Destinations

Up in the air Junior Birdsmen; Up in the air upside-down ….   what an old ditty to use for this very modern up-to-date travel adventure!!!

I was in Washington, D.C. first weekend of October 2009   to participate as “ground crew” for the teen-aged youngsters of friends of mine.   It was the first time to see what this unusual and fantastic adventure in Weightless Flying was all about.  Hands down, or is it feet up, it was a 110% success for all of us.

Zero G is the brainchild of an entrepreneur and an ex-astronaut.  It took ten years for certification, testing and development so that the well-controlled set of flight patterns flown by a specially outfitted 727 jet gives maximum enjoyment and full experience to the 35 guests aboard.  Flying for about 1.5 hours and alternating weightless and ‘weighted’ segments, it is the same experience that our own astronauts utilized to acclimatize themselves to the movements/activities they would need to know in space.

The 727 has its own dedicated airspace in which it performs a series of parabolic maneuvers so that the first three rounds are of Martian and Moon weights and the final 12 are simulating total weightlessness of space.   Done in a graduated introductory series to accustom the guests on board to the feel and safe fun of this unique state-of-existence, it is an exhilirating ‘one off’ ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ treat.  BUT this doesn’t have to be once in your lifetime … many on board the flight were returning for their 2nd, 3rd or more times!!!

I can only tell you that dressed in my “ground staff” flight suit (the same you get for your actual flight activities) I longed to be able to board and join them for their adventure in the sky.   There is a little graduation ceremony and in order to know what that is, I strongly encourage you to check it out and participate. When the Junior Birdsmen and Birdswomen walked back into base after their flights, their eyes sparkeled and they had been changed in a way that can only be experienced to understand!!

Way to go!!!

One Response to “ZERO G — UP IN THE AIR”

1. Settor43 Says:
   October 22nd, 2009 at 1:58 pm

   The lines are hard to read. ,

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