British filmmaker Louis Skupien recently got the kind of access most aviation fans only dream about: a flight in a US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon at Edwards Air Force Base in California, with test pilot Major 'Hash' Pipe of the 416th Flight Test Squadron in the other seat.

Getting there took years, not luck. Skupien's route ran from a childhood spent flying Spitfires on his grandfather's flight simulator, through a junior tennis career, and into podcasting. A 2022 viewing of Top Gun: Maverick flipped the switch — he started chasing interviews with former Navy pilots, including F-14 Radar Intercept Officer Mark 'Slider' Keller and F/A-18 pilot Keegan 'Smurf' Gill, who once ejected at nearly 700 mph. As the show became Full Throttle, repeated vetting and a growing film portfolio built enough trust to land a sit-down with Brigadier General Douglas Wickert, then commander of Edwards' 412th Test Wing. That conversation turned into an approved documentary project roughly a year later.

The prep before flying was no formality. Over three days on base, Skupien did survival and egress training, practised parachute landings in a harness, passed a medical screening at Flight Medicine, and had his oxygen mask seal tested at simulated altitudes of up to 30,000 feet. Then came the flight itself: a near-vertical climb seconds after takeoff at around 500 mph, hitting roughly 7G — head pressed back into the seat, working the anti-G strain manoeuvre while the suit's bladders inflated. He called the jet 'an absolute rocket ship.'

Once airborne, he actually flew it — about 20 minutes of stick time. The F-16's side-stick controller surprised him: rather than sweeping movements, it responds to subtle hand pressure, which he compared to a sensitive PlayStation joystick. His video also captures the gravity of the location. Edwards is where Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier and where the YF-16 prototype made its maiden flight, and the base is now developing next-generation fighters and bomber technology.

Why does this matter to travellers? You can't book an F-16 ride, but the story shows how behind-the-scenes military aviation access is becoming real content for enthusiasts — and Edwards itself anchors California's high-desert aviation corridor, near Mojave Air and Space Port and the Air Force Flight Test Museum, which are open to visitors. For anyone drawn to aviation tourism, it's a reminder that the world's most storied test base sits a reasonable drive from Los Angeles, and that persistence plus a camera can open doors most of us can't.

A nice detail worth keeping: Skupien almost missed his moment of maximum G because he didn't take the pilot's 'put your head back' warning seriously. Lesson noted.

Simple Flying