It was a beautiful sunny weekend in early September, and Richard and I were debating what to do with our Sunday........ We had both spotted some old planes being displayed by a small airfield on our way to Sonoma some time back, and thought they might take people up in these planes (especially if we asked very nicely!)
Onto the internet I went, and lo and behold I found the Vintage Aircraft Company .... and sure enough, they did flights and 'experiences' in old aeroplanes. No booking was necessary, so Richard and I headed off on Sunday for our 'experience' in an open cockpit, bi-plane!!!!
Now I was very excited, but as we neared the airfield, I noticed that Richard and gone very quiet, and was looking slightly green!!
We parked the car, and were immediately confronted with a beautiful red bi-plane ..... I began to imagine the Red Baron doing dastardly things to his enemies and defying the laws of gravity with his shinny red plane ..... Then I looked at Richard .... definitely greener!!!!
The people at the airfield were really friendly, and we duly handed over the cash on donned our skull caps ready for the off. They did say that for an extra $50 the pilot would perform barrel rolls, loop the loops, inverted dives and the like, but we thought that this would be over doing it somewhat on our first adventure into the air. Our little red plane was a 1942 Boeing Stearman with a wingspan of 32'2". It was powered by 450 horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-985, with a cruise speed of 125 mph (are you
impressed with my aeronautical knowledge????)
Richard and I climbed into the front seat of the plane, and the pilot sat in the back. We were taught three hand signals:-1) thumbs up (go faster), 2) hands horizontal (fly level) and 3) thumbs down (for GET ME BACK ON THE GROUND ..... NOW!!!!!)
As the engine started (which is positioned right in front of our noses) the little plane shook into life, and I was very glad of the ear plugs kindly supplied by the lady who helped us into our very fetching head attire. We headed down the runway, and I must admit that I didn't even notice we had taken off until we started to bank around, and climb into the cloudless, blue sky.
I glanced over to Richard, and was glad to see that he had a big grin on his face, which was no longer that greenie colour. We climbed to about 3000 feet (yes, we had all the instruments in front of us!!!) and proceeded to take a tour of the wine country. It was breath-taking. We did the full circuit (lasting 45 minutes), finishing off with coming over the mountains, and then down past Kenwood to head back the the airfield. The feeling of being out in the open, that high up was truly memorable.
Again, I hardly felt the landing, it was more like a soft bump onto a thickly piled carpet (well done to the pilot!!).
Richard and I had a great time, and are now seriously contemplating going back up and paying the extra $50 for the aerobatics ....... well, maybe we'll just think about it a bit more .....
Onto the internet I went, and lo and behold I found the Vintage Aircraft Company .... and sure enough, they did flights and 'experiences' in old aeroplanes. No booking was necessary, so Richard and I headed off on Sunday for our 'experience' in an open cockpit, bi-plane!!!!
Now I was very excited, but as we neared the airfield, I noticed that Richard and gone very quiet, and was looking slightly green!!
We parked the car, and were immediately confronted with a beautiful red bi-plane ..... I began to imagine the Red Baron doing dastardly things to his enemies and defying the laws of gravity with his shinny red plane ..... Then I looked at Richard .... definitely greener!!!!
The people at the airfield were really friendly, and we duly handed over the cash on donned our skull caps ready for the off. They did say that for an extra $50 the pilot would perform barrel rolls, loop the loops, inverted dives and the like, but we thought that this would be over doing it somewhat on our first adventure into the air. Our little red plane was a 1942 Boeing Stearman with a wingspan of 32'2". It was powered by 450 horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-985, with a cruise speed of 125 mph (are you
impressed with my aeronautical knowledge????)Richard and I climbed into the front seat of the plane, and the pilot sat in the back. We were taught three hand signals:-1) thumbs up (go faster), 2) hands horizontal (fly level) and 3) thumbs down (for GET ME BACK ON THE GROUND ..... NOW!!!!!)
As the engine started (which is positioned right in front of our noses) the little plane shook into life, and I was very glad of the ear plugs kindly supplied by the lady who helped us into our very fetching head attire. We headed down the runway, and I must admit that I didn't even notice we had taken off until we started to bank around, and climb into the cloudless, blue sky.
I glanced over to Richard, and was glad to see that he had a big grin on his face, which was no longer that greenie colour. We climbed to about 3000 feet (yes, we had all the instruments in front of us!!!) and proceeded to take a tour of the wine country. It was breath-taking. We did the full circuit (lasting 45 minutes), finishing off with coming over the mountains, and then down past Kenwood to head back the the airfield. The feeling of being out in the open, that high up was truly memorable.
Again, I hardly felt the landing, it was more like a soft bump onto a thickly piled carpet (well done to the pilot!!).
Richard and I had a great time, and are now seriously contemplating going back up and paying the extra $50 for the aerobatics ....... well, maybe we'll just think about it a bit more .....
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