Jets and G-forces: When playing ‘Roulette’ is just another day at the office

Jets and G-forces: When playing ‘Roulette’ is just another day at the office

(Photos courtesy Bill McAuley | billmcauleyphotographer.com)

It’s not often your working day begins with the instruction: ‘You’re sitting on a live bomb, Bill. If you pull the ejection handle, this baby will blow you right out of the cockpit…’ (Photos, 1988.)

For most of Melbourne, this is an ordinary workday.

It’s a work day for me, too. But this one has me hurtling upside down through the sky at 450 kilometres per hour.

At 2,000 feet the Macchi Air Force jet executes a barrel roll, then dives towards the horizon. The ground beneath us blurs. Engine screaming, the jet pulls out of its dive and starts climbing.

The G-forces are extreme and lifting my Nikon is demanding, as it weighs five times more than normal. Using all my strength, I steady the load against my eye and squeeze off a shot of the other Roulette, flying in formation alongside us.

The camera clicks and whirrs. Another unrepeatable moment is cast.

Just 20 minutes earlier, my pilot, Ross, had strapped me into a G-suit and helped me into the cockpit.

In a level voice, Ross commenced his instruction:

“You’re sitting on a live bomb, Bill. If you pull the ejection handle, this baby will blow you right out of the cockpit. If we are going down, I will say your name once and the word ‘eject’ three times. After that, as per my training, I will eject myself and you’ll be alone in the aircraft. I won’t be there to help you.”

He laughed as if knowing how to bail out of an extraordinarily powerful aircraft was something ordinary:

“You’ll need quite a bit of strength to pull the ejection handle, but don’t worry, mate… if we’re going down, you’ll find it.”

After we landed safely at Avalon Airport, I thanked Ross and strutted, buoyant, from the plane.

Incredible experience! But what seems even more so — this was just another day at the office.

**These photographs are part of an IA series that looks at Australia through the lens of award-winning photojournalist, Bill McAuley.**

 Bill McAuley‘s 40-plus-year news career began in 1969 as a cadet photographer at ‘The Age’ in Melbourne. 

Bill has several published collections, including ‘Portraits of the Soul: A lifetime of images with Bill McAuley’. To see more from Bill, click HERE.

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