Volar a la velocidad de la luz

If you've ever had the urge to touch space, grab a seat on the world's only serviceable English Electric Lightning jet and you'll fly up to 50,000 feet above the earth at almost 1 ½ times the speed of sound. At Thunder City in Cape Town, South Africa, the roar of the jets taking off will mesmerize you. If you don't want to go so high, here you can handle the controls of an air-to-air combat jet, or be the navigator in a nuclear strike attack bomber.

Which Jet Will You Fly?

After a few hours of training, you and a pilot will head into the sky. Do you want to fly a two-seater English Electric Lightning, the fighter jet used to intercept the Russian Bears bombers during the Cold War? In this plane you will fly high enough to see the curvature of the earth. If you want to experience air-to-air combat, opt for a flight in the Hawker Hunter, which can do loops that will have you fighting almost 4 g-forces. Would you rather be the navigator in a Buccaneer, assisting the pilot of this nuclear strike attack bomber with transponder codes while flying in a mock attack?

Fly Jets Prep

All flights begin with a briefing session that includes learning about the plane and survival training. (If you're going up in the Lightening you also get seat ejection training. The Lightning still holds some of the world climb-to-altitude records.)

What Does It Cost to Fly Jets?

Quite simply: a lot! Especially for the supersonic flight. But, those who have taken this flight say it's changed their view of the world. Thunder City flights range from 30- to 40- minutes in the supersonic interceptor to 50- to 60-minutes in the other planes.

Contact to Fly Jets at Thunder City

For more information visit Thunder City.

Other Places to Fly Planes

If you want to learn how to do rolls and loops in a biplane in a few hours, head to Sky Thrills! in California. You'll work with the pilot on a dual set of controls. Incredible Adventures can get you flying MIGS over Moscow, while at Air Combat USA you can be a fighter pilot.