Looping through the skies above Athboy in Co Meath you realise there is a fine line between bucket list fulfilment and abject terror. Ground and sky are trading places at an alarming rate overhead. I am covered in a film of sweat and desperately trying not to succumb to nausea created by G-forces that send litres of blood rushing from my head to my legs and back, as we complete another perfectly executed barrel roll.
Nestled in the cockpit beside me with a pearly white grin on his face is five-time Irish aerobatic champion Eddie Goggins, aka the Flying Dentist (he has a practice in Cabinteely). Proving that the exhilaration of flying is not something that fades with practice, the 47-year-old from south Dublin twists and twirls the horizon with effortless movements of the joystick. As our home-built, single-engine RV-7 aircraft soars vertically into a majestic loop-the-loop, he looks like he is enjoying this every bit as much as I am — albeit with a bit more colour in his cheeks.
He is quick to reassure me: “In more than 20 years of taking people up I’ve only had three get sick in the aircraft, but I keep a bag handy just in case. Everyone has their tolerance. Some can do two turns and others 20 before they get queasy. It’s about not straying too far from the airfield before the grey faces turn green.
“Upside down, right side up, fast or slow, the thing about aerobatic flying is you never cease to feel the privilege of being up here looking down on the world. Flying is a great way of putting the trivial problems of life into perspective.”
Goggins is one of the stars of next weekend’s Aviation Ireland event, a two-day festival devoted to the exhilarating business of flight. About 160,000 people will attend air displays at Bray in Co Wicklow and Foynes, Co Limerick, to witness majestic vintage aircraft, thunderous fighter jets and awe-inspiring aerobatic displays.
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The free festival, which is sponsored by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), is one of the biggest open-air events in the country, drawing a bigger audience than Electric Picnic or the All-Ireland finals. Highlights include flypasts by classic Second World War Spitfires and Mustangs, and a beautifully restored Aer Lingus DC-3. Fighter jets appearing at the show range from a state-of-the-art McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet, to classic Norwegian MiGs and a Saab 37 Viggen from Sweden.
There are aerobatic displays by the Royal Jordanian Air Force and The Blades display team, as well as formation flypasts by the Irish Air Corps. Visitors can take a helicopter pleasure flight or see search and rescue demonstrations by the Irish Coast Guard.
Goggins, who will fly at Foynes and Bray on Saturday, plans to co-ordinate his head-spinning display to music from Fatboy Slim and American violinist Lindsey Stirling.
“It’s something you won’t see at any other airshow,” he says. “I want to develop four-minute freestyle routines and co-ordinate them to music. Competitive aerobatics is all about pushing the envelope.”
Organisers will use both events as a showcase for young people considering careers in aviation. Goggins, who grew up in America before returning to Roscommon in his teens, was inspired to fly after visiting an airshow in the US.
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“Flying is a dream I’ve had since I was a child but I never knew how I would get up here,” he says. “Not having twenty-twenty vision was a deal-breaker for the military, but when I met a pilot at Trinity who wore glasses, I jumped at the chance to get my licence. At 18, I started going to the Dublin Gliding Club and tried hang-gliding and flying microlights — any inexpensive means to get in the air.”
Goggins, who trains other pilots, reckons aerobatics is the pinnacle of any flying career. At Bray and Foynes, he will raise money for the Make a Wish Foundation. Spectators will be able to show their appreciation of his flying by texting donations to the charity. “Flying commercially from A to B is enjoyable but it’s nothing compared to the freedom you experience from three-dimensional flight,” he says, back on terra firma.
Flying highly manoeuvrable aircraft at speed, Goggins has to train his body to withstand intense G-forces. During our 30-minute flight, we hit 3g in steep turns but in competition he regularly experiences up to 9g. “G-forces go up and down in a routine but it only affects you when it is sustained. Negative gs, when you push the joystick forward, are far worse. We call it the ‘misery stick’ because blood rushes to your head and it feels like your eyeballs are going to pop out.
“Good pilots prepare well. They say, ‘A superior pilot is one who uses his superior judgment so he doesn’t have to use his superior skill.’ Irish pilots are sought-after worldwide, partly because training standards are so high and the safety record so good. Foreign airlines send their pilots to our world-class facilities and, if you are willing to travel, it’s an extraordinary career.”
Mounting two of the country’s biggest air displays at the height of holiday season is a mammoth task for organisers and the army of volunteers. Bray Air Display director Se Pardy has the job of co-ordinating flights at the show. “We started in 2005 with 25,000 spectators and last year there were 140,000,” he says. “Planning started last October. In some cases we have aircraft coming in six at a time, 8ft apart, and we have F-18s and a Viggen operating at 500 knots. It makes for a fantastic spectacle.”
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Paul McCann, air traffic control operations manager at Dublin airport, is responsible for co-ordinating traffic in a 50-nautical mile radius over the capital. Dublin alone accounts for more than 700 aircraft movements a day but he relishes the extra workload of a display. “It’s a special weekend and Bray is a great amphitheatre,” he says.
“You’ve got Bray Head on one side and Killiney Hill on the other, and it’s an awesome spectator sport. It’s held over the sea so it has greater protection but the IAA regulator puts in very strict controls to ensure safety for everyone involved.”
The 12th Bray Air Display takes place on Saturday and Sunday. Foynes Air Show is on Saturday. brayairdisplay.com; foynesairshow.com