NEW YORK - A leading American journalist, Bill Weir, took a high-g ride he will not forget in a Red Bull Air Race plane ahead of this weekend’s New York race. The co-anchor of ABC’s “Good Morning America” weekend edition got a feel for high-speed, low-altitude 6g turns in the air over New York and New Jersey. He said afterwards he was pleased that he managed not to lose his lunch during the 15 minute ride.
“The thing I’m most proud of this afternoon is that I brought my air sickness bag back with me as a ‘hand-puppet’,” Weir, 42, said after climbing out of the plane with a smile on his somewhat ashen-looking face and holding up the unused bag like a trophy. “That was fantastic. Unbelievable.”
Weir, who has also ridden in a fighter jet, said it was an incredible experience to be flying in front of Manhattan while feeling six times his body weight press him into the small cockpit seat as pilot Sergio Pla put the plane through a series of quick and tight turns at speeds well over 200 mph. Pla usually does not exceed 4g or 5g for most of the uninitiated guests in the Red Bull Air Race media plane but gave Weir a taste of what the pilots go through when they hit 12g in the race track.
"You could see Manhattan and the skyline in the distance and then it's like this, and then like this, and like this and this,” he said, flipping his hand back and forth in a series of successive knife-edge positions the race pilots perform. “It was so cool. And he was taking it easy on me too. The racers call this plane the ‘family truck-ster’ because it’s so sluggish and clunky. It tested my digestive system, I’ll tell you that. I've got a newfound respect for these guys. Wow! That was unbelievable.”
Weir has travelled the world to cover breaking news for ABC and also done lengthy reports from China, India, Africa the Middle East and the South Pacific. The Wisconsin native said the 6g in the Red Bull Air Race felt more intense than a 9g flight he took in a Thunderbird, a plane in the U.S. Air Force demonstration squadron.
“We did about 6g, which felt incredible,” Weir said of his ride on Thursday. “I was using my ‘Lamaze (childbirth) technique’. Luckily I’m a dad and got to work a little on the breathing. Years ago, I had the privilege to fly with the Thunderbirds and we did a 9g turn. But this is so much quicker. The fighter jets take forever and they last forever. This is just: zig-zig-zig-zig-zig. Really cool.”
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