|
|
|
Budapest, Hungary – The Castle District
Towering a couple hundred feet above the Danube River, the Castle District in Budapest is a special place. Surrounded by gothic churches with stain glass, a visit to the Castle District is like stepping back into the renaissance.
Castle District
...
e-Marginalia: Travel Beyond the Margin
Does this sound familiar? You return from vacation and the first thing you do is call or email your best friend. You are brimming with exciting news, practically bursting to give a full report on the adventure you just enjoyed. And for a couple of...
"Toronto Unlimited" & Sampling Toronto's Street Festival
I recently went to my first press conference in Toronto's hip, recently renovated Distillery District, where the new "brand" of Toronto was unveiled. Toronto's Brading Project was the culmination of a 13-month process with over 4,500 local survey...
Travel To Russia - Kamchatka
Among the mysteries of the Russian language there is an expression "Sitting on Kamchatka" which in school slang, this idiom means, "to sit in the back row of the classroom, far enough from the teacher's strict gaze. This geographical idiom...
Visit Santa Barbara California
Ninty some miles north west of Los Angeles lies the lovely beach city of Santa Barbara, California where you will find some of the cleanest and best tended beaches on the west coast. The city of Santa Barbara which includes Hope Ranch and...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aerobatic Sangfroid at 8 Gs
Aerobatic Sangfroid at 8 Gs
Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com
Read this entire feature FREE with photos at
http://www.jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/sports02/adventure/combat/combat.html
"You're flying with 'Bags' and 'Spare'," the pilot told me with an unexplained grin. "Stormin' Norman" was checking the flight schedule while he showed me around the hangar spaces the day before my flight. "When you arrive for briefing, tell Bags I said he's a real loser."
Fighter jocks.
Despite the professionalism evident in everything they do, the pilots at Fighter Combat International maintain a healthy rivalry among themselves and invite their guests to take part in the fun. You'll notice immediately that everyone who works here is always smiling. I would be, too - my image of Heaven itself includes an 8,000 foot runway.
THIS IS NOT A SIMULATION
You don't need much runway for the Extra 300L aerobatic aircraft. These nimble little planes leap impatiently into the air and take you through any maneuver you dare to try. The planes offer handling and roll rate very similar to the F-16 and F/A-18 fighters that the instructor pilots used to fly in the military. Better still, you get to fly yourself for most of the flight, because you can't hurt these planes. They're rated to 8 G's - both positive and negative - and the instructors will let you be as aggressive as you like. You can try a short aerobatic flight for as little as US$295, or go head-to-head with an opponent in an hour-long combat flight for US$935. It's an hour you'll never forget. The company is offering a Summer Special in 2003 for these flights; see www.fightercombat.com or call 866/FLY-HARD for details.
Fighter Combat International was founded by Paul "B.J." Ransbury, a former Canadian Armed Forces fighter pilot. The
company started in Niagara Falls but has also operated in the Phoenix, Arizona area since 2000. "What's the longest roller-coaster ride you've ever taken - one and a half minutes? This one lasts fifteen and has no rails!" B.J. was referring to the shortest flight his company offers. Fifteen minutes of aerobatics or dogfighting can feel like a full day's work, depending on how hard you fly your aircraft.
Pulling G's is strenuous. One minute my 150 pound body weighed 900 pounds as I horsed the plane's nose around for a shot at my opponent, and the next I weighed minus 300 and my eyes were bulging as I shoved the stick forward during a solo aerobatic maneuver.
"A lot of people don't believe it's real when they first hear about us," Ransbury says. "They think they'll be in some kind of simulator." One key to FCI's success is versatility: besides thrill rides, the company offers pilot training in emergency maneuvers and is building an excellent reputation. In early 2003, FCI moved into some snazzy new hangar and office space at its Arizona home base, Williams Gateway Airport in Mesa, Arizona. I was skeptical when first told about FCI's special corporate team-building events, given the fierce rivalries involved in fighter combat. However, B.J. says it's a hugely successful program, and the clients go home with increased confidence and big smiles on their faces. He founded the company to give the public an authentic look into the life of a fighter pilot, and that's what they get.
