Literally a once in a lifetime experience... I flew fast, upside-down and even got to control the plane!

I have to first say I can not believe how incredible this experience was. Mark "Crunchy" Burgess, my pilot, was the most amazing and talented man. I mean come on now... he flew three combat tours in F-14 Tomcats! This guy knows his stuff. I can not thank him enough for making me feel so comfortable and at ease while in the air.

Before my flight, I had to go through briefing. I learned all about this Czechoslovakian plane, what to do in the event of an emergency and we even chatted about how I've never seen "Top Gun." I know, I must watch it.

Once all was ready to go, we got in the aircraft and prepared for takeoff. I literally could not keep my mouth shut because I was in awe. My jaw literally dropped. We took off so fast and next thing you know we are in the air.

I could not believe the feeling in my tummy as we took off. It felt like you went to warp speed on the fastest roller-coaster you have ever been on.

After we got up in the air it was time for the fun. Each time Crunchy would do a maneuver, he would instruct me on what to do. After he did it, then I took the controls and flew the plane myself! What a rush!

We flew upside-down. We did loops. We did turns. We even pushed the G Forces! I made it all the way to 4.5 Gs and that was enough for me. It felt as if a million elephants were sitting on your body. You couldn't move if you tried. Lucky for me, Crunchy gave me a good cue to take a video of me flipping upside-down!

WOW!!! Now that was intense. All in all, I have to say this was the most memorable and intense moment of my life. I feel so blessed to have been a small part of the Rockford Airfest 2014. I can not wait to wave to Crunchy in the sky this weekend!

Lori and Crunchy
Lori, Townsquare Media
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