Flying upside down round and round...Acrobatic flight

The view from the top of Mount Pilatus is pretty impressive; the view of Switzerland from an open top airplane is mighty impressive. I had the chance to fly above one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Getting into the stunning aeroplane, you have to be careful not to press on the wrong parts of the plane: and you realise that the machine in which you are about to do fairly ridiculous things in is in fact fairly flimsy. I was a little concerned that I was getting into a large yellow paper aeroplane.

Once strapped in (with parachute and overalls - looking like I was auditioning for Top Gun, although not looking quite as sexy and fearless), you wait patiently while the pilot climbs in behind and does the final checks. The passenger sits at the front, facing the black box as a sombre reminder that your death would be recorded should something go wrong.

Since the nose of the aeroplane gets in the way of seeing straight ahead, we taxied along the runway by zig-zagging. The take off was smooth and very calm. It is amazingly serene and I felt surprisingly calm at this point; gliding along into the gorgeous evening sky. Tilting slighty to the left and the right so you can get a good view of what is beneath you is also surprisingly calm.

But serenity cannot last forever and the pilot was getting a little impatient to do some twists and turns. Luckily the pilot was fantastic- he explained how everything would work and told me before we did anything so I was as prepared as you can be for flying upside down in an open top plane!

The first test for the stomach was a 'simple' flip. Fine. Yes, a little scary since I forgot that there were bars to hold onto, but it was fine. Then we progressed onto the stomach churners. For the formations, the pilot descends before starting, and actually the inital drop is when your stomach goes, rather than during acrobatics. The Loop the Loop was amazing - you look up and see the ground, and you have to try really hard not to think about the fact your plane is virtually made of paper and you are held in only by an antique seat belt!

The worst feeling was when we went virtically up and then flipped over and nose-dived for about 800 metres. I was sitting at the front, and could see only the black box and the ground rapidly approaching! Flying upside down is also a very strange feeling and after a few seconds it almost feels like it's normal to fly upside down in an open-top plane.

The G-force (4.8) and the adrelelin aside, it was breath-takingly beautiful up there. A gorgeous summer evening, beautiful lakes and rolling green hills with mountains in the distance. Pottering around in the skies at 2000m is a wonderful occupation!

The landing was smooth and after the formations it was very tame! I hadn't felt sick at all in the plane, but once out of the cockpit and on solid ground, I felt very queasy. My poor stomach didn't know which way up it should be anymore!

I would recommend an acrobatic flight to anyone; especially over Switzerland! Although not after a heavy night out!