I begged Sam to write about it, and he complied!
Here is what is was like from his perspective.
Jodi is begging for me to write about my ride in the Mighty Eagle -- so here are a few thoughts.
Well EVIL (Ben Cook) gave me a fabulous ride and with SAMSON (Pence) and FIST (Passey) in the air at the same time, sometimes as close as 3 feet, that made it all the more special.
God didn't create me to be a pilot or to be in the air for that matter; yes I got sick. (This is the question everyone asks) That, however, is meaningless to me because today I gained a much greater understanding of what the Bro's over at the 390th (and Fighter Pilots all over the place) do on a pretty frequent basis; train for the day they might have to go into the blue, hit the pickle switch, and send another plane and pilot into God's presence. The Mighty Eagle was not created to ferry folks around in -- it was made to be a precision machine that makes people think twice about taking hostile actions against our country.
God didn't create me to be a pilot or to be in the air for that matter; yes I got sick. (This is the question everyone asks) That, however, is meaningless to me because today I gained a much greater understanding of what the Bro's over at the 390th (and Fighter Pilots all over the place) do on a pretty frequent basis; train for the day they might have to go into the blue, hit the pickle switch, and send another plane and pilot into God's presence. The Mighty Eagle was not created to ferry folks around in -- it was made to be a precision machine that makes people think twice about taking hostile actions against our country.
What was it like? It was like the Colossus Roller coaster on steroids. It was like a flying in a Cadillac that can turn on a dime. At the end of the runway going 450 knots Evil pulled the stick back into an unrestricted climb that felt like it lasted an hour...in reality it was maybe 20 seconds. It was my first exposure to any real G-Force and it wasn't much at a measly 4.5 and lasting for only 4 or 5 seconds...but my g-suit filled full of air and told me it was time to tighten my butt/leg muscles and grab a breath. Grabbing a breath was the challenging part because it literally took my breath away. Power. Evil had told me to be sure and get a look over my shoulder so I could see the runway disappear as we rocketed heavenward, but by the time I got my head out of the quicksand it had fallen into the base and runway were looking more and more like an ant farm.
As we leveled out I was able to see SAMSON and FIST up ahead and EVIL began to point out landmarks to me. EVIL didn't point, however, he just hit the stick and rolled -- not exactly the most natural feeling. Inquisitively I asked, "what was that?" (Add some panic for effect when you read it.) EVIL said, "It was this..." and proceeded to do it again. Out came the one and only puke bag that I would need...
Straight and level we caught the other bro's and they proceeded to line up in tight formation -- 3 feet from wingtip to wingtip. Time for a combat check on the other planes...first we rise up (negative g-force is not good for the inner ear by the way), look down on the tops of their planes...then we drop down and go under...grab a look at their bellies...then we push out so that they are on our right. Nimble. After lining back up EVIL takes us back under their bellies and fixes our position off to their right.
By now the Boise Mountains are underneath us, the sun is beaming down on us, and the Sawtooths I can see in the distance...we drop down and start our low level run over some of the most beautiful terrain Idaho, and the entire world, can offer. FIST and SAMSON are running canyons about a mile and half ahead of us -- we see them here...then there...as we stay an "official" 1,000 feet off the ground. (It is after all an incentive ride.) EVIL, if that was a 1,000 feet then I am Tom Cruise and you were wrong about Top Gun! I have been in the Sawtooths, and the White Clouds and let me tell you, they have never looked more beautiful. I wanted to grab a handful of snow as we clipped the mountain tops and road the Mighty Eagle like it was was Santa's Sleigh ferrying bags of goodies to the mountain children.
Slicing through the Idaho wilderness was simply "fantabulous." EVIL guided us through the mountain peaks and down into the valley's with amazing precision and made the flight what it was.
Our turn to the North was nice and we were able to ride the valley floor...watching cars and trucks run the mountain roads below us just knowing they were screaming "look at that F-15!" Hopefully they didn't mistake us for some air-to ground model (no offense BASH and OPIE) because that would have been a sin of the highest order. This was a D-model...basically a two-seat C model -- made to kill in the air. (Not a pound for air to ground.) Undefeated. 104-0 in aerial combat. The Mighty Eagle.
This was SAMSON's last flight and so it was time for a short detour over his grandparent's home -- before I knew it we were in a three-ship formation at the official 1,000 ft (uh-huh) giving SAMSON's family a great look at the Might Eagle in flight. We took a hard turn -- more G's -- but EVIL was complementary of my great G form...breathing just right etc...when we came out of the turn he informed me it was another measly 4 G turn. I am thinking at this point that 4G's is just about all I want to experience 'thank you very much.'
Now we make a run down over Tamarack Ski Resort (One of SAMSON's favorite hangouts -- ex-professional snowboarder and all around good guy), McCall, Idaho...Boise off to the right, Idaho City on our left...we cross back into the Desert of SW of Idaho. EVIL knows I am in mucho pain at this point because I have been dry heaving on and off since he rocked the plane 2 minutes into our flight, so he asks me if I want to head back to base and land or go down to the range and go supersonic. "EVIL, what kind of question was that?" "Let's go supersonic" I say. Down south of the base and on the range EVIL slams forward the throttle into full AB and away we go... Mach 1.1. Didn't hear a thang...but when he went full AB I knew it. Quicksand again!
The ride home was smooth (5 minutes max) but I am still attempting to produce something for my vomit bag. Produce I did! About two teaspoons of the apple that I ate earlier in the morning finally comes up and makes me think I had just had apple pie to eat. I highly recommend a granny smith before you vomit. Back to the base EVIL gives me one more sharp turn...a 5G turn this time...and again a compliment. After what seemed like 10 minutes we were back on the ground and the maintenance bro's were fixing us up -- 1 1/2 hours later.
I can now offically say that I have flown in the Mighty Eagle. What was the best part of the flight? Knowing that bro's like Pipper, Evil, Flip, Samson, Fist, Boomer, Knotso, JoBu, Beast, Buddah, Sanchez, Shark, Trump, Dealer, Mental, Swabes, Stroke, Squirt, Bash, Opie, Gump, Outlaw, Stang, Nailz, Stan, Ahab, Dragn, Spear and many others are willing (and able) to strap on a jet and go do the unthinkable as if it were any other J-O-B. The Boars have been great to Jodi and I and my heart sinks when I think about leaving MH. EVIL, thanks for the ride man -- it won't be forgotten.
