- Hi, I'm Dagmar Kress
In this episode,
we are going to go behind the wings
of the accelerating and precise flying,
known as aerobatics.
Let's take a closer look at the Extra NG
and then we'll go flying to find out what it can do.
- This is going to be cool.
- [Man] Clear for take off.
- [Dagmar] Over the aerobatic area.
Going upside down, now.
- Dagmar Kress,
Here we are.
Yeah. Thanks so much for being here today.
To start off,
Could you introduce yourself?
- Well thanks for having me.
My name is Dagmar Kress.
I'm a lecturer and an aerobatic coach at MSU Denver.
And I'm also a board member here at the museum.
And going back 30 years,
I've been a flight instructor
all my life, really.
- Our viewers are gonna know what aerobatic flight is
but tell me a bit about, like,
what really defines aerobatic flight?
- Well, everybody has seen an air show, you're right.
Everybody knows what that looks like
but the definition per FAA,
the definition is anything that pitches higher
than 30 degrees or lower.
So pitch of 30 degrees off the horizontal.
Any more than that is aerobatic flight.
Any roll bank angle, more than 60 degrees.
So rolling upside down would be aerobatic flight.
- And if you're doing that in a plane,
that's not aerobatic,
something's probably gone wrong.
- Well, it's not legal.
And in order to fly aerobatics
there are more g-forces
on the airplanes and they have to be built stronger.
There are some more regulations.
You cannot be over people.
So it has to be out in the open.
You have to be at least 1,500 feet off the ground.
You cannot be on an airway,
things like that.
- Let's take it back a bit.
Like how did aerobatic flight first start?
- It started early in the 1910s and twenties.
There were the,
I think they were called barnstormers
- [Narrator] Jumping off with parachutes
that sometimes failed to open.
Throwing their frail craft into loops,
spins, dives.
Risking their necks
for the benefit of the farmers, shopkeepers, housewives
and children who watched it all on the ground below.
- And they were airshow pilots that flew around
to the country fairs and they would charge money
for the people to come and watch them perform their tricks.
They would also take of people for rides.
- You know, 1910s and twenties,
we're talking just about a decade
after the Wright brothers first flew.
For a lot of people,
it was maybe the first time they saw a plane
and it was kind of just showing off
what planes were capable of.
Yeah. Now that we've learned a bit more
about aerobatic flight,
what do you think?
Should we fly this thing?
- We should.
I think we should.
and you will hopefully come out
and say, "this is the greatest thing I've ever done
in my life."
- All right.
So before I go on this aerobatic flight,
I've got my puke bag just in case.
I hope I don't need it,
but to get a little feeling
of how it might feel up there
doing some loops and spins,
I think I want to just test it out in the Gyro Ball.
So, this might be worse than the flight.
I'm not really sure.
But let's give it a shot.
You see, I gotta get in the cage here.
It's getting serious.
Oh geez.
It's like a hostage situation.
I'm getting all strapped in.
- It's free to get on,
but if you wanna get off,
it's gonna cost.
- The point of no return.
- Keith, what's gonna happen?
- It's gonna be putting stress on your body.
We wanna see, you know,
it's a different dynamic.
So you're gonna get stress on the body.
One of the things that we wanna do
is also see how fast you recuperate from that stress.
- Yeah.
- So when we're done with the flight,
take your time getting out.
Let's see how you feel and all that good stuff.
So, you ready for this?
- Yeah.
- All right.
- Let's do it.
(Gyro Ball whirls)
- Woo!
Oh, we're going faster!
- Still feeling good?
- Oh yeah!
All right.
I need figure out which way is up again.
All right.
I feel a little more confident to try this flight.
I've got my puke bag.
It's still empty.
That's a good sign.
I'm heading out to the ramp.
Let's go fly this thing with Dagmar.
(upbeat music)
(plane engine roars)
All right.
Here it is.
I've got the parachute on.
Let's do this.
We've done our safety briefing.
There's John in the T-34.
He's gonna follow us
and we're gonna get some cool air to air footage.
So, come along for the ride.
(upbeat music)
- [Dagmar] Excellent.
(plane whirs)
Down.
(plane whirs)
- [Dagmar] Clear.
(engines starts)
(engine hums)
(tires squeal)
- [Dagmar] Centennial Tower.
Good morning.
Experimental extra three, two, zero,
whiskey, kilo.
Ready for Southeast departure.
Runway one zero.
- [Man] Clear for take off.
- You feel like a bird.
Imagine you put these wings on you.
You stretch or arms out
because the plane is so sensitive
and it is so reactive
that wherever you put the control stick,
it moves.
You just have to think it and it will do it.
Hey, John, I'm on the way Southeast
on down to the aerobatic box.
I'll see you down there.
- [John] Copy that.
I'm in the air.
I'm just a few minutes behind you.
- [Dagmar] I'm over the aerobatic area
holding at 10,000 feet.
- [John] Climbing to 10,000 feet.
See you there.
- [Dagmar] I see you.
You're at my right wing now.
- [John] I'm with you.
- [Dagmar] I don't think it's dangerous at all.
We fly very high,
a good distance,
safe distance from the ground is important.
So when you are up high at a safe altitude
and you fly and you roll it or you fly a loop,
it's very freeing.
It's very playful.
I'm going to do a few rolls now.
Ready?
- [John] Yep. I'm with you.
Go ahead.
(plane whirs)
- [Dagmar] How did that look?
It felt good here on my end.
- [John] That's great.
What's next?
- Next a half roll to inverted.
Going upside down, now.
- [John] Hold it there.
I'm coming underneath you.
(plane whirs)
- [Dagmar] John,
You lead the next loop.
I'll follow your wing.
- [John] Okay.
I'm going into the loop.
(plane whirs)
(engine roaring)
- [Dagmar] I don't wanna get low on fuel.
So I'll head back home now.
- [John] Copy that.
I'll follow you out.
- [Dagmar] Centennial Tower, good morning again.
Experimental extra three, two, zero, whiskey, kilo
10 miles Southeast over the primary.
Inbound for landing with Mike.
I got one ride.
That's all it takes.
I got a ride.
I loved it.
And I took instruction and got better at it.
And I started competing
and then I started teaching and that was back
in the early nineties and I'm still doing it.
- So I literally can't wipe the smile off my face.
We just got back from the aerobatic flight.
We did some loops.
We did some spins.
Went inverted all in the Extra NG,
Dagmar as pilot.
It was super sick,
not in the throw up kind of way.
That didn't happen, but wow!
What an experience.
And it's amazing what these planes can do.
All right,
well, we've made it to the end of the video
and if you subscribed,
thank you so much.
If you don't subscribe,
just subscribe already.
And Dagmar,
I've gotta say,
the flight was not as bad as I thought it was gonna be.
- I told you, you'd love it.
And you did great.
- In fact, I kind of wanna go for one more.
- Let's go.
- Can we?
All right.
- Absolutely.
- Let's go.
(upbeat music)