Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
No fear of flying
Flight enthusiasts line up to pay top dollar for a Top Gun experience. And the company says no experience is necessary.
By JAY CRIDLIN
Published February 18, 2005
They're five of the most terrifying words aviophobics will ever hear at 7,500 feet: "Okay, the plane is yours."
When Bruce Moore hands over control of his 60-year-old T-6 Texan aircraft, fear of flying instantly morphs into a much more intense fear of failing to execute a barrel roll or 360-degree loop.
"Most people don't think they can do as much as they can," says Moore, who owns the Texan and three others just like it. "They think they're just going for a ride. That's not true. Our flights are instructional."
That's part of the reason flights with North American Top Gun, which Moore founded in St. Augustine 13 years ago, are usually booked solid.
Two of Moore's Texans are at Vandenberg Airport in Tampa through Tuesday; amateur flight enthusiasts are lining up to pay between $195 and $795 for a spin in the cockpit, performing loops, cruising above the Gulf of Mexico, or even buzzing their own homes. As Moore's ad promises, somewhat ominously: "No previous flying experience necessary."
The flight packages are popular gifts, and most people who go up have never piloted before. Moore's company has made pilots out of 9-year-olds and 90-year-olds, people with no legs and even a blind man. "He actually did some aerobatic maneuvers," Moore says. "I described it to him."
The Texans Moore brought to Vandenberg are a 1943 naval training plane and a 1945 Air Force model, both used for military training in the 1940s and 1950s.
"This airplane was legendary for its ruggedness and its ability to train pilots," said pilot Steve Larmore, another North American Top Gun guide. "They call it the pilotmaker."
A former flight instructor, Moore bought the bright yellow Air Force plane for $120,000; he pumps more than $40,000 into each plane per year.
His pilots take the planes on tour - there are 33 stops this year from Florida to New York to Oklahoma to Wisconsin - and conduct simulated air-to-air combat missions in St. Augustine.
This is the company's first stop in the Tampa Bay area since 1993.
On the ground, the pilots outline the finer points of the roomy cockpit - window latches, parachutes, barf bags - and show how to operate the headset radio. Everything else is explained in the air.
"When a customer comes to fly with us, whatever they want to do on the flight is what they do," Moore says.
During longer flights, Moore and Larmore usually spend about five minutes going over the controls, leaving five to 15 minutes for amateur pilots to practice dipping their wings and spinning up into the blue.
Those who choose to sit in the front seat of the cockpit are also in charge of the landing gear.
"In half an hour, we're having people doing loops and rolls, flying the airplane themselves," Moore said. "They've never been at the controls of an airplane, and we're coaching from the back seat."
If you go
North American Top Gun's T-6 Texan flight experience takes off today through Tuesday at Vandenberg Airport, 6582 Eureka Springs Road in Tampa, across Interstate 4 from the Florida State Fairgrounds. Fifteen-minute flight packages start at $195, 30-minute flights from $295, and hourlong flights from $595. A $795 package is a dual instruction program for licensed pilots. Some packages include a video of your experience; if not, they're available at a cost of $45. To book a flight time, call 904 823-3505 or (800) 257-1636. For more information, visit www.natg.com
[Last modified February 17, 2005, 10:51:04]
Share your thoughts on this story
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Email editor