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Well, I didn't get a chance to go down to the St. Mary's River (or any other body of water), though I was at a party with a lot of Navy guys, which might count for something.
What I got to do instead was go for a flight in Cody Ali's Decathlon. Holy Fucking God, it was so cool! *bounces gleefully* A Decathlon, you see, is an aerobatics plane. I got to do three loops, and then an Emmelman, and a Split S, and a Cuban Eight, and a Hammerhead, and then a barrel roll and aileron roll, and then another loop. *every single person Elspeth knows on lj looks blank *
An Emmelman is a half loop with a half roll at the top (when the plane's inverted). You end up facing back in the opposite direction. If you see a picture of a fighter pilot waving his hands in the air, he's usually describing this ("and then I went up, and rolled over, and got behind the bastard…"). A Split S is the opposite of an Emmelman (instead of doing a half loop and rolling upright, you roll inverted and do the other half of the loop). A Cuban Eight is a figure eight. AHammerhead is when the plane flies straight up, and then (when it loses momentum and slows down real slow) rolls over and dives.
Anyway, picture the G-forces on a roller coaster (you know, when you're pressed down in your seat or float up against the straps) and double or triple them. I've now done zero G (like 1/10th of a second of it, but it was still cool).
*bounces again * I got to fly the plane for the four loops! (not the rest, though). My sister is slightly envious of that. My Dad is jealous of the fact that I didn't get sick (he thinks it comes from all those years of reading in the car).
What I got to do instead was go for a flight in Cody Ali's Decathlon. Holy Fucking God, it was so cool! *bounces gleefully* A Decathlon, you see, is an aerobatics plane. I got to do three loops, and then an Emmelman, and a Split S, and a Cuban Eight, and a Hammerhead, and then a barrel roll and aileron roll, and then another loop. *every single person Elspeth knows on lj looks blank *
An Emmelman is a half loop with a half roll at the top (when the plane's inverted). You end up facing back in the opposite direction. If you see a picture of a fighter pilot waving his hands in the air, he's usually describing this ("and then I went up, and rolled over, and got behind the bastard…"). A Split S is the opposite of an Emmelman (instead of doing a half loop and rolling upright, you roll inverted and do the other half of the loop). A Cuban Eight is a figure eight. AHammerhead is when the plane flies straight up, and then (when it loses momentum and slows down real slow) rolls over and dives.
Anyway, picture the G-forces on a roller coaster (you know, when you're pressed down in your seat or float up against the straps) and double or triple them. I've now done zero G (like 1/10th of a second of it, but it was still cool).
*bounces again * I got to fly the plane for the four loops! (not the rest, though). My sister is slightly envious of that. My Dad is jealous of the fact that I didn't get sick (he thinks it comes from all those years of reading in the car).
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It pays to know half of the people at the county airport. It pays even more when the ones with the cool planes are Marines who work with your Dad.