Above and beyond

On Saturday I had the amazing opportunity to fly Mark Hensman’s MX2 aerobatics aircraft. I played around high in the sky, very tentatively ;-) , and Mark took me on a low level flight mimicking a Red Bull Air Race. That is us, at the top of the VTM. (short clip) Thrilled, scared, and a distinct shade of green. It was mind blowing and unlike anything you can recreate on a PC. I will quickly list some of the aspects that I want to look at after this flight.

• Even bigger split between flying (human experience), and replay ( tv, gopro experience). Cameras and eyes see different things. Make more effort to convey that feeling.

• More layered sounds to help convey the vibration that your body feels. Tie it to small vibrations in the cockpit visuals.

• The cockpit disappear, the canopy disappears. The world is rock solid in slow motion with amazing detail, wings are there and the propeller is like a caged tiger, alive and growling.

• Play around with the camera, field of view, and maybe look around mode. Your head is constantly moving to watch the ground and the horizon. Maybe this side will only ever work in virtual reality.

Mark is an amazing aerobatics pilot and aircraft technician, and was part of Nigel Lamb’s team in the 2016 Red Bull Air Race series. team-xtreme Nigel Lamb - Red Bull