What’s it Like to Pilot a Stunt Plane? My Story…

“Roll, roll, roll, roll!”

Bug-eyed, completely surrounded by bright blue sky, I pressed the stick and watched Earth’s horizon line tilt…further, further, further…until the distant ground was under me- above my head. I was upside down in the open cockpit of a tiny stunt airplane! Only the firmly-tightened shoulder and leg straps prevented me from separating from the plane and plummeting down 3000 ft through thin air.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” was all I could think to say. Truth be told, I wasn’t thinking at all. I was simply absorbing sensations and instinctively responding. Thrill, wonder, disbelief, astonishment and adrenalin all swirled around my jangled nervous system. My eyes bulged wider.

Was I F-ing crazy?!

LashWorldTour piloting stunt plane in New Zealand

Lash piloting stunt plane in New Zealand

No! I’d signed up to pilot a stunt plane and here I was in the midst of flying. I was taking my very first stunt flight lesson, piloting the plane on my own with verbal instructions from experienced flight instructor, Vincent D’Ath of U Fly Extreme in the back cockpit.

As Vincent was quick to point out, passengers are not in it for a mere ride. They are actually piloting the plane, learning to fly. It’s a lesson.

“Roll, roll, roll, roll!” bellowed instructor Vincent from the cockpit behind me.

I continued pressing the joystick left, up against my leg, and screamed at the top of my lungs as I watched the horizon continue tilting…over, over, over… until Earth was below me once more, this time under my feet rather than under my head. We were upright again.

Wow. That was some experience!

And that was just the first roll. I was about to test my right-hand rolling skills.

Vincent instructing from the back cockpit

“Roll, roll, roll, roll!” I was commanded yet again. On auto-pilot, I pressed the lever right as I’d been trained, screamed anew, and witnessed the Earth somersault once more.

Round and round and round we rolled, the engine zooming steadily in the crisp blue sky. Weeeee!

“Look around, look around!”

On cue, thanks to my thorough pre-flight-briefing, I gazed out to the left and was greeted by beautiful mountains inland, green fields directly below and a meandering river stretching along to empty into nearby Tasman Sea.

Abel Tasman National Park from the air – photo by Phillip Capper on Flickr CC

To the right I marveled at the stunning coastline, complete with clear turquoise sea and golden beaches set in cute, arched bays. Motueka is a gorgeous region located smack at the top of South Island, adjoining two famous national parks: Abel Tasman and Kahurangi.

As luck would have it, it was a fairly blustery day in Motueka, New Zealand. In between rolls our compact & sturdy plane was being buffeted around by quick gusts. But never mind, we had more dramatic maneuvers than that up our sleeves. In fact, it was time for a loop.

Instructor Vincent demonstrated the first loop, with me following his joystick motions and verbal commands. First a dip down to gain momentum, then a sharp gut-wrenching climb up…up, up, up, uuuuuupppppppp until we were completely upside down, suspended in thin air with a glide…and then out the other side and down through a lovely arch until the horizon became level again.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” went my usual response, eyes bulging and mouth exceedingly dry by then.

I didn’t actually believe I was nervous or scared, but my sand-paper dry mouth and terrorized eyes indicated otherwise. If one didn’t know better, one might think I was scared shit-less. He he he. But such fun!

We flew through a few more maneuvers, me screaming full tilt… Then all too soon it was time to go in for the landing… and watch my hilarious video.

Who would have thought that a non-licensed pilot, even a person with no previous flight experience, could step into the open cockpit of a stunt plane after a single briefing and pilot the plane by themselves during the very first flight?

But they can. Thousands have already done so under Vincent’s superb instructions. He’s been taking people stunt flying at Motueka for more than 12 years. All without incident. It’s marvelous!

U Fly Extreme’s gorgeous Pitts Special S2A

A major reason for that is the plane. The gorgeous stunt plane – a Pitts Special S2A single engine biplane – was originally designed and built by American Curtis Pitts in the US, specifically for stunt flying. The Pitt Special construction is particularly compact, strong and energetic.

The upper and lower wing design allows the wings to be relatively short, which in turn allows the plane to make much tighter rolls. Taut crossing guy-wires between the wings create an extremely strong plane, which that can withstand the very heavy gravitational forces that occur when maneuvering a plane into steep ascents, loops and other aerobatics.

Typically during U Fly Extreme’s Acrobatics, the plane and pilots experience 4G, which means four times the usual gravitational pull of the Earth that we feel in everyday life. If you’ve ever felt that heavy belly dip of roller-coasters, that’s what you’re feeling. Pitt Special S2A can withstand up to 14G, though in reality it would be physically impossible to put the plane under that much pressure. The 200 HP Lycoming Engine, while very powerful, could not attain the speed necessary for that.

When Vincent and Alison bought their gorgeous Ferrari-red Pitts Special from the USA, the plane was disassembled, shipped to New Zealand and re-built at U Fly Extreme hangar by one of the aircraft company’s leading engineers. They all wanted to ensure the little beauty was re-constructed precisely correct for its new life as instructional stunt plane.

That worked a charm, as seen by U Fly Extreme’s excellent track record.

Vincent D’Ath teaching stunt maneuvers at U Fly Extreme

The other part of the success equation is a direct result of Vincent and Alison. Vincent is a career pilot and flight instructor, par excellance. He began his aerodynamic career as a radio/radar/transmission engineer in the New Zealand Air Force, where he also obtained his pilot license in 1984.

He later acquired his commercial and flight instructor licenses in 1996. Since then he has been teaching commercial and aerobatic flying as well as training flight instructors. He’s an instructor’s instructor.

Alison, who also started out in the New Zealand Air Force, now helps run their U Fly Extreme business, marketing and guest relations. She’s also the video editing expert, spending many hours editing each student’s live flight videos. In addition, she handles on-ground communications and other co-ordination efforts with Vincent while he’s flying.

In addition to their flight and business expertise, Alison and Vincent are just great, down-to-Earth, fun-loving people who make everyone feel very welcome, relaxed and safe before piloting their extreme flights. Together, the husband/wife duo make an excellent team.

Lash with Vincent D-Ath at U Fly Extreme

U Fly Extreme is one of the few places in the world where people can pilot a stunt plane and experience rolling, looping, making figure eights and other acrobatics, and all from the open cockpit of a gorgeous, sturdy Pitts Special.

If you love roller-coasters and/or other amusement park rides, you’ll love doing rolls, loops and figure eights in a stunt plane . If you love flying, being up in the air and enjoy heights, you’re going to love flying this plane.

Check out U Fly Extreme here… and book a flight, if you dare! Be sure to get a video of yourself flying to keep for posterity, showing off and seeing for yourself how shit-scared you were in flight. :)

They also offer various scenic flights over nearby mountain ranges and along the stunning Golden Bay / Motueka coastline as well as drop offs and pick ups by flight into/out of Abel Tasman National park with access at the small airstrip near Awaroa Resort, located halfway along the famous Abel Tasman Trek.

Pilot Lash after the flight

*note – I’d like to thank U Fly Extreme profusely for sponsored me on this amazing experience and to note that the views and opinions expressed here are my own.

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