Aerobatics!

Bernie is part-owner of a sweet red aerobatic bi-plane . And a talented pilot. And a good friend who wanted to show us a good time. Thanks!


It’s a two-seater, so Matt & I each got the opportunity to go up with him separately. He gave a nice safety talk, armed me with a parachute (really), and a puke bag (apparently he has a track record of people needing them, along with the fact that we were recovering from Oktoberfest) and up we went! I absolutely loved it! First off, it was just gorgeous and peaceful flying over the German countryside and buzzing through clouds. I think I would have loved flying even if there weren’t any tricks involved. But then it got really exciting. Loops & barrel rolls and a Cuban eight thing that involved both. Flying upside down for a couple minutes straight. Stalling the plane on purpose so that it goes into a spinning nose dive and then you pull out of it. So much fun. I told Matt he needs me to buy me a plane for my birthday. Friends and family: you are welcome to contribute to the Mackenzie’s Birthday Plane Fund. Thanks.

Excited for take off

Countryside

Bernie, why so serious?

I dunno if you can tell, but I'm upside down. You can see my hair hanging down in the little mirror.

Matt & Bernie, ready for takeoff

I pulled 5.5 G's and 2 negative G's. Neat. :)

Countryside

Upside down. hehehe.

Here's a few videos. Sorry the quality is not very good. It's hard to keep a camera steady when an airplane is upside-down.

It's hard to tell, but Matt's going upside-down in this one. Look closely.