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A tribute to Charles

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011

We wanted to share a few good moments with you this week. The good moment is the incredible Mig 29 jet fighter ride to the edge of space experienced by Charles Crépin last year. And this is a truly once in a lifetime experience. We are more than happy to share Charles’ flight experience with you as Charles unfortunately passed away a few days ago. We are all saddened but we prefer to look towards the bright side of life as Charles taught us, which is to make one’s dream come true. And this story is even more extraordinary because Charles had been suffering from cancer for a long time, but he pushed the limits to make his dream of touching the stars come true.

As a young boy, Charles dreamed of being an astronaut, like many of us. So he worked hard and became a pilot, working for private companies. Unfortunately, he soon learned that he had cancer. He got operated many times, and many times he fought with the help of his family. Charles tried new treatments, often being the guinea pig to try to find more time with his loved ones. Whenever he felt better, Charles took to the skies, and always kept his dream alive of touching the stars. One day, Agnes, his wife, contacted us. They had gathered money to offer Charles the incredible experience of living his dream and fly to the edge of space.

Charles fought again, and cleared the medical tests. And in November last year, he flew the Mig 29 to the edge of space. He even took the controls of the aircraft. We were of course very pleased that Charles did the jet fighter ride, but we have been even more impressed by his will to achieve what he set to do. We wanted to say goodbye to Charles, an extraordinary young man who left us too soon.

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Suborbital flight training in the Mig 29

Wednesday, February 9th, 2011

If you ever consider going to space but don’t have the budget to book a ticket with Virgin or Xcor, here is an alternative for you: suborbital flight training in the Mig 29. This is an unbelievable experience that has gone in the minds of the people flying the Mig in Russia, specifically for the people who wish to experience what it feels like to fly into space. The jet fighter will get you to 70,000 feet, where the sky has just disappeared and has turned pitch black. At this altitude, you are more than twice as high as a commercial airliner, and you can admire the curvature of the earth…

Check out the video:

Your jet fighter ride will be like nothing you have ever experienced. First, you will feel your head weighting two tons as the jet fighter shoots up to the air. You will fly vertically up to 9000m, that’s 29,500 feet, in a matter of seconds. You will then recuperate as you will zero G. The Mig 29 will then go into parabolas to let you experience weightlessness. The Mig 29 will climb to 70,000 ft, into the stratosphere so you get a preview of the view. Amazing is the only word. Then it gets tougher as the Mig 29 gets into aerobatic mode. Be prepared for some serious G force, as you would expect from a space ship maneuvering to get back into earth atmosphere. Finally the pilot will glide the aircraft to land, as most future spacecrafts will do.

suborbital flight training

suborbital flight training

This is truly amazing, and all done thanks to the enormous power of the Mig 29, so far the only jet fighter able to do that. This will set you back around 28,000 USD or 20,500 euros, but they are well worth the experience. If you have booked a ticket to fly to space, you should definitely try this as it will be good training. For all the rest with small pockets… well we’ll just have to wait until it gets cheaper.

You can book this jet fighter ride with Tematis, the French experience specialist, and with Best Russian Tour, a Russian tour operator.


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The Mig 29 goes into maintenance… soon

Friday, November 12th, 2010

The Mig 29 will soon go into maintenance we have heard, from February 2011 until september 2011. This is a long time to wait for until one is again able to fly to the edge of space at Mach 2. With the 60 days security procedure in place, that means that if you want to fly before the Mig 29 goes into maintenance, you better book now.

The Mig 29, code named Fulcrum, is one of the greatest jet fighters ever made. It came to fame with its thrust vectoring ability, doing the amazing Cobra figure. The Mig29 is today the only jet fighter – along with the Starfighter (“the widow maker”) to be able to get you to the edge of space. The 45/50mn flight will get you past Mach2 and reach 22Km altitude. Then the pilot will slowly descend until getting ready for some aerobatics.

Want to see what it looks like ?

Book your Mig 29 jet fighter ride.

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Thrust vectoring: new ways to fly jet fighter

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

The past twenty years have been truly amazing when it comes to developments of airplanes and jet fighters. One of them has transformed the way people fly and apprehend combat: thrust vectoring, or thrust vector control. Coming from spaceflight research and rocketry, thrust vector control is the ability of an aircraft to manipulate the direction of the thrust from its engine to control the attitude of the jet fighter. To make it simple, it is like having a second stick to control the plane. Thrust vectoring comes from rocketry as when missiles are leaving the atmosphere, surface controls are simply ineffective, and thrust vector control is the only way to actually control the missile or rocket.

