Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127655
(Lett) A lengthy preflight wa s mandatory. Here , Kiedrowski learn ed how t o ope rate his Gsuit, harness, helmet and oxygen mask. He w as elso taught the fi ne art of bailing out In case of an emergency. (Ri gh t) Switze r used a pl astic model of the F16 to dem ons tra te some of t he maneuvers they'd be performing over the Nevada desert. (Below) Afterwards, Switzer gave Kiedrowski a flight certificate, as we ll as a pin for be ing able to w ithstand nine Gs without tossing Ills breakfast. F-16 shot straight up and climbed two miles into the sky before leveling off and disappearing into the distance - all in a matter of seconds. "That was p robably the best part of the whole ri d e," said Kiedrowski. "The power o f the jet going down the runway was awesome - so fast, SO quick! I thought, 'Wh oaa, this is serious horsepow- • er.'" . Thirty m inutes later, the number eight Thunderbird returned to the air base and performed wha t is called a "Thunderbird Pitch," where the plane fl ies level over the runway, then makes a climbing left (or right) tum and returns for land ing. Switzer said befo re th e flight he would perform this m aneuver · only if Kiedrowski was feeling up to it. Obviously, Kiedrowski was feeling just fine. Kiedrowski cl imbed out of the jet with a gigantic smile on his face and shook Captain Switzer's hand. " ~ i k e did extremely well," said Switzer. "He never got sick, an d he even d id nine Gs! Most people can only handle about five to seven Gs." Moments late r Sw itzer hand ed Kiedrowski a flight certificate, as well as a sp ecial pin, commending Kiedrowski for reach in g n ine Gs. " I don' t ge t to hand these (the pin ) out very often," said Sw itzer as he p inned th e s mall medallion to Kiedrowski's collar. Bac k in the " d e-b riefin g" r o om, Kiedrowski and Sw it z er w atch ed a video tape that record ed th e whol e fligh t. The sma ll pen-came ra, using a fish-eye lens, was mounted in the cockp it in fr ont o f Kiedro w ski a n d wa s 'pointed directly at him . "That was the mos t exciti ng th in g I've ever do ne in my whole life," said Kiedrows ki afterward s. "At first, I was a little worried abou t getting sick, especially after preflight. But after making it through the ta ke-off and climb oka y, I kne w I would be fine the rest o f the way. Besid es, the y didn't tell me w here the sick bag was! I thought it was going to be way , way worse. I jus t kept my ey.es on the horizon and everything was okay. We d id rolls, loops and turns. Then we went for Gs. We started off at abou t five Gs, and that was oka y, then sev en. Tha t was pretty intense. In the video, you can see th e wings flex. Then he (Switzer) asked if I wanted to try nine Gs . I said, 'Hey, we're here, might as well: It felt kind of like having massive press ure on you from your head to toes . I couldn 't even lift my arms. You co uld also feel th e plane begin to shake. "Overall, I had a great time. Wh at probably imp ressed me most of all was jus t how professional the Thunderbirds (p ilots and crew) are. The planes are sp otless; they wo rk on them 24 hours a d ay. And they are so careful. Everyone was friend ly, help ful and jus t plain nice. I can't tell you how much I respect Captain Switze r:' Asked if he was nervous befo re the flig h t, Kiedrows ki said, "I was only wo rried about getting sick... How was I going to feel? Am I going to be able to handle it? As far as crashing, I wasn ' t worried at all. In fact, I wo uldn 't have minded that at all; it would've been cool to eject and bail out:' Typical MXer . a The flight lasted 30 minutes, ".-but it fell like 10,' said KiedrowskI, who was, at one point, giventhe stick and perfonned a couple of maneuvers on hlsown.