Today I feel like a lab rat. A pale, queasy rat who just got his wings. Ever hear of an experimental plane? If you had the chance to go for a ride in one, would you?

A friend of mine invited me to go for a ride. I knew he had his pilot’s license, and even had a couple of planes—but I had no inkling of what I was about to experience. I’ll be honest. Alex is a great guy—albeit a bit of a buttoned up one. (Or so I assumed.)He’s an accountant. He tells me how to file my taxes and advises me on how I spend my money. His delivery is like a lake current—slow, steady and totally predictable. It was naive of me to assume this little trip would be tantamount to a sightseeing excursion over Columbus. Driving Miss Daisy at 3,000 feet. Turns out Alex has a wild side and accounting is just his day job. And then there’s me, the lab rat, there for his amusement. Nearly puking in the cockpit while he laughs.

Alex flies an experimental plane—not even regulated by the FAA—that was built for one thing and one thing alone. Speed. It’s an odd shaped little two seater. I’ve never seen anything like it. But being the adventurous guy I like to think I am, I was up for anything. Besides, this is Columbus, right? How crazy could it get, really?

The first 20 minutes is about what I expected—I was Jessica Tandy and Alex was Morgan Freeman as we enjoyed the great view from 3,000 feet. I really found myself caught up in the beauty of it all…what doesn’t inspire awe at 3,000 feet in the air? But as I’m looking out the window taking it all in, I suddenly realize I’m looking DIRECTLY AT THE GROUND. Alex pulled that plan upside down so smoothly that I didn’t even notice.
I felt fine because we were at negative Gs (G-Force) when just like that, we go from a lakeside drive to torrential rapids. (To me, anyway. Alex is still laughing. ) As we hit the bottom of our upside down loop, the g force hit me like a sucker punch. The pressure was so intense I started seeing stars. For a second, I thought I was going to black out!

After my kick-ass accountant/ trick pilot/ friend pulled us out of the first upside-down loop, he
proceeded to take a sharp turn right, then upside down, then left, then upside down, then straight up in a steep incline, then straight down in a steep descent—the first in a series of moves that was unlike anything my body has ever been through. I almost blacked out 3 times. Can you say TKO?

Despite the insanity of it all, I wasn’t scared once. I felt totally safe with Alex, my trusty mad scientist. Matter of fact, the Top Gun-type maneuvers we did were exhilarating, to say the least. But God did not design my body to take on these type of maneuvers. I don’t know if it was the Gs or the adrenaline, but the queasiness didn’t hit me until a few minutes afterwards. All those Gs crept up on me I guess. Did I mention Alex was laughing?

I’ll finish by bragging about the Gs we hit. Air Force pilots routinely train at 6Gs. The highest G Force one can experience at an amusement park is 3Gs. We hit 4.3Gs twice (and I didn’t even know it was coming). So by now the quickest of you have figured out, 4.3Gs were the inspiration for this blog. That and the myriad of other adventures I have the good fortune to experience.

Alex—thanks for this one. What a way to spend a Friday night.

PS-For those of you with patience, you can check out the flight (and my master video skills)

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