“Pushing the Envelope — Exploring the Spirit that made America Great” is a 29-minute story of 10 pilots who have flown to Alaska together for the past eight years in high speed experimental aircraft, including SX 300s and AirVenture Coupes.
Darting low over Alaskan mountains, glaciers, and fjords at speeds of 300 mph and separated by mere inches, 10 “retired” pilots continue to capture the true spirit of adventure, pushing the aviation envelope well into their 70s, according to Stephen McAtee, one of the pilots of Red Flight Alaska.
“Just recently posted to YouTube, this video strikes a deep chord with pilots and non pilots alike,” he said.
The group is primarily made up of ex-fighter pilots, McAtee explains.
He adds the video depicts “a story of the character behind America’s strength and greatness as these men continue their pursuit of aviation excellence in their self-built, high performance experimental aircraft.”
It must have been fun flying to Alaska in a high speed experimental aircraft but if you really want to enjoy the trip do it in a slow low powered WACO biplane at 80 MPH from Spruce Creek fly-in.
Well somedays (most days) you need cabin heat.
I think flying in a loose, one-mile trail would allow you to appreciate the scenery more instead of maintaining a close distance from the lead. Also allows more eyes to look for other traffic…and there is other traffic…many without transponders in Alaska, so ADS-B won’t help.
Good, fun-loving, passionate group of patriots enjoying life. Good for them.
I’ll keep an eye peeled for these low level, fast movers. Wouldn’t mind hosting them for at least a fly-in lunch, but 1800’ of gravel runway is probably out of the question for these airplanes. Sad, for being in Alaska.
A lot of work went into editing and compiling this video. I appreciate the time these pilots spent to share their adventure with the rest of us.