Our reporter Emmanuel Samoglou could not turn down an invitation to fly in a Red Bull plane with pilot Dario Costa in the skies above Abu Dhabi, and is now familiar with the encore dip and the half Cuban eight
As a reporter, it usually helps to keep your feet on the ground when chasing a story. This was not one of those times.
Before thousands get the chance to watch the first stop of the 2015 Red Bull Air Race over the Corniche Breakwater, I was given the opportunity to move from the realm of spectator to participant when I was invited to take a flight with one of the race’s stunt pilots.
As someone who often doesn’t work too hard to see through the haze that separates consequences from actions, I easily accepted.
The next day I arrived at Al Bateen Executive Airport, Red Bull’s headquarters during this year’s stop in the capital, where I was escorted to a media centre which was outfitted with two fridges stocked with several varieties of the popular energy drink, tables, chairs, and little else.
Outside, crews were delicately lifting polished wings from their storage cases, assembling the planes in makeshift hangars.
Red Bull has embraced the world of extreme sport.
I remember seeing a YouTube video of adventure athlete Travis Pastrana. He is seen sleeping in a small plane when he suddenly wakes up, cracks open a can of Red Bull, takes a swig or two, and leaps out the plane without a parachute. After a half-dozen or so flips, somewhere in mid-air, he meets with another parachute-equipped skydiver who fastens Pastrana to his own body so they can safely land together.
In the media lounge, as I drank a can, I felt like I was joining this prestigious league of men and women who have lost their minds.
I would be flying with Dario Costa, a 34-year-old Italian competitor in Red Bull’s Challenger Cup.
Once we were strapped into the plane, I was told how to exit the plane in the event of an emergency – wait for Dario’s signal, walk on to the wing, jump, count to three, pull parachute cord. Simple as that.
The canopy was then lowered, and after about seven minutes of trying to get the engine to start, it finally roared to life.
Costa gave me some tips on how to avoid motion sickness and deal with G-forces. By looking in the direction of where the plane was moving and constricting the muscles in my core, I would be able to survive the ordeal, and, possibly, even enjoy it.
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Watch - Emmanuel Samoglou take on the world of aerobatic flying
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As we lifted off from the runway I was treated to a splendid view of Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and seconds later, nearly all of Abu Dhabi.
Through clear skies, we flew towards the Corniche, where one of the race’s gates was set up on the tip of a Breakwater close to the Mina Port.
As we passed above the gate at an altitude of approximately 1,000 feet, Costa veered the plane left and dropped into a “high g turn” through the two pylons, giving me a feeling of weightlessness, then heaviness as we climbed again.
We did an “encore dip” through the same gate, this time cutting through it as if we were preparing for the next turn in an actual competition.
Leaving the Corniche, we headed back to the airport, but not before transitioning into some aerobatics.
Costa announced we were going to pull a “half Cuban eight” – a manoeuvre where the plane heads directly upwards to do three quarters of a loop, followed by a half turn to end up flying in the opposite direction.
It was wonderful experience, seeing Abu Dhabi upside down from our two-seat plane.
Over the course of the flight, Costa estimated we hit about 6 G’s.
I felt like Maverick from Top Gun as I pulled off my helmet, jumped out of the plane on to the tarmac, and started walking towards the hangar.
The only difference was there were no bad guys to blast into oblivion, no cheering crowds, and we had only felt about 60 per cent of the G-forces Costa will feel when he races this weekend.
Losing weight? It’s just the G force
Laurie Earl, the interim aviation programme director at Abu Dhabi University, described the weightlessness I was feeling as negative G-force, when blood rushes to the head.
A high level of negative G’s can lead to the popping of blood vessels, increased blood pressure, eye damage, and “redout” – a loss of consciousness, she said, posing one of the biggest dangers to pilots.
On the climb, positive G’s give the effect of having someone sitting on your lap, resulting in blood being forced into the lower half of the body, away from the brain and depriving it of oxygen.
In a matter of seconds, a pilot subjected to positive G can lose vision and hit “G-loc”, a complete loss of consciousness, as with too much negative G.
When it comes to being able to tolerate the types of G’s pilots will experience during their most challenging manoeuvres, Ms Earl said that “it can be learnt and it can be trained”.
“The pilot progressively adapts and with practice, the manoeuvres have less effect on them,” she said.
“Pilots learn to take several deep breaths and then simultaneously tense and hold the stomach muscles, tightening the leg and neck muscles, and straining hard.”
She likens the tactics to those of weightlifting, including the grunting.
As with most athletes, being physically fit, not smoking, and possessing a good cardiovascular system helps pilots master their craft.
esamoglou@thenational.ae