the edge.

[SunDancer]

Damn Coug,
Pretty cool. I found a company called Incredible Adventures while doing a research project for one my classes, they have some very exotic and fun "packages". But they are more for the upper class income brackets.

Is this the best gift you gotten? What are the best gifts you guys have received from your wives and kids?

[sachmo71]

Originally Posted by SunDancer

Damn Coug,
What are the best gifts you guys have received from your wives...?

That's classified, son.