I live in Northwest Arkansas. In this area there are a lot of really cool companies. One of those very cool companies is the Game Aerospace company. They make really cool aerobatics airplanes. It also happens to be that in this area, for whatever reason, there are a ton of pilots. It seems like one in 10 people that I meet is a pilot. And they all know about Game Aerospace. And they all open their eyes really big and get really excited when I tell them that I have been on a Gamebird GB1 Here’s the story of how that happened. 

Catching up with Jesse

My friend Jesse, who took me to the Nurburgring racetrack in Germany, lives here in Northwest Arkansas. In 2021, when I came back from living in Liechtenstein, Jesse, hit me up. He said “Hey, man. Saw that you’re back. Let’s catch up.” We decided to meet at a local barbecue spot. Last time I saw Jesse he had a red Lamborghini and when I pulled into the parking lot I expected to see a bright red Lamborghini, but I didn’t. 

I saw Jesse get out of his truck. He’s always very chill and always with a big smile. We went inside, grabbed some food, and sat down. We were talking about what I did out in Liechtenstein, and what I was doing now that I was back in Arkansas. After we got done chatting about me, I of course, asked him what he had been up to. Eventually I asked him about the car. He said “I sold it, man.” I was like, “Oh, cool, what’d you get?” thinking that he had gotten another car, like an Aventador. Then he said “I got an airplane.” 

Have you ever heard of Game Bird?

He said “Have you ever heard of a Gamebird?” And I thought, “No way!” He then pulled out his phone and  showed me the picture of the airplane that he got. It was a beautiful red color with some black and white graphics on it. And so he started talking about it. He told me that he got it because it made more sense for his job. He now uses it as a commuter plane to get to all the work sites he goes to all over the United States. 

It was in this conversation that I found out that Jesse had been flying aircraft since he was 14. He lived out in the countryside in southern Arkansas, and there was no bus that would go to where his house was. And, since he wasn’t allowed to drive until 16, sometimes he would take his dad’s helicopter, which I guess they also used for work, and landed it on the football field of his high school. He also used to ride a motorcycle to get to school. So, you know, this is the kind of guy that I’m talking to. 

As we were talking about the airplane Jesse asked “Have you ever been up on one of those?” I said “No. Never.” I remember very clearly what happened next: We were sitting at a two person table next to the window and he looked out the window into the sky and he said “You want to go?” I responded immediately. “Dude, I have a really weak stomach. And we just ate.” He goes “Yeah, we did just eat. And it’s also pretty windy outside. But hey, just let me know and I’ll take you up there.” Shortly after that we concluded our conversation and we went our separate ways. But that invitation haunted me. 

The Haunting Invitation

I went home and told my roommates about the situation. The airport where Jesse held his airplane was a 2 minute bike ride away from where I lived. I knew that the ride of a lifetime was available. It was a unique experience. One that I know, not only is it enviable for people in the airplane world, but it’s so unique for anyone to get to experience an airplane ride like that. 

At the time, Jesse’s airplane was numbered in the 30s, meaning there were less than 40 Gamebird GB1 units in the world. It is a tandem airplane, meaning I would sit in the front, he would sit in the back. And it’s tiny. It’s not just something that you can take many people up there with you. I knew that it was scary and perhaps even a little bit dangerous, so I was terrified.

I was scared because I didn’t want to throw up or get dizzy and pass out up there. I didn’t want to make a fool of myself. Yet, the opportunity was so unique, and so rare, and so good, that I concluded that I had to do it. I made up my mind that even if I threw up, even if I passed out while being up there, I had to go up on this airplane. I had to. I had to submit myself to the will of Jesse and regardless of whatever he chose to do while we were up there, I needed to go through with this. 

After I made that decision I was quick to message Jesse over Instagram and say “How about next Thursday?” I needed to lock it in. He replied and said, “Sure. I’ll see you there.” Which meant that I had about eight days to prepare myself for what was coming. 

Getting Familiar with the Gamebird

I rode my bicycle to the small private airport to the spot on the GPS that Jesse sent. I arrived at a hangar and he was waiting for me outside next to his truck. He welcomed me and asked “Have you ever been in a hangar before?” I said “No. First time.” So we walked in through the front door and walked straight into the big open space that is a private jet hangar. Inside, I was welcomed by bright overhead lights, silver metal walls and, of course, a private jet. Right next to the jet, though, was Jesse’s tiny Gamebird airplane. 