Read this entire feature FREE with photos at
http://www.jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/sports02/adventure/combat/combat.html
By Rob LaGrone - Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent at www.jetsettersmagazine.com
About the Author
Rob LaGrone - Jetsetters Magazine. Join the Travel Writers Network in the logo at www.jetsettersmagazine.com
|
|
|
|
|
| Federal Aviation Administration - Home |
| The FAA is primarily responsible for the advancement, safety and regulation of civil aviation, as well as overseeing the development of the air traffic ... |
| www.faa.gov |
|
| LANDINGS Welcomes All Pilots & Aviation Enthusiasts to Aviation's ... |
| LANDINGS - aviation meeting place featuring: aviation news, up to date aviation databases (FAA Regulations, AIM, SDRs, NTSB Briefs, N Numbers and more), ... |
| www.landings.com |
|
| LANDINGS Welcomes All Pilots & Aviation Enthusiasts to Aviation's ... |
| LANDINGS - aviation meeting place featuring: aviation news, up to date aviation ... Welcome To The Busiest Aviation Hub in Cyberspace: Please Check-in... ... |
| www.landings.com |
|
| AWC - Aviation Weather Center |
| Aviation Weather Center Homepage provides comprehensive user-friendly aviation weather Text products and graphics. |
| aviationweather.gov |
|
| AIRLINERS.NET - A Breath Of Fresh Jet Blast |
| Discussions going on in the most active aviation forum online ... MyAviation.net - Just like Airliners.net but accepting all aviation photos! ... |
| www.airliners.net |
|
| Avhome.com - Your Link to the World of Aviation Featuring Aviation ... |
| The aviation search engine and directory. Featuring thousands of categorized links related to aviation and aircraft. |
| www.avhome.com |
|
| The Aviation History Online Museum |
| Browse through a selection of airplane photographs from the beginning of aviation history to the present day. Take a virtual tour of the Garber restoration ... |
| www.aviation-history.com |
|
| Aviation Week's AviationNow.com |
| Aviation news and information, with aircraft for sale, aerospace engineering, jobs and images. |
| www.aviationnow.com |
|
| Aviation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Aviation refers to flying using aircraft, machines designed by humans for ... Civil aviation includes all non-military flying, both general aviation and ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| U.S. Army Aviation Warfighting Center and Fort Rucker |
| The US Army Aviation Center trains military, civilian, and international personnel in aviation and leadership skills. |
| www-rucker.army.mil |
|
| weather.com - Aviation Welcome |
| Aviation Maps View cloud ceilings, turbulence potential and other aviation maps. ... Share questions and answers with pilots and aviation enthusiasts. ... |
| www.weather.com |
|
| Aviation Safety Network |
| Resource centre for airliner accidents and civil aviation safety issues. |
| aviation-safety.net |
|
| Aviation Jobs, Aerospace Jobs, Jobs in Aviation, Cabin Crew Jobs |
| A recruitment agency for jobs within the aviation industry. |
| www.aviationjobsearch.com |
|
| NTSB - Aviation |
| US Government authority responsible for maintaining the standards of the US aviation industry. |
| www.ntsb.gov |
|
| Aviation.org |
| Org--the interactive website operated by Aviation Safety Connection, Inc.--addresses fundamental safety issues related to pilot performance. ... |
| www.aviation.org |
|
| Aviation |
| The aviation site at DTLR. Sections on environmental and noise issues, the future of air transport, the Heathrow Terminal 5 enquiry, air safety and other ... |
| www.dft.gov.uk |
|
| Canadian Aviation - Real Pilot Info for Canadian Pilots - Home |
| Your Canadian Airline, Aerospace and Pilot Portal. News, Webmail, Links, Metar Reports, Classifieds, Wallpaper, and Galleries that affect you in Canada. |
| www.aviation.ca |
|
| AVweb the internet's aviation magazine & news service |
| Aviation magazine and news service featuring aviation news, articles, searchable aviation databases, and on-line shopping. |
| www.avweb.com |
|
| EAA - The Leader in Recreational Aviation - Oshkosh, Wisconsin |
| Official Home of EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association), The Leader in Recreational Aviation, an international 170000-member organization encouraging and ... |
| www.eaa.org |
|
| Unusual Aviation Pictures |
| Aviation Pictures you don't see in the Paper Everyday. |
| www.aviationpics.de |
|
|