Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet

I don’t remember the year, but I’ll never forget the flying!  It was the day I got the chance to fly backseat with Dr. Richard Sugden in his breathtaking (literally!) Dornier Alpha Jet.  As can be seen from the above photo I took on the tarmac, the Alpha Jet is one bad-ass airplane, and for just a little while on one beautiful day, I actually got to fly it!

Doc Sugden is a practicing physician in Jackson Hole, a retired Navy Flight Surgeon, and the owner of our FBO at Driggs-Reed Memorial Airport (KDIJ).  Doc has the most amazing collection of aircraft I’ve ever seen; all in flying condition, and he flies them all.  A few of his aircraft are shown on the FBO website museum page, but the list doesn’t do justice because it’s missing, for example, his Grumman HU-16 Albatross, that years ago he flew from Driggs to Sydney, Australia, and back; or his FJ-2 Fury; or his A-4 Skyhawk; or his L-39, or his MIG… etc., etc.  

If you like photos of Warbirds, check out the page I put together of warbird photos I took at our little Driggs Airport.

Anyway, back to the story.  Doc and his then son-in-law were taking the Alpha Jet and a L-39 up for some formation flying training.  I forget who was training in the backseat of the L-39, but I jumped at the chance to fly backseat in the Alpha Jet.  We departed Driggs and headed over the Tetons to Jackson Hole, where we did several orbits around Jackson Lake practicing formation flying.  

After we finished with formation flying, Doc & I popped back over the mountains to Teton Valley, where he had me do some aileron rolls and a loop.  Incredible!  You could spin a 360° aileron roll in less than one second!  I was trying to spin three consecutive rolls and bring it out level.  I couldn’t quite time it right, but of course Doc made it seem simple.  Now I know why the rich guys get addicted to flying warbirds!  Wow.

Doc took the controls and we did some sort of high-G maneuver, during which—for the first time ever—I experienced the legendary ‘tunnel vision’ closing in.  I was holding my breath and straining for all I was worth, but the tunnel kept getting smaller.  When Doc pulled out of the maneuver and my full vision returned, we were somehow setup for final on the runway.  I still don’t know how we got there!  Once I could breathe again, Doc dropped the gear and I flew the AOA Indicator down till the wheels were on the pavement.  So perfectly smooth; unbelievable.  A day to remember!

Below are a couple of my photos of the Alpha Jet on the tarmac in Driggs.  The formation flying photos of the L-39 are mine, taken from the Alpha Jet when Doc was flying.  The formation flying photos of the Alpha Jet were taken by the back seat of the L-39.  You can Click on any photo to launch a slideshow starting at that point.  

My other flying pages are Flying the Bahamas Out Islands, and Flying to Alaska.  If you have any questions, or problems with the website, or if you just want to chat about flying, Contact Me.