It was pretty amazing how incredibly small that airplane was. It was about the size of a car as far as the footprint goes, but the cabin was so tiny, it almost felt like a toy. It was all wingspan, essentially, and apparently super light. Jesse started showing me around the airplane and talking about it as he opened the hangar door. And I remember being so impressed because he pulled this kind of leather strap underneath the front of the airplane and he just dragged it out. 

It was a chilly, but pretty day in early October. Jesse walked me around the airplane and got a bit more specific this time showing me the cabin, the canopy, and a bit about the fixed landing gear. He opened up the hood and started checking things. I started taking pictures and suddenly he says “Alright. We’ll be good to go in a little bit. I’m gonna go get some oil, and your parachute.” 

Getting Strapped In

He came back and handed me, essentially, a backpack. A very dense, heavy backpack, but small and compact. He showed me how to put it on, and then he started walking me through the process of getting in the plane. He said “All right, step right here.” pointing to a certain part of the wing. The cabin canopy just opened up like a clam shell revealing both seats, and he told me to sit in the front. I lowered my self way in the sung space and the whole cabin was only about 4 inches wider than my hips. There was a kind of square steering wheel directly in front of me and behind it was a screen that said Garmin on it. 

Jesse pointed at everything and said “Don’t touch any of these buttons. You feel the pedals down there? Don’t touch those while we’re flying.” I was like, “Is that for the yaw?” And he said  “Yes.” So I asked “So I could fly this from my seat if I knew how to, right?” He said “Yea, but don’t touch anything.” So I ended up having to brace myself with my knees pushed into the walls of the cockpit so that I didn’t touch the freaking yaw pedals in front of my feet. I was also hanging onto the straps of my parachute the whole time so that I didn’t grab onto anything and accidentally latch the freaking canopy open. 

Jesse did say “By the way, in the far-off chance that things go wrong, just pull this lever and jump out.” Then, pointing at a red clip on my parachute, he said “And when you jump out, this is the thing that you’re gonna pull.” Then he pointed out two small mesh pockets on either side. One of them was empty and one of them had a wadded up Walmart plastic bag. He said, “That one over there is for your phone. This one over here is for in case you want to throw up.”  Perfect. I felt so prepared.

And then he asked me to reach and grab all these extra straps which are the seat belts and helped me to get strapped in. When he cinched it all down he said “Wiggle around, jump around a little bit” So I did. And then he tightened it a bit more. He told me to wiggle around and jump around some more, and he tightened it again. I asked him how necessary that all was. He said “Once we get up there, and we flip upside down, you’d be surprised how loose you are.”

No Complimentary Service

After a few more clicks to the ratchet, and making sure I was well set in my seat, Jesse climbed into the seat behind me and proceeded to strap himself in. At this point, he handed me my headset, we tested the microphones, and we began the taxi to the runway. He called a message to the control tower and, when we were cleared, he asked me “Have you ever been on a small aircraft before?” I was like, “Nope.” He goes, “Whoa! This is going to be a totally different experience for you.” I responded “You mean there’s no complimentary drinks on this aircraft?” He goes, “Nope. You’re not gonna have any of that here. But, don’t worry, we’ll take it easy.”

We took off incredibly quickly. Turns out that aircraft like this don’t need a whole lot of speed because they’re so light. Next thing I knew we were in the air. The cockpit in this Gamebird is essentially a bubble. So I could see 360 degrees in any direction, or at least, as much as the seat belts would let me. 

It was pretty chill for a little bit. Jesse told me that we needed to get out of city air space before we could try any loops or tricks. So we just chatted for a bit as we watched the landscape go by beneath us. Mind you, at this point, I wasn’t necessarily feeling nervous, but I was definitely queasy. I don’t know what we’re about to try, and I didn’t know how it would affect me, and even if I hated it, the only way to get out of this was by using my parachute. 

My First Aerobatic 360

Eventually, we flew past Beaver Lake and Jesse said we were in the clear. Then he asked me, “All right, so what do you want to do? You wanna just cruise and look around, or do you wanna do some tricks?” I was like, “Ah, we can do some tricks. But again, I have a weak stomach. It might be best if we take it easy.” I remember Jesse responded in a very calm and pleasant way, almost like a therapist. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you. Have you ever done a 360?” He asked. I said “No. That sounds good. Let’s do it!”

