Zero G Weightless Experience
The Zero G trip has been completed and photos taken by the on-board photographer have been received. However, the first pictures are those taken with my camera before achieving a weightless state. As promised, I'm introducing my traveling companion on this flight. Her name is Patty and she has been a marvelous person with whom to share this unique experience. We met as a result of us both planning to attend a high school reunion where we both graduated from North High in Wichita, Kansas.

Patty and Maury ready for take-off — Photo by Bob

Notice, in the photo above, that the name badges are upside down. Okay, quit laughing, that is part of the initiation ceremony we went through. After the flight is complete, the Flight Director turns the badge right-side up just before our picture is taken at the foot of the aircraft stairway.

The seating area on the aircraft was at the back end of the plane. Because I bought our tickets shortly after the flight was scheduled, we had seats that were on the first row which meant that we had a lot of leg room. The area where we would become weightless was a large area between the cockpit and the seating area. All surfaces in the area, where we all would soon be floating, were covered in a cushioning foam rubber.

The takeoff was routine with one exception, we had no windows to watch as the pavement zoomed by below. The only windows were those in the four emergency doors, two on each side of the aircraft located over the wings. The flight time to our designated FAA-approved, air-space seemed to go by quickly as our excitement and anticipation went into overdrive. I had been looking forward to this flight long enough that it felt good to finally be on our way to a weightless experience.

This is the cavernous area in the aircraft where we soon would be weightless

When it was time for us to unfasten our seat belts, we eagerly advanced to our designated area in the airplane. The space where the weightless experience would take place was divided into three areas; gold, silver, and blue. Patty and I were in the gold area. That is why you will see gold colored socks being worn in our area of the plane.

Before becoming weightless we all had to lie down on the floor of the aircraft. Then, as the plane climbed at a 45-degree angle, our bodies felt the weight of 1.8Gs. I could feel my cheeks trying to get back to where my ears normally were located. I lifted an arm and it felt very heavy. While lifting my head to see how everyone else was doing, my head felt as if it weighed 50 pounds.

During the "push over" there is a gentle feeling of the extra weight being lifted and suddenly we became weightless and began floating up into the air space inside the aircraft. One thing I noticed right away is that I had no feeling of the angle the aircraft was flying. To me it felt as if the plane was flying level with us floating around inside. It took a while for me to get used to the feeling enough to have fun with rolling and spinning in mid air. The feeling was surreal and exhilarating at the same time.

During one weightless period I was floating "horizontal" when Patty came floating by me with her being "vertical" and upside down. By the time I saw that scene, it struck me that this was beginning to feel quite normal to me. I felt that this was a feeling I could get used to in a spacecraft in earth-orbit.

At one point M&M'S^® chocolate-candy pieces were released so we could catch them with our mouths as they came our way. Even though I wasn't lined up properly to catch the candy, it still was fun to see the candy pieces floating by my face in the air in front of me. Just before the next weightless period I was given a bottle of water. As soon as I was floating I opened the bottle and released a few blobs of water that floated in front of me. It was so astonishing that I almost forgot to drink in the blobs; I got two of them.

Then I was bumped by someone next to me and I began rotating slowly as water was set free from the bottle. Because of my motion a circular trail of water blobs floated in the air around me. This was extremely fascinating to see the water blobs floating. I heard the warning that this weightless cycle was about to end. I quickly found my way to the floor just in time for weightlessness to end. Suddenly, the the floating globs of water became really big rain-drops that drenched me and the guy next to me. We both began laughing — laughing is something that happens often during the flight.

The Zero G photos have come in. I have been given permission from the Zero G people to post any photos here that contain pictures of Patty and me.

I've put a set of pictures together to show one of the many things we did during our flight. Watch as Patty and others fly like Super Heros. More photos to come.

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