We have “flown” with the Blue Angels, the Patrouille Suisse and even in a P-51 alongside an F-22 using 360° video technology. Now we get to see the what it’s like being launched off an aircraft carrier and flying at high-speed over the desert floor in an F/A-18 Hornet.
The clip below brings us inside a Hornet being launched off the USS Harry S. Truman. Make sure to watch cockpit procedures and notice that the pilots hands are off the stick during the catapult stroke. The Hornet’s flight control system handles this phase of flight automatically:
Now we head out for a low-level sortie over the R2508 range complex that runs from Edwards AFB to NAWS China Lake. At around 2:40, we get to ride through the Jedi Transition.
360° video technology is just hitting the consumer market and its only improving in quality. I see it increasingly taking us into the most amazing military machines and to the most amazing places imaginable, but these videos show we’re off to a damn good start.
Contact the author at Tyler@jalopnik.com.