Луис Скупен Калифорни дахь Эдвардс агаарын цэргийн баазад F-16 Viper сөнөөгч онгоцоор дуунаас хурдан нислэг үйлдсэн Британийн анхны иргэн боллоо.
Агаарын тээврийн сонирхогч Луис Скупен 14 сарын турш үргэлжилсэн АНУ-ын Агаарын цэргийн хүчний зөвшөөрөл, эмнэлгийн үзлэг, шүхрийн болон яаралтай тусламжийн сургалтуудыг амжилттай дүүргэсний эцэст энэхүү нислэгийг гүйцэтгэжээ. Нислэгийн үеэр тэрээр F-16 Viper онгоцны жолоодлогыг 15 минутын турш өөрөө удирдан, Калифорнийн хавцал дээгүүр нам өндөрт ниссэн байна.
Уг сөнөөгч онгоц нь 50,000 фут өндөрт Мах 1.58 хурдыг үзүүлсэн бөгөөд Скупен дуунаас хурдан нисэх үед онгоцны их бие чичирхийлж, хүчтэй мэдрэмж төрүүлснийг онцолсон юм. Тэрээр F-16-г “далавчтай пуужин” хэмээн тодорхойлж, нислэгийн үеэр үзүүлсэн 9G ачааллыг амжилттай даван туулжээ.
Скупен F-16 сөнөөгч онгоцыг бусад нисэх хэрэгсэлтэй харьцуулахдаа “Toyota болон Bugatti-ийн ялгаатай адил” хэмээн үнэлсэн байна. Түүний хувьд онгоцны тунгалаг бүрхүүл (bubble canopy) нь үзэгдэх орчныг бүрэн хангаж, нисгэгчтэй нэгэн бие мэт мэдрэмж төрүүлдэг нь хамгийн онцлог шинж чанар ажээ.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
Louis Skupien is a British content creator who became the first British civilian to fly supersonic in an F-16 through Edwards Air Force Base’s famous supersonic corridor, and you can’t help but grin along with him as he recalled his experience.
Most people can only dream of breaking the sound barrier, but for one man from a small market town in the UK, he got the unique chance of being able to do it in style.
Speaking to Supercar Blondie, he revealed exactly what it felt like to hit Mach 1.58 and why the iconic fighter jet has been his favorite ever since Top Gun: Maverick reignited his childhood passion for aviation.
His dreams are only getting bigger, or shall we say higher, further and faster?
Louis Skupien is the first British civilian to fly supersonic in an F-16 at Edwards
For Skupien, the wild aviation journey began years before he ever strapped into the cockpit.
As a child, his grandfather introduced him to aviation through flight simulators and model aircraft, but the passion faded while he pursued a career in professional tennis.
It wasn’t until he watched Top Gun: Maverick that everything came rushing back.
“I left the cinema… and immediately just remembered that passion I had for it when I was young and thought I have got to interview a fighter pilot on my podcast,” Skupien told Supercar Blondie.
That interview led him to former Top Gun graduate ‘Whiz’, who invited him to fly in the back seat of his fighter jet for the first time after he appeared on the creator’s podcast.
“I knew that I absolutely had to go and do that again and just needed to figure out how that was going to be possible,” he said.
After a 14-month approval process with the US Air Force, that determination culminated in Skupien climbing into the back seat of an F-16 Viper at the legendary Edwards Air Force Base in California.
For aviation fans, there are few more significant places on Earth.
“It’s kind of this place that’s almost mythological,” Skupien said.
“You sort of think, wow, this seems like almost a kind of fairy tale place.
“It lived up to the expectations and more. It is the center of the aerospace testing universe.”
Edwards is where Chuck Yeager famously broke the sound barrier, where countless iconic aircraft first flew, and where the latest aerospace technology continues to be tested today.
The mission itself involved far more than simply climbing into a fighter jet.
The British civilian underwent medical checks, parachute survival training, oxygen mask fitting, G-suit testing, and emergency cockpit drills before being cleared to fly.
Once airborne, the F-16 rocketed skyward.
“It can literally point straight up the sky and keep accelerating,” he said.
“It’s a literal rocket ship with wings.”
After taking control of the jet himself for around 15 minutes and flying through California’s Sidewinder low-level canyon, the pair climbed to 50,000 feet to attempt the flight’s biggest milestone.
“We pointed the nose of the jet down a little bit and crossed the sound barrier,” he explained.
“What a moment.”
Surprisingly, the sensation wasn’t nearly as dramatic as many people imagine.
“When you’re actually at the front of the jet, what you experience is a small bump where all the pressure at the front kind of disperses and then you’re supersonic.”
The F-16 eventually reached Mach 1.58 – roughly 1,200MPH depending on atmospheric conditions.
“At that point, the jet starts to kind of rumble and shake a bit just because you’re going that fast,” he said.
“It was just an incredible, incredible feeling.
“Knowing that you’ve broken the sound barrier in that airspace where Chuck Yeager did it, it’s just incredible. What a feeling.”
Why is this iconic jet his favorite fighter jet?
Despite experiencing several military aircraft throughout his career, Skupien said nothing compares to the F-16.
“As a big fan of aviation, the F-16 is probably my favorite jet,” he said.
Before take-off, however, one thought was occupying his mind more than any other.
“I’m thinking, ‘Oh God, please don’t be the first British civilian to puke all over the F-16 at Edwards’. So let’s not be that kind of a first of a kind.”
Thankfully, he kept his composure, even enduring a punishing 9G maneuver later in the flight.
His admiration for the aircraft only grew once he had the opportunity to fly it himself.
“The F-16 is… like the difference between a Toyota versus a Bugatti,” he said.
“It is the perfect fighter jet. It’s loud, fast, and it is absolutely every fighter pilot’s dream to fly.”
One feature impressed him more than anything else: the fighter’s famous bubble canopy.
“It gives you this unparalleled field of vision,” he explained.
“It just feels like you’re on the pointy end of a dart that can take you anywhere… it feels like you’re Superman.”
He also praised the aircraft’s incredibly responsive controls.
“After a few minutes flying it like that, it feels like it’s part of your body.
“It feels like your mind almost just thinks where you want the jet to go and it just responds to you.”
For Skupien, becoming the first British civilian to fly supersonic in an F-16 through Edwards’ historic corridor was the culmination of a journey that began with a childhood fascination for fighter jets and was reignited by Top Gun: Maverick.
But judging by his ambitions to fly even faster, further and higher in the future, it doesn’t sound like it’ll be his last record-breaking experience.
