My adventurous friend, Dave Kountz, saw Top Gun Maverick and decided the best way to celebrate his birthday was flying into the danger zone. I’m so grateful he asked me to join him on a crazy caper that included some intense moments thousands of feet off the ground.
When the ground is on top of your view at 2,500 feet AGL, you know you’re in the middle of an adventure. So. Incredible. A fantastic pilot with a nimble aircraft made for a unique experience. Watch a 30-second clip of 20 minutes of aerobatic maneuvers here.
For Dave Kountz and I this afternoon up in Palmyra, PA, the ground was on top often during our aerobatic fights in the front seat of a Pitts Special S-2A.
Dave’s stomach held up better than mine, and he endured 4 positive and 2.5 negative G’s doing airshow-level stunts—including flying backward.
My thumb says I’m ready. My clenched cheeks might have said otherwise.
This machine weighed only 800lbs empty but had a 200hp motor pulling us. We hit speeds up to 200mph while our nose was pointed at the ground to build speed for stalls, flips, and rolls.
One of the first questions Dwayne and Zach asked us was, “Have you ever used a parachute before?” It’s a little unnerving to strap into a parachute in order to get on a plane you don’t plan on jumping out of. (Dave and I both have AFF jumps on our adventure résumés, but I’m more than rusty and wouldn’t have done well in the short fall it would’ve been after ejecting at the altitudes from which we were pirouetting in the sky.)
Dave put his hand and iPhone up on the top wing for the beginning of this 37-second clip. By the end of this short video, I think you’ll understand why he didn’t keep his hand up there. You can watch the 37-second clip here.