When applied to a jet fighter, thrust vectoring offers news ways to fly. First use of the technology for jet fighters was to deliver very short or vertical take off abilities (VTOL and STOL). The best and most famous example of this is the Harrier. Another modern example is the Lockheed F35. But engineers also discovered that thrust vectoring could offer amazing maneuverability for jet fighters engaged in combat. And this is how we came to discover the famous “Cobra” aerobatic figure done by Sukhois and Migs. TVC is now used on most jet fighters: F22 Raptor, Sukhoi 47, Mig 29 OVT, F15 STOL/MTD and the F16 VISTA.

Here is the thrust vector nozzle of the Mig 29 OVT. It speaks for itself.

Thrust Vectoring can be tested when flying the Mig 29 in Russia. When doing a test flight, the pilot demonstrates to his passenger the full potential of the Mig 29, and one can experience the famous Cobra figure. But beware, when maneuverability gets tighter, the Gs are harder to sustain.

Here is a video of the SU-37, using thrust vectoring:

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Suborbital preflight training in the Mig 29

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

For those of you who are lucky – rich – enough to have booked a suborbital flight in the Lynx, Virgin Galagtic or any other spaceship, here is a flying experience to get you in the mood. Our Russian fighter pilots have designed a program specifically tailor made to experience suborbital flying. The Mig 29 will fly the different phases of a suborbital flight, such as vertical take off, acceleration to supersonic speed, flying in the stratosphere, enjoying zero gravity during parabolas and rapid descent. Find more information on this Suborbital preflight training in the Mig 29 on Tematis.

The vertical take off is simulated by a vertical climb to 9000m in a few seconds. Accelerations are done thanks to the two huge engines of the Mig 29 and the fighter jet quickly breaks the sound barrier and continues its ascent to 23km of altitude, more than twice as high as a commercial airliner. Basically, you would be in the stratosphere, admiring the curvature of the earth and the blackness of space above your head. To simulate zero gravity, the Mig 29 will do a few parabolas and then start its descent like a rocket. Be prepared to experience G force.

After reaching a “normal” altitude, the lucky passenger will experience the agility and power of the Mig 29 doing aerobatics, such as loops, barrels, hammerhead, inverted flying… to simulate G force. This full program is really designed to experience what the suborbital flight will feel like. An ideal training for the people who have booked a tour with the stars, or for thos less fortunate, but still rich enough to live a unique dream. Find more details on Tematis.

Find other fighter jets in Russia.

www.jet-fighter-rides.com is you guide to finding where to fly fighter jets.

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Go supersonic in the Mig 29

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

supersonic-flight-1

Fly faster than the speed of sound in the amazing Mig 29 Fulcrum. Going supersonic has always been a quest and now is routinely reached by jet fighters. Concorde used to fly supersonic as well. However the emotion was not truly there as you felt flying in a kind of suppository. Now everyone can experience the supersonic boom in a real fighter jet, by flying the Mig 29.

supersonic-flight-2

Below is an extract from Nasa describing what is supersonic flight:

Supersonic flight is one of the four speeds of flight. They are called the regimes of flight. The regimes of flight are subsonic, transonic, supersonic andhypersonic.

Vehicles that fly at supersonic speeds are flying faster than the speed of sound. The speed of sound is about 768 miles per hour (1,236 kilometers per hour) at sea level. These speeds are referred to by Mach numbers. The Mach number is the ratio of the speed of the aircraft to the speed of sound. Flight that is faster than Mach 1 is supersonic. Supersonic includes speeds up to five times faster than the speed of sound, or Mach 5.

In 1947, Air Force Capt. Charles E. “Chuck” Yeager became the first person to fly an aircraft faster than the speed of sound.

A bullet fired from a gun is an example of an object that flies at supersonic speeds. Military fighter aircraft also fly this fast. The space shuttle orbiter flies at supersonic speeds during portions of its mission.

An airplane called the Concorde was the most notable passenger airplane to travel at supersonic speeds. The Concorde’s maximum speed was more than twice the speed of sound. It could fly people from London to New York in less than 3 1/2 hours. That is about half the amount of time it would take typical airliners to fly the same distance. The Concorde is no longer in use. It flew for the last time in 2003.

A sonic boom is a loud, thunder-like noise heard by a person on the ground when an aircraft flies overhead at supersonic speeds. Air reacts like a fluid to supersonic objects. As objects travel through the air, the air molecules are pushed aside with great force. This force forms a shock wave, much like the wave created by the front, or bow, of a boat moving in water.

The shock wave forms a cone of pressurized air. A sharp release of pressure after the buildup of a shock wave is heard as a sonic boom. It is similar to the sharp release of pressure when a pin pops a balloon and makes a loud noise.

NASA is studying and testing devices that could be used on aircraft to lessen the noise and window-rattling effects of supersonic flight. Now if you want to experience the sonic boom and flying as fast as a bullet, fly to Russia to fly the Mig 29 Fulcrum. See our previous post on flying this fighter jet for additional information about the experience and booking.

www.jet-fighter-rides.com is your guide to finding your fighter jet experience.

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