L-39 Formation Flight

[SixPapaCharlie]

I sure do owe Erick Johnston something. I was out flying and he says drop what you are doing and fly to Sulphur Springs.
I do what Erik says because he never fails to deliver amazing experiences.


We did an extensive brief, I hopped in and the pilot walked me through the complex workings of the seat, parachute, canopy, etc.

Took off in succession and rapidly formed up into a group and got into a series of different formations and proceeded to do turns, climbs, etc in formation.

We pulled some Gs, did some rolls and other aggressive maneuvers.
I got my ass kicked in the Comanche flying over, these things were on rails. smooth as can be.

They were very fast and the biggest thing I notices is the amount of relative movement between the planes. From the ground, they look like they are locked in place.
There is a significant amount of jockeying to maintain relative position.

Closest I have been to a plane while airborne before as well. Like uncomfortably close.
Dude in the front calls the shots and the coordination between him and the other pilots was surgical.

What an insane experience.

I did get Erik a sweet Glider ride but I think this puts me back in the little spoon position.

 

[Ted]

I can't wait for this vintage airplane ad. It almost overcomes my jealousy.

Looks like a complete blast Bryan!

 

[Jim K]

That's awesome. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous.

 

[SixPapaCharlie]

It was interesting looking at a panel full of metric Russian gauges

 

[bflynn]

Wow. There’s no other word.

 

[FastEddieB]

It was interesting looking at a panel full of metric Russian gauges

Funny about that!

A few weeks ago Karen and I (and Halo) dropped in on Salty at his FL digs. His Nanchang is a truly awesome beast - no denying that!

But I was recently chatting with Half Fast about my impressions. Mainly, that I’d be out of my comfort zone with so many new and different systems to deal with. Most specifically, I told him the combination of metric, cryillic, and Chinese characters would be eerily reminiscent of nightmares I have where I’m flying and the information on the panel makes no sense to me.

I’m pretty sure I could get used to it eventually, but it is intimidating at first glance!