Today I got the opportunity to take an amazing flight in a PT-17 thanks to Mike at www.wingsovergreenvillesc.com Where I live is quite literally right up against the fence of the Greenville Downtown Airport so thanks to some birthday cash I was finally able to be passenger instead of just observer of this flight.

 

It's billed as a sightseeing tour, but I think I was more interested in watching the gauges and how the plane reacted in flight. It was an overcast and cold day today, but this didn't make any difference to me! 

 

It was also windy, and it was very interesting to see and feel the plane skidding around against the wind. I mentioned to the pilot (Mike) that I was an avid sim pilot (mentioning JG1 of course!) and at one point in the flight he actually let me take control of the plane, flying it level for a bit, then banking into left and right turns. Feeling the wind buffeting the plane, and the force feedback of the stick filled in a sorely missing bit of digital flight experience. 

 

He even pulled a wing-over, and feeling the positive and negative G's, and hearing the engine roar as he fed it more throttle during the climb was an amazing experience. 

 

I went to take a final picture of us coming down to land, but alas, my phone had died. Enjoy the pictures!

 

https://imgur.com/gallery/zTqSe

That's awesome!  I'm jealous!

Very Cool!  What an awesome experience!

Very cool write-up. It's a reminder to some of us to not take flying for granted.

Very cool write-up. It's a reminder to some of us to not take flying for granted.

 

I was thinking about this in relation to Rise of Flight. For me at least, I often see it as this (sometimes) graceful ballet of planes twisting and diving through the air, but from even the few G's we pulled during the wing-over, if we were actual pilots in WWI, flying like we do in RoF, we'd be PUNISHING our bodies!

I was thinking about this in relation to Rise of Flight. For me at least, I often see it as this (sometimes) graceful ballet of planes twisting and diving through the air, but from even the few G's we pulled during the wing-over, if we were actual pilots in WWI, flying like we do in RoF, we'd be PUNISHING our bodies!

 

Yes, this is what sim pilots forget.  G forces, freezing temperatures and oxygen deprivation are not part of the sitting in a comfy chair pushing a joystick while looking at a screen flight sim experience.

 

It's good to get up in an open cockpit airplane occasionally to bring it all back in focus.

 

S!

Yes, this is what sim pilots forget.  G forces, freezing temperatures and oxygen deprivation are not part of the sitting in a comfy chair pushing a joystick while looking at a screen flight sim experience.

 

 

 

Not to mention getting shot 

A man my Grandfather worked with kept a Stearman at my Grandfather's grass strip in Acme, MI. I never got a ride in it. I always thought it was the coolest plane ever.

 

Is the prop pitch automatic in those things?

 

Green with envy here 😀

I'll bet that plane would be awesome to do incipient spins in.  A couple years ago I had an opportunity to take a ride in one, but life interfered.  Out here, the pilot that owns the PT-17 also has a 2-seat P-51, I would LOVE to get a ride in that thing, a Grumman Goose, and he recently bought an MU-2.

I'd jump at the chance to ride in that Goose!  The Grumman Widgeon is one of my "affordable" dream planes.

S1

 

Oh man..ooh maan... oh man!