You ever have a long period of time off of work, and you say to yourself 'you know what, I want to fly in a really, really fast airplane?'
Luke Glendening apparently said that to himself. Glendening got to fly in a F/A-18 Hornet with the famous Blue Angels during a test run for the 2015 Thunder Over Michigan show, scheduled for Aug.29-30.
After some pre-flight instructions, Glendening and his pilot, Capt. Jeff Kuss, took flight. How did Glendening handle it?
"He did great," Kuss said. "I kind of expected it with an NHL athlete of his caliber. But we had a great day out there. I was able to showcase what the aircraft is capable of. We got on top of the cloud layer here, we went upside down, we went slow and fast, we pulled a lot of G and I think he caught up on a little sleep at one point but other than that he did a nice job. So we had a lot of fun."
Wait, caught up on a little sleep? What did Capt. Kuss mean by that?
"I blacked out one time," Glendening said. "I thought I had it but I lost it. It was fun."
Besides that one mishap, the 26-year-old forward seemed to enjoy himself. He was coached up a bit by his team mate Danny DeKeyser, who flew with the Blue Angels last year.
"It's really exciting," DeKeyser said. "I'm glad that he's getting a chance to do it because it's really fun. I think if anybody has an opportunity to do it in their life, then they should at least try it once because it's one of those things that a lot of people don't get to usually just do on a regular, everyday basis. I just told him have fun with it. He'll have a good time."
The Blue Angels aircrafts can fly at 700 mph and can come as close as 18 inches to one another.
Maybe Glendening didn't find his post-NHL career hobby. But he certainly had a blast, and it is an experience he will never forget.
"It was unbelievable," Glendening said. "Seriously, you couldn't get the smile off my face up there. It's such a special memory that I'll have forever."
(h/t Detroit Red Wings)
Ok, bye Luke! ?? pic.twitter.com/Xopb6BwPwW
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) August 26, 2015
It was a great day flying with the @BlueAngels! Stay tuned for a #RedWingsTV feature. #DangerZone #0to100 pic.twitter.com/rpRj7HFcqv
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) August 26, 2015
