Gallery: That Time I Blacked Out Pulling 4 G's in a Stunt Jet
Katsuhiko Tokunaga01BJT-Sonoma 5-Katsuhiko Tokunaga
The Breitling Jet Team puts on the fastest, loudest, coolest ballet you'll ever see.
Katsuhiko Tokunaga02BJT-Sonoma 9-Katsuhiko Tokunaga
The world’s largest civilian jet demonstration team, sponsored by the Swiss watch maker, is six months into its first tour of the United States.
Katsuhiko Tokunaga03BJT-Sonoma 12-Katsuhiko Tokunaga
Seven pilots, each in a L-39C Albatros jet, execute loops and barrel rolls and other feats of derring-do at more than 500 mph.
Katsuhiko Tokunaga04Aero
The Czech-built L-39 can hit a ceiling of 36,000 feet and 565 mph in a dive.
Katsuhiko Tokunaga05Aero
What makes their show truly impressive is that they do it in perfect unison, with as little as 10 feet separating one plane from the next.
Katsuhiko Tokunaga06Aero
Nearly all the pilots are French air force veterans.
Katsuhiko Tokunaga07Aero
Some saw combat in Bosnia and the first Gulf War, or flew for the Patrouille de France, the country’s Blue Angels equivalent.
Katsuhiko Tokunaga08BJT-Sonoma 29-Katsuhiko Tokunaga
Team leader Jacques "Speedy" Bothelin is the one exception. He went the civilian route, and amassed one hell of a CV: More than 11,000 hours in 145 types of aircraft.
Katsuhiko Tokunaga09Aero
I went up with the team for a flight over Northern California.
Katsuhiko Tokunaga10BJT-Sonoma 20-Katsuhiko Tokunaga
The L-39 is a trainer jet, which means my seat has a full set of controls.
Katsuhiko Tokunaga11BJT-Sonoma 19-Katsuhiko Tokunaga
I'm strictly forbidden from touching any of them, which is just fine by me.
Katsuhiko Tokunaga12BJT-Sonoma 21-Katsuhiko Tokunaga
There's one exception: If my pilot yells "Eject!", I am to grab the two red handles between my thighs and pull. Hard.
Katsuhiko Tokunaga13BJT-Sonoma 8-Katsuhiko Tokunaga-2
Flying straight up delivered roughly four times the force of gravity to my body.
Katsuhiko Tokunaga14Aero
That is, among other things, enough to impede the flow of blood to my retinas and black out my vision.
Katsuhiko Tokunaga15BJT-Sonoma 4-Katsuhiko Tokunaga
I feel like chewed gum being slowly, ruthlessly pulled apart.