And then I just heard the propeller in front of me increase in sound. Next thing I knew we were going straight upwards and I was seeing just the sky. Pure sky. And then the whole world was above me, and next thing I knew we were headed straight for the ground. The whole time I was screaming because I could feel the centrifugal force pushing me toward the outside of the giant circle we just made. I remember Jesse saying “Hey, if you’re gonna do that, just move the microphone out of your mouth.” That was a really hilarious thing to say, but he said it in a very subtle way, very kind way. Take care of me he did. 

When we leveled off, Jesse asked “All right, we’re gonna do another one, but this time I want you to look left.” And so he told me to look towards the left wing so that I had a focus point, much like ballerinas do whenever they are doing their pirouettes. So we did a 360 again and it wasn’t as bad. I could still feel the G forces, but it wasn’t as brutal. So Jesse asked “All right, how was that?” I did a quick assessment and I thought “yeah, I feel good. I feel good.” So I gave him a thumbs up and I said “I’m doing good!” 

It’s Hammer Time!

Jesse asked “Okay, you want to do another one?” I said “Yeah, let’s do another one.” “All right”, he said, “we’re gonna do a corkscrew.” We did the corkscrew, and that one was fun and easy. Then we did it again and we flew a little bit flipped upside down. You don’t really feel anything with that because you are just upside down. The airplane isn’t really changing direction. It’s when you change directions that you really feel it the most, and that’s exactly what happened when Jesse said “All right, we’re going to do a hammerhead now.” 

This time, we straightened out after the 0 G, and we went straight for a little bit, and then same thing, he just said “All right, now look left.” I looked left and then the airplane started going up and up and up. All I had above me was just the deep blue, endless emptiness of the sky. And then next thing I knew, the engine just kind of died, and then we started turning sideways, and I felt all of the G’s coming after my body as we were in free fall.  

Suddenly I was headed straight to the ground. I was in the front of the airplane with this clear glass cocoon surrounding me and all I could see was the earth coming quickly straight at me. As we fell the engine just kicked back on and we leveled out. Jesse reminded me to look left and my body was hit with one more jolt of pressure as we leveled out. I definitely screamed on that one, and I remember that this trick actually had me shaking. 

Experiencing Negative Gs

We did a few more tricks like a few bankings that were pretty quick and pretty tight and we kept up the G forces. Once again he asked me “All right, how are you doing?” I was doing OK, though I remember being chilly because of the lack of heating in the cabin. He asked if we wanted to try one more and I told him to go for it, and that is how I was introduced to a Lomcovák. 

This time we went straight up like a hammerhead, except, before the engine could stall, Jesse turned the airplane just enough that it started tumbling. Everything was changing direction so quickly. Up! Down! Up! Down! And at this point I was definitely screaming my head off. I didn’t know where the ground was or the sky was. Everything was just a blur. We only stumbled backwards once or twice, but that was sufficient. When we finally leveled out and he asked how I was doing I told him that I was not good. 

I could feel the blood had drained from my head. I was starting to shake and I definitely got nauseous. He said, “All right, let’s turn back, then.” That 15 minute flight back to the airport was one of the longest 15 minutes I’ve ever experienced. But I managed to hold it together and we successfully landed without me throwing up. 

Saying Yes and Thank You

By the time we landed I felt a lot better. Still in shock and still shaking, but no longer nauseous. So I asked Jesse, “Dude, what do you have going on after this?” He said “Well, I haven’t had dinner yet.” I told him “Let’s go get dinner, but on one condition: you have to let me buy it for you.” And so we did, and that was my way of saying thank you. Still to this day I cannot thank him enough for such an amazing opportunity. 

Of course, he asked me how my experience was. We talked about all the tricks that we did and how each of them felt. We talked about the Lomcovák, and he explained that I had experienced negative Gs, and that’s why I felt sick.  We talked about the stiffness, the rigidity of the machine, how incredible those machines actually are and just the fact that they can sustain such G forces. We talked about just the experience of having an airplane and how cool it is to get to go out and do stuff like this. 

Some of you might say, “Well, Raul, it would be so great if all of us had a rich friend to take us up on their airplane. Quit showing off!” Well, yes, that is true, I realize that not everyone gets a chance at doing these kinds of things, and I am so so so grateful for these chances. BUT, if I had been so afraid that I had said no to the invitation, it would be the same as never having had that chance in the first place. The point here is this: When you have a chance to do something extraordinary, take it. It may never come again. 

• P.S. Thank you, Jesse.
• P.P.S My pictures are admittedly very bad. I had no idea what I was doing back then.

I hope this story is encouraging to you. If you know somebody that you think this might be encouraging to as well, go ahead and share it with them!