Today was my 50th birthday. I've just come home after a nice dinner with my wife; We chatted about age, our lives, the past and future; I guess turning the big five zero makes a bloke think about life in general.
I don't make a big deal about my birthday and as such, never ask for, or expect, gifts. Of course my wife rarely listens to my wishes and decided to get me something a little special for my 50th. To be honest I had thought she'd buy me some Lego (I was hoping for the Bugatti Chiron) but it wasn't to be...What she got me was way better!
In a couple weeks my wife and I are taking a week-long vacation down in Tasmania, Australia - One of the most legit spots in Australia, and a place we love. We have some things planned out and will freestyle a little too. It's been planned for a couple months now...But Faith added in a surprise for me, which she sprung on me tonight for my birthday just prior to going for dinner. She got me...
...A flight in a World War Two Harvard fighter-trainer down in Tasmania!
Seriously, could this girl be anymore perfect?! No. She could not.
On the morning of March 28th I'll be taking off in the trainer-seat of this old warbird with pilot Jethro Nelson a retired airforce fighter pilot of 20 years service.
The flight is a 50-minute in-the-cockpit experience with 45 minutes in the air performing all sorts of aerobatics, dogfighting and ground-attack manoeuvres, rolls, dive-bombing runs and all the good stuff! Cool.
The flight takes off from Hobart airport and covers Hobart City, Mount Wellington, the River Derwent and D'entrecasteaux channel so the views should (will) be spectacular!
The pilot tailors flights to the customer and he asked my wife, on a scale of 1 to 10, what she thought I would want...She said, "eleven!" Yep, she knows me well. I'll discuss it with the pilot though, on the day, and will probably opt for some straight up flying for the scenery and some aerobatics and attack-manoeuvers. Damn it I'm so bloody amped!
Below you can see a few shots of the actual fighter-trainer in-flight. As you can see Jethro isn't afraid of getting crazy with barrel-rolls and upside-down action.
Just in case you're in any doubt about the aerobatics part of the flight here's a video from the website that makes it pretty clear. It goes for three minutes and is worth the time to watch. My flight will add in some ground-attack manoeuvres also, and I want to do a dive-bomb run as well! Who wouldn't!
I'll receive a video of me in the plane which they splice together; They also told me they'd be happy to cut in any GoPro video I took myself although I'm not sure if I'll take it. Maybe on a wrist strap I guess would be ok. I'm not keen to have it on my head and they don't allow people to hand-hold cameras for obvious reasons. The pilot will let me open the canopy mid-flight (including during aerobatic manoeuvres) which is what I'll be doing - One only lives once and I may never get this chance again.
I'm a crazy-mad history buff and love war history so flying in this old warbird is like a dream come true. The pilot was asking Faith about me and she told him of my love for war history and about some of the things I have done around that interest. He has a similar interest, and is keen to get me up and to chat about some of the things we've done and to show me what he and his fighter-trainer can do. Bring it Jethro!
I'm not sure if you can tell but I'm really keen to get this flight underway.
I hope you didn't mind my click-baitey title/image and opening paragraph too much...Ah what the hell, I'm 50 years old y'all, you gotta forgive an old fella his little jokes right?
The gift blew me away y'all. I mean I know my girl is the best ever, I mean that with all my heart...THE BEST. But she constantly amazes me...I mean not just with gifts like this but also on a daily basis...She is the best girl ever...You'll never know, because you're not the G-dog...But I know and I don't deserve her. I'm lucky to have such an amazing thoughtful, loyal and loving woman beside me.
And now...I feel the need...The need for speed.
Tomorrow isn't promised - Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default
An original post written by a human
Discord: galenkp#9209 🇦🇺
Harvard fighter-trainer images courtesy of Tasmanian Warbirds
Main image, with my head cut onto it is from here