Aviation Themed Birthday - Come Spend my Money

Jaybird180

Jaybird180

Final Approach
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Jaybird180
I have a milestone birthday coming up and have starting thinking about what I want to do on my birthday. I will definitely fly SOMETHING and it will be exciting.

I'm looking for suggestions on what to do and would like a little help on stretching my imagination toward things that I may be unaware exists or how to go about accomplishing said "wish".

Beware- Some of these items are far out there and may be unobtainable, but I know that the biggest limitations are only:

1- Imagination
2- Know How
3- Money

Here goes:

1- Fighter Pilot
I've heard of those places that give you basic BFM training and allow you to do 1 v 1 combat. That would be cool
2- Land and Launch from an Aircraft Carrier
I might even consider it "close enough" to do high-fidelity simulator. I missed an opportunity when the Super Hornet was in testing at Pax River NAS - another time for that story
3- Flight with the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds
Nuff said
4- Aerobatics Training
I could kinda do this locally, but I was thinking something more extreme, like #1 sans combat with something like an Extra 300 or SF-260 or L-39
5- Warbird flying
Can we say P-51 Mustang??? F-15 Eagle, F/A-18, F-16
6- Zero Gravity flight
One of those parabolic flights....I think you're weightless for only a few seconds per trip; worth it???

If any of you have done some of the above, I'd like to hear your opinions about how it went and what vendors you used or who you wouldn't spend your money with again.

7- If you have some suggestions that are WAAAAY better, let's hear em'.

Also, would love to hear some suggestions on what I can do to prepare for my adventure to get the max enjoyment in terms of my training.

I've got a few months, so I've got time to get the budget together and do research.
 
Any of the above would be fun, aerobatics will probably give you the biggest benefit if you do a 10 hr course, not just one lesson or ride. The most fun flying there is is seaplane flying though. The most fun weekend I had flying was getting the MES in the BE-18, that rocked.
 
#6 https://www.gozerog.com/

$4,950 + 5% tax: The ZERO-G Experience®: Weightless flight to include 15 parabolic maneuvers creating 20-30 seconds of weightlessness each. Includes ZERO-G merchandise, pre and post flight catering, professional photos of ZERO-G Experience®, video of weightless experience and certificate of weightless completion.


Price has gone up. Last time I looked, it was about $2K.


Pre and post flight catering. Verrrrrry interesting.
 
Take an intro ride in a helicopter. In the long run that will set you back more than all of the ones you have listed, combined.
 
murphey said:
#6 https://www.gozerog.com/

$4,950 + 5% tax: The ZERO-G Experience®: Weightless flight to include 15 parabolic maneuvers creating 20-30 seconds of weightlessness each. Includes ZERO-G merchandise, pre and post flight catering, professional photos of ZERO-G Experience®, video of weightless experience and certificate of weightless completion.


Price has gone up. Last time I looked, it was about $2K.


Pre and post flight catering. Verrrrrry interesting.
Click to expand...

Same price I paid for my MES.
 
A heli intro would be fun, but spins/acro with Joe would be both fun and useful. If you ever find yourself in the LA area, Sunrise will rent you a Pitts or an Extra...
 
Was there a budget? If not, sign up with the Russians to spend a week on the ISS.
 
#1

Although, that zero g stuff looks pretty cool...
 
I can't believe nobody has mentioned any "Mile High" activities!
 
I actually researched doing any of the Sky Combat stuff here: http://www.skycombatace.com/

It's in Vegas, and the pricing wasn't half bad. Unfortunately I don't know Ferrk-all about it, but if I heard someone say they enjoyed it, I'd be in.
 
Archammer said:
I actually researched doing any of the Sky Combat stuff here: http://www.skycombatace.com/

It's in Vegas, and the pricing wasn't half bad. Unfortunately I don't know Ferrk-all about it, but if I heard someone say they enjoyed it, I'd be in.
Click to expand...

There used to be an outfit out of Fullerton CA that did mock dogfighting in SF-260, they were a good operation, I think they were called Air Combat.
 
Would Para-waterskiing be considered Aviation related? Add that to the list.
How about Skydiving (aviation related ???)
 
Henning said:
There used to be an outfit out of Fullerton CA that did mock dogfighting in SF-260, they were a good operation, I think they were called Air Combat.
Click to expand...

They were still there when I left SoCal two years ago
 
Fearless - what's up with that Carrier Launch you promised me???
 
I think you can still get P-51 time in Kissimmee, that would be on the top of my list. :D
 
Jaybird180 said:
Fearless - what's up with that Carrier Launch you promised me???
Click to expand...
When did I promise that? I can't even arrange that for myself.

My idea of a fun aviation b-day would be a rent a DC-3 and fill it full of Mariachis.....but that's just me.
 
Henning said:
There used to be an outfit out of Fullerton CA that did mock dogfighting in SF-260, they were a good operation, I think they were called Air Combat.
Click to expand...

This adventure is in the lead. Anyone flown with them?
 
Brad Z said:
Was there a budget? If not, sign up with the Russians to spend a week on the ISS.
Click to expand...

Brad, I want you to know that I seriously considered this. Even came up with a (what I thought) was a good propsal to garner crowd-sourced funding for it too.
 
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