Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Week 3: Flying a L-39 Albatros Military Fighter Jet + Scaling the World's Tallest Steel Arch Bridge + Whale Watching on Choppy Waters

The L39 Albatros ex-military fighter jet that I flew in. Experienced dog rolls, g-turns, loops, cuban & a force of 6G.


Another week, another exciting weekend. Monday-Friday was spent entirely at work so nothing to add there.

Saturday began with me going whale watching. My whale watching tour had been canceled twice before due to bad weather so it was finally great for us to move out to sea. As we moved out of the harbour, I was able to get a great picture of the HMAS Vampire adjacent to the HMAS Onslaw that I had boarded last week. Picture attached in this email. Take note of the overcast sky (this at 2:00pm).

I had to choose between a normal high capacity ship (which gives a smoother ride, more amenities etc) and an ex-offshore rescue vessel. I chose the latter as it is faster and allows you to follow the whales more quickly. Before the start, the guide did tell us that waters were very choppy and the boat ride would be a bit rough. We were told the front rows would be the most bumpy so I promptly chose the very first row (also happened to be the only row with seat belts and I later will realise why). We sailed out to the Tasman sea and began our hunt to see the whales. We were lucky enough to spot two humpback whales. One of the whales did a fluke up dive and the other a tail slap. On the way back, waters were pretty rough and the boat kept bobbing up and down and if not for the seat belt, I would have been flying off the seat. The ride back was so much more fun than the whale watching itself! Short video of the ride back can be viewed by clicking here, the hand shaking is because of the boat and static noise in the video is the wind. After starting out, it struck me that I can use Google MyTracks to record my venture out to sea and activated it. The route we took can now be viewed on Google Maps by clicking here. Be sure to click on the end point (the one near Sydney Opera House) to see a cool elevation chart of the journey that reflects how choppy the waters were.

Now by the time we were back to Circular Quay, I had 10mins to get to my Sydney bridge climb event. So walked over (not too far, a kilometre if I take a shortcut). Now the Sydney Harbour Bridge is the world's tallest steel arch bridge and I wanted to get to the very top. If you see the picture by clicking here, you will notice the Australian flag right on the peak. Thats where we got to. So I took the 3 1/2hr guided climb for the same. Surprisingly, the climb is not at all tough as they have proper ladders and steps everywhere. It's just the fact that you will have to climb more than 1,700 steps to get there. The first hour goes in equipping you with torchlights, metal hooks and training you how to climb with the hooks. The next two hours are spent on the climb. The last half hour is back at base camp. Needless to say, the climb was amazing. The view from the very top is fantastic. Also, Sydney is currently celebrating 'Vivid Sydney,' which is a festival of lights. Since I took the evening climb, by the time we were on top, I was able to see the laser light show on the Sydney Opera House and the Customs House, the fire dances and other buildings being lit up. Too bad we weren't allowed to bring cameras along.

After the bridge climb, I walked down 'The Rocks' to the Guylian chocolate cafe to have some Belgian waffles with heated molten Aztec chocolate and seasonal fruit and then headed back home.

No time to sleep, another Sunday morning, another early day. While the sky diving last week was 2 hours from Sydney, today's adventure was 3 1/2hrs away. Woke up and caught the train to Hunter Valley for the ride of my life. I was going to fly the L-39 Albatros military fighter jet. This is the same plane that was equipped with the nuclear warheads that James Bond stole and flew in the movie 'Tomorrow Never Dies.' More than 30 air forces in the world still use this aircraft as part of their fleet. I have attached the picture of the plane I flew to this email. I got started by donning the flight suit and the parachute, followed by a blood pressure check and breath analyzer and then a small flight simulation followed by instructions on how to eject in case of emergencies.

Boarded the plane and did the initial flight checks. Seat belt warning light: Off. Rear cockpit locked: Check. Air pressure stable: Check. Radio working: Check. We took off and after take off I was handed over the controls of the plane. It's pretty simple actually once you are in mid-air. The flight stick is just like a video game joystick. I did a nose dive as if we were preparing to attack came low to the ground (not too close obviously) and then accelerated and took off again. After a few minutes of flying the pilot took over and this is where the fun starts. Hitting full throttle at a speed of over 900km/hr, we started performing acrobatics. This involved 360 degreeloopscuban eights, double rolls, g-turns, hesitation rolls, vertical spins (this is where he made the plane go speeding towards the ground) and to top the vertical drop, he kept double rolling the plane as if to send it in to a tail spin and then suddenly turned it up for vertical acceleration. At times, I was subjected to a g-force of 6G. Your whole body just freezes and you cannot move an inch when the force hits in. Its as if your whole body has frozen and the slightest attempt of movement will just result in your body parts snapping up. It was an extremely intense flight. While I enjoyed it while it last, I had body aches for the next 24hrs. A great experience to do it once and feel what our brave air force pilots would be going through. Would I want to do it again? A definite no. Just too intense. It will take 3 weeks for my in-flight video to be ready and eagerly waiting for it.

Took the train back and just crashed in bed.

So another exciting week ends. I just have one Saturday left in Sydney and am headed out Sunday. Lets see if anything comes up.

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