Green With Envy
By Noel Leon
Coconut Grove—It was on a
Saturday morning in mid June when I received a call from Aramis Pentón, a
long time friend (and EAA445 member), informing me I had just won a ride
in a Russian fighter jet and that I should schedule a trip to
Naturally, I did not believe him.
“O.K.,” I answered, “What’s the punch line?” Knowing Aramis—and his
spouse Dorys—I suspected they just wanted me to go to
“No, no, I’m not kidding,” he responded. “You won a raffle and you’re going to go for a ride in a jet!”
I had not remembered that a month-or-so earlier Dorys had sold me some raffle tickets for “an EAA fundraiser.” For that matter I did not recall that the prize would be a ride aboard a Russian-built L-39 jet trainer.
“Here, let me let you speak with Frank Smith ( EAA445’s President),” Aramis said. Of course, my first inkling was that this “Frank” person was simply an accomplice in an elaborate prank.
However, Frank sounded authentic and convincing… which is when I
started envisioning myself doing victory rolls and immelmanns over the
Before the sun had gone down on that Saturday, I had e-mailed the news about the EAA prize to family and friends around the world, including my son Darryl, a USAF captain (soon-to-be major) serving at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany, and to family and friends scattered around the U.S., Puerto Rico, Spain and other parts of the globe.
I took a bit of perverse delight in noting that everybody, including Darryl and his mom—who are both pilots—were green with envy. Made the upcoming flight experience that much more “rewarding,” I thought.
I’ve bragged to everyone that I have a “knack” for winning raffles
and door prizes. Of course did not tell them that I’ve won such fabulous
prizes as a set of bamboo swizzle sticks, a T-shirt advertising Crisco, an
Enron CEO swivel head… you know, BIG prizes. And, oh, yes, a gourmet
breakfast for four awaits me if I should ever travel to
So, for the benefit of all, including all of you who bought raffle tickets, allow me to let you enjoy the flight experience vicariously…
I caught the first glimpse of the L-39 in the hangar at
Terry Fregly, owner of the L-39, is one meticulous and talented pilot. He took me step by step through the intended flight plan, describing the different maneuvers we would be doing… and I followed him through a thorough pre-flight inspection, during which he filled me in on the jet’s performance capabilities.
With the assist of Terry’s spouse, Joan, I was strapped into the rear seat of the fighter-trainer and given a full cockpit orientation.
As we taxied to the active, Terry described the panel elements of the aircraft. I found them very easy to understand; I pilot mainly Cessnas and gliders and somehow expected to find a cockpit laden with complicated instruments.
However, during the take-off roll and subsequent climb, I knew I was not in a Cessna! After clearing the runway the departure turn was 90 degrees, giving me a very interesting view of the “fast-moving” ground on my left, below me.
We climbed to 7,000 feet and headed south to the
For those who have not experienced inverted flight and significant G forces, let me assure you it is one cool the experience! Terry rolled the craft into an inverted position and I got my first taste of prolonged up-side-down flight. My only previous inverted experience was doing loops in a glider. Big difference.
At my request Terry did a barrel roll and some steep turns. Seeing that I was game, we then did a Split-S maneuver in which we pulled 6 G’s. As we climbed, I tried lifting my arm and it felt like it was tied to a 50-pound weight.
Terry gave me the controls for a few minutes and I did a couple of turns. In retrospect, I wish I had done the victory rolls I had envisioned.
From my perspective, descents and climbs in the L-39 were quite literally breathtaking. I am accustomed to Cessnas wherein you pull the throttle and wait patiently until you descend to the desired altitude or you push in the throttle and twiddle your thumbs as you slowly make your way upward.
In the L-39 we climbed from 7,000 feet to 10,000 in a matter of seconds. All it took was an almost imperceptible amount of back pressure on the yolk, and presto—we were at 10,000!
The 40-minute ride was capped by a low (20 feet AGL) pass over the
runway at
The whole experience was made even more memorable when Shuttle Astronaut Winston Scott, a friend of Terry’s and member of EAA445, stopped by to say hello and congratulate me for winning the raffle. By coincidence, Winston is also a Coconut Grove resident; on my way to work every day I pass by the school, just a block away from my house, which bears the sign, “Home of Astronaut Winston Scott.”
My thanks to the organization, to Terry, Joan, Winston, John et. al.—and to Dorys and Aramis for insisting I buy a raffle ticket.
Naturally, I am now completely addicted to jet flight—and I can’t wait for EAA445’s next raffle. I have a knack for winning raffles, you know.
Just don’t turn green when I win it again.
To see a slide show flight from inside an l-39 piloted by Jearl Birdwell click here. (1.2meg)
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