Top Gun

This is Josh. This story starts in November at Angel Flight West's Golf Tournament. One of the items up for auction at the tournament, a ride in a Russian Air Force training jet. It is called an L-39. The fighter jet is owned by an AFW pilot, Warren, and flown by a former Navy Admiral, Skip. The L-39 auction item was purchased by another AFW pilot and SoCal Wing Leader (not to mention my new hero) George. At some point over a lunch or phone conversation at AFW I had mentioned to George that I come from a long line of US Air Force pilots as my father and grandfather both flew and that it was one of my dreams to fly as well. George is a former Air Force pilot and apparently has a great memory because as it turns out, he gifted this flight in an L-39 to me!!! The story below is my adventure in flying in the L-39. I will be forever grateful to all listed in this story to make this dream possible!

The jet is located in Monterey. Erin, Avery, and I flew up to take our ride thanks to another generous offer of an AFW pilot and LearJet owner/operator Jim. We flew from Santa Ana to Monterey in style and luxury. Upon arrival, Warren and Skip were there to greet us. Skip got me outfitted immediately and began to debrief us on our upcoming flight. I was to go first. The pictures below show my preparations and preflight checks, which Skip was very thorough and detailed and made sure I was prepared in the event of any potential variances to our flight plans. After preflight, we filed with the flight tower and received permission for takeoff.

The feeling of a jet firing up at full power directly behind you when you are in a relatively small piece of metal is exhilirating. We were hurling down the runwayat a couple hundred knots in no time and shortly off the ground. Directly after takeoff we headed for some unrestricted airspace where Skip and I could "play". Unnannounced after takeoff Skip proceeded to execute some aileron rolls, first left and then right. Then he asks, "Are you ready to perform one?" To which I uttered something like, "Uh huh!" So I took the yoke hammered it directly to the right and felt the jet roll quickly. After I leveled her off, I did the same thing the opposite way. What a rush!!

The second set of maneuvers Skip took me on were called zero-G wingovers. In this maneuver he basically flew the plane into a vertical turn where the jet was perpindicular to the ground. It eventually climbs until there is not enough power and lift to climb any further and creates a couple seconds of weightlessness or zero-G and felt like we were floating. Then the nose drops to the ground and the plane resumes power and lift as we pull out of a short dive back through the horizon. I have never quite felt anything like that. Very cool!

We then flew a barrel roll maneuver which is exactly what it sounds like, a slow inverted roll over and then back through the horizon until we were straight and level again. We did this a couple of times and it may have been my favorite maneuver.

The third manuever performed were a couple of loops and a Cuban 8. This was similar to a roller coaster loop, with the exception of going 400 knots (over 500 miles per hour), pulling 5 G's (my body feeling 5 times what it actually weighs), and having my vision start to narrow and black out). Yes, again...AMAZING!

From here Skip took me on a simulated fighter bombing run. We picked out a poor unsuspecting barn in the mountainside, performed some evasive maneuvers, climbed, then centered the target in our sites and dove directly towards it, released our "weapon" and then climbed hard, performed some more evasive maneuvers, and dove behind a mountain range. We stayed there for a while "under radar" at one point flying as low as 40 feet from the ground.

Then it was my turn to fly. We pointed the jet back toward the coast taking a beautiful and brief flight back over Monterey and the valley and heading for Pebble Beach. Skip gave me the controls and talked me through headings and altitudes and as I felt more and more comfortable, carved through the sky over some mountains and up the coast to see the breathtaking Monterey Bay and Pebble Beach. Don't worry mom, I only throttled up a few times and stayed mostly above 500 feet!

Skip took back over to take me through an "Aircraft Carrier" type landing. We were diverted over the ocean for a few minutes to make room for some commercial planes on approach to land. Skip did not waste this time performing some more aileron rolls for a buddy of his that works at Pebble Beach. Then he talked me through landing and put the plane down on the hashes (as he predicted) and brining the nose up to provide wind resistance for a quick stop.

As you can see from the pictures below, I don't think I stopped smiling the entire trip. I was overwhelmed by a combination of adrenaline, disbelief, awe, wonder, and sheer enjoyment. And I can't thank enough those who made it possible!!
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LearJet








Outfitted and debriefed...




Preflight...











Postflight...