Fly By Wire > Queenstown

[Psyk]

If you have not heard of this check out www.flybywire.co.nz
Ok, i first saw this on CNN tv about 6 months B4 i came to NZ and it looked mad. Since i saw it i've been choking to try it and today i finally got to do it.
The day started at 09.20 when we met in the F.b.W office in Queenstown, we then went into a minibus and got taken on a drive half an hour out of Q'town, up a steep hill with views over the Shotover River.
Then, as we neared the top of the hill, the cables that suspend the rocket plane came in to view... they looked quite thin and i had my doubts as to whether it was safe or not. Our driver then paused at the top of the hill and explained a wee bit about how it was held in place and about the construction of F.b.W... that kinda reassured me about the saftey.
Anyway, we were driven down the hill to the 'flight deck' and myself and the 3 other 'pilots' got suited up in red flight suits before being briefed on the controls, not much to it really, just hold the accelerator tight on full speed and steer right and left using a handlbar control.
Then we were asked "who wants to go first" and the four of us weren't in any hurry to be the first one. The flight master said that whoever went first would get an extra minute so one guy decided to be the first. I chose to watch and go third
The ride started with being tightly strapped into the plane and towed up to one side of the valley at an almost 90degree angle, looking head first to the rocks on the ground 105m below (that was the scary part), then when the wheel that tows you up stops, you pull on the lever that controls the accelerator and at the same time pull the release lever and then you swoop down towards the roof of the flight deck and are powered up towards the blue sky, then a sharp pull on the handlebars is needed to get you going round and back down again, this continues as you build up speed and height. It takes a few moments to get familiar with the controls and after that it's a great buzz as you swoop back and forth at speed. As you reach height and begin to turn you feel a moment of weightlessness and then extreme speed at the same time as controling your movements.
Then they cut the engine after 7 mins and you swing back and forth and it's so relaxing and quiet for about 3 minutes as the momentum dies down and they can stop you.
So, i've done skydiving in Nelson from 13,000ft and i've bungy'd the Nevis Highwire from 134m and they're not so much fun as F.b.W. I only wish i had more money so i could have done it again. For $145 it's good value compared to lots of other activities Q'town has to offer.
The sooner that they install a Fly By Wire in Europe the BETTER
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I wish i could be going back to NZ...