Many people are scared of flying – and we are talking about normal, boring airline flights here. Well, if you are one of those, then better don’t look at what we present you here: The 10 craziest flight adventures.
10. Flying an old open Biplane
In Switzerland you can fly Biplanes that are more than 70 years old. Yes, 70(!!). And, they even do aerobatics with them. Leader helmet, googles, the true aviator feeling. And you get the front seat and even control of the aircraft.
9. Flying a crazy aerobatics aircraft
Aerobatics planes such as the well known Extra-300 or the faster Votec might not sound so crazy, but it is. This aircraft are so agile that they can knock you out with the G-Forces becoming so high. And if you want to see what high G-Forces can do to you we recommend this video here with that poor guy who got a ride with the famous US Navy Blue Angels:
Also, as you almost lie down in those, you can’t see anything in them. For taxiing you have to turn and try to watch a bit left and right. And for the final approach the aircraft doesn’t fly straight but with an angle so the pilot can see something.
8. Hang glide
Hang gliding is a lot of fun, but also quite dangerous. Almost no protection, and a high top speed can be reached. One of the most incredible spots for hang gliding is Chattanooga, Tennessee. There, the Cumberland Plateau rises more than 900 meters above the lush Sequatchie Valley. Incredible.
7. Landing and take off at Alpine Courchevel Airport, France
Courchevel has a runway of only 525 meters length – and that’s not a flat one. It goes down with a gradient up to at 18.5° Yes, that’s a lot. Have a look at the Pilatus PC-12 landing below.
6. Flying with Air Koryo
Air Koryo is North Korea’s flag carrier – and the only 1* Airline for a couple of years now, according to Skytrax. It is also banned by the EU. To be fair, the only regular flight to Beijing is actually not that bad (yes, we did it!). It is operated by a new aircraft bought in Ukraine. BUT you can fly all the old aircraft on a special aviation tour, organized by British North Korea specialist Juche Travel Services.
5. Landing at Lukla Airport, Nepal
Want to see Nepal or climb on the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest? You’ll fly to Lukla altiport, at 2845m (9,334ft). Yes, the air is quite thin up there. And that not only makes your breathing a lot harder, also your aircraft struggles a bit at this altitude. And that’s only the beginning. The landing strip is with 527m incredibly short and comes with a 11.7° gradient. And there is no air traffic control, no lights, just nothing. There is very low prospect of a successful go-around on short final due to the high terrain immediately beyond the northern end of the runway – and a steeply angled drop at the southern end of the runway into the valley below. You better hope for a (very) skilled pilot here – and good weather.
4. Wing Walking
Wing Walking is exactly what it suggests – you are on the wing of a biplane and move around there, fixed to a pole. The Breitling Wing Walkers are pretty famous, they do that with two aircraft. In the video below you can see wing walker Jane Wicker doing her thing on the wing. It’s crazy!
And you can even do it yourself, that’s possible in the UK.
3. HALO Jump
Well, not exactly a flight in an aircraft, but you’ll fly quite a bit on a HALO (=High Altitude, low opening) at Skydive Everest – for only $35,000. So make sure you bring the big wallet here. You start at 23,000ft and land at 12,340ft.
2. BASE Jump
Ever heard of BASE jumping? It’s very f*&!ing dangerous. No further comment needed, just watch this video here (if you can!):
1. Edge of Space Flight in a real Cold War Fighter Jet
Swiss company MiGFlug lets you fly a real Cold War MiG-29 in Russia – all the way up to the stratosphere to an altitude of 20,000m or 60,000ft. From up there, you can see the curvature of the Earth, the Troposphere around the Earth looks like a blue fog, and you can spot millions of stars on a dark black sky, even at daytime. Insane aerobatics with G-Forces of up to 9 are done on the way down (you can die at 10!). And – you can even control this modern MACH 2+ fighter jet. It has been selected several times as #1 by CNN “Big Thrills” – and it probably deserves that! Cost: €16,500.