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While barreling toward the Atlantic Ocean Tuesday morning, at a cool 200 mph and an altitude of 5,000 feet, one dominant thought raced through my mind: Flying is not a natural thing for humans to do.
My airborne exercise was the result of a ride in an Extra 300L, a flashy, high-performance aerobatic German airplane that is owned and operated by Westhampton resident Michael Mancuso.
Two weeks earlier, I had agreed to be a passenger in the stunt plane, thinking that it sounded like a cool way to get out of my Westhampton Beach office for an hour. But with our altitude slowly and steadily rising, and me now strapped tightly to my seat, I wondered why I could not have just taken a walk, or gone to the deli, like on any other Tuesday.
When I told my friends and family that I would be looping and rolling over the Atlantic Ocean, everyone’s response was the same: “I hope you don’t eat breakfast.” Knowing that I have the stomach strength of a newborn, I figured that flying around with a belly full of eggs and bacon would surely have resulted in a messy cockpit.
The morning of my adventure, I tried to make do on only one can of lemon-lime seltzer. I later learned that skipping breakfast was the worst thing to do before such a stomach-turning endeavor, and I paid for it by not being able to hurl “full-throttle” while up among the clouds.
The reason for Tuesday’s ride was to bring attention to a special silent auction prize that will be offered during the Family Counseling Services annual gala, scheduled for Saturday, July 11, on the Great Lawn in Westhampton Beach. The prize is a ride with Mr. Mancuso in his stunt plane. He donated the prize, valued at $350, and agreed to take me up in order to spread the word.
The one lucky winner will get the chance to ride in the cockpit beside Mr. Mancuso, just as I did, and, hopefully, he or she will be able to hang for longer than me. (I had to call it quits after about 15 minutes.)
An East End native who has flown in stunt shows and runs his own flight school out of Brookhaven Town’s Calabro Airport in Shirley, Mr. Mancuso tried to quell my fears before takeoff. We met at Finn McCool’s, the restaurant he owns on Old Riverhead Road in Westhampton Beach, the morning of the flight. While sitting at a table, nervously conducting a pre-flight interview, all I could think about is how much I wanted to get up in the air and get the initial shock over with.
As someone who has been flying since he was 11 years old and a former full-time stunt pilot, Mr. Mancuso assured me that there would be no problems. “It’s all very, very safe,” he said.
Then why is it necessary to wear a parachute? I thought.
We left the restaurant, and Mr. Mancuso rode with my photographer, fellow reporter Jessica DiNapoli, and myself to Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton. He regaled us with tales of teaching none other than Brad Pitt how to fly, though he admitted that “Angie,” referring to Mr. Pitt’s long-time girlfriend Angelina Jolie, is a better pilot.
Jessica pulled up to airport parking lot, and right away I spotted the bright red-and-blue stunt plane, which seemed impossibly tiny to me.
After a few minutes, Jessica, Mike Lennon, who, along with his brother Tom, will be honored during next week’s gala, and pilot Mike Bellenir boarded a Cessna 172 that would trail our plane and allow Jessica to take photos of me while our plane was upside down.
Next, Mr. Mancuso strapped me into his Finn McCool’s Extra 300L using what can best be described as shackles and not safety devices, and then he fitted me with a headset because it would be impossible for us to talk to one another over the roar of the engine. He also told me to be wary of the moving pedals near my feet during takeoff—but then laughed when he realized that my legs were too short to reach them.
As we took off, he told me one of the worst things a neurotic person such as myself can hear before entering a stressful situation: “You’re going to have a total sense of loss of control.”
Like any passenger who has had experience flying in large commercial airplanes, I could not help but think to myself that the next sequence of events was not normal. As soon as our Extra 300L left the ground, all I could see was blue sky. Then, while trying to stay calm, I looked out the window and got a bird’s-eye view of the picturesque Village of Westhampton Beach, which was becoming smaller and smaller by the second.
Soon, we were over the ocean and ready to roll.
Mr. Mancuso warned me that we would be looping, rolling and doing combinations of loops and rolls. Still, nothing could have prepared me for the sensation of hanging upside down for several seconds while over the water.
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