- Joined
- Jun 20, 2001
- Posts
- 11,025
- Likes
- 6,633
Today we (Jack and I) had an appointment with one of our clients located over an hour-out rural ways. Our contact at this organization is that company's founder, a successful businessman. We pulled up to his headquarters, and parked out front was a Cadillac CTS-V (his wife's) and a Dodge SRT-10 (the pickup truck with the 8.3L V10 500-horsepower Viper engine), which is his latest of many rides.
After our meeting, he wanted to drive the four or five miles to his house to give us a helicopter ride (he has a hotrodded Schweizer chopper, but I'm not sure which model--it seats three). He and his son wanted to drive to the house in Jack's Roush Performance Jack Roush Classic Mustang, which is hotrodded even beyond the already-hotrodded JRC Mustang, so he let Jack and I follow him with his SRT-10.
The ride--or chase--to his house was awesome. Our client took off like a rocket in Jack's car, and Jack was doing everything he could to keep up in the SRT-10, which, though faster than a truck should ever be, was having much difficulty trying to stay with the JRC. On one of the long straights, watching Jack's JRC pull away from us, I said to Jack, "C'mon, man, put it all the way down." "I am, I am," was his smiling response. 80, 100, 120, 130, 140....BRAAAAAAKE....turn....and then do it again and again. It was a blast. Fun as the SRT-10 is (and it is fun), I quickly realized that those kinds of speeds (and the kind of handling required) on twisty country roads are ideally reached in something not as tall as a pickup truck on 22-inch rims (even though the suspension is tuned, and each corner is shod with a Pirelli Scorpion Zero)--the SRT-10 definitely handled better than you might expect something of that size to; but going into one particular turn very hot, under very late breaking, had me wishing I was in Jack's JRC (or a go-kart) at that moment instead. Both Jack and our client are trained competitive drivers.
As if that chase to the house wasn't enough, upon arriving, our client took the doors off his Schweizer to maximize the open-air experience, and he took Jack and I up for a wild chopper ride (yes, he has a small helipad just off his very large garage). An experienced pilot, he flies his chopper like he drives his cars, so it was a blast of a ride, including many maneuvers that humbled any amusement park ride I've tried, including rapid ascents I didn't know a helicopter could do, rapid descents I didn't know a helicopter could safely do, what felt like zero-G floatie maneuvers, hard-as-heck turns, low-altitude bobbing and weaving through openings in the treelines and fast low river runs. Having no idea what an auto-rotation maneuver was (look it up), he prepared us for it only by saying, "There's really nothing you can say to someone who's never been in a helicopter performing auto-rotation to describe the sensation you're about to feel, so I won't try to describe it--we'll just do it." DROP! Phenomenal! After we reestablished lift, I looked at Jack to see who between us had the biggest smile on his face, and I think it was a tie.
We need more clients like him, man. This was a fun day at work, no doubt.
IMPORTANT: This post is not suggesting that driving recklessly and/or above legally posted speed limits (especially in multiples of legally posted speed limits) is acceptable. In fact, due to the higher likelihood of injury or death while driving recklessly and/or above posted speed limits, I expressly recommend never driving in the manner described above, and always recommend that you instead drive no faster than legally posted speed limits.
After our meeting, he wanted to drive the four or five miles to his house to give us a helicopter ride (he has a hotrodded Schweizer chopper, but I'm not sure which model--it seats three). He and his son wanted to drive to the house in Jack's Roush Performance Jack Roush Classic Mustang, which is hotrodded even beyond the already-hotrodded JRC Mustang, so he let Jack and I follow him with his SRT-10.
The ride--or chase--to his house was awesome. Our client took off like a rocket in Jack's car, and Jack was doing everything he could to keep up in the SRT-10, which, though faster than a truck should ever be, was having much difficulty trying to stay with the JRC. On one of the long straights, watching Jack's JRC pull away from us, I said to Jack, "C'mon, man, put it all the way down." "I am, I am," was his smiling response. 80, 100, 120, 130, 140....BRAAAAAAKE....turn....and then do it again and again. It was a blast. Fun as the SRT-10 is (and it is fun), I quickly realized that those kinds of speeds (and the kind of handling required) on twisty country roads are ideally reached in something not as tall as a pickup truck on 22-inch rims (even though the suspension is tuned, and each corner is shod with a Pirelli Scorpion Zero)--the SRT-10 definitely handled better than you might expect something of that size to; but going into one particular turn very hot, under very late breaking, had me wishing I was in Jack's JRC (or a go-kart) at that moment instead. Both Jack and our client are trained competitive drivers.
As if that chase to the house wasn't enough, upon arriving, our client took the doors off his Schweizer to maximize the open-air experience, and he took Jack and I up for a wild chopper ride (yes, he has a small helipad just off his very large garage). An experienced pilot, he flies his chopper like he drives his cars, so it was a blast of a ride, including many maneuvers that humbled any amusement park ride I've tried, including rapid ascents I didn't know a helicopter could do, rapid descents I didn't know a helicopter could safely do, what felt like zero-G floatie maneuvers, hard-as-heck turns, low-altitude bobbing and weaving through openings in the treelines and fast low river runs. Having no idea what an auto-rotation maneuver was (look it up), he prepared us for it only by saying, "There's really nothing you can say to someone who's never been in a helicopter performing auto-rotation to describe the sensation you're about to feel, so I won't try to describe it--we'll just do it." DROP! Phenomenal! After we reestablished lift, I looked at Jack to see who between us had the biggest smile on his face, and I think it was a tie.
We need more clients like him, man. This was a fun day at work, no doubt.
IMPORTANT: This post is not suggesting that driving recklessly and/or above legally posted speed limits (especially in multiples of legally posted speed limits) is acceptable. In fact, due to the higher likelihood of injury or death while driving recklessly and/or above posted speed limits, I expressly recommend never driving in the manner described above, and always recommend that you instead drive no faster than legally posted speed limits.
