Have you ever had a near death experience and did it change your outlook on life?
Have you ever had...
- Thread starter billybones
- Start date
A
AndyRew
3, no didn't change anying...
Happy2
Legend Member
Umm I will see Roche again before I see you and may well be chauffered by her So for reasons of self preservation I will say Roche
Plus our meetings are now purely booze and strippers so driving is no longer possible in the modern enviroment of .05
User184
Gold Member
Yeah, 4 kinda. 3 proper. It don't change shit. Makes you worse, especially because after all but one there were medical bills out the yazoo, and one left me with head injuries and a slowing down of the cerebral functioning.
So, you could say it changes you. But not, so far, for the better.
So, you could say it changes you. But not, so far, for the better.
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AndyRew
It's never quite as handsome as its sometimes made out to be....
A
AndyRew
Well they say 'You've gotta be able to sing the Battle thyme of the Republic or Dixie with equal enthusiasm'...
T
Tania Admin
I clipped the mirror of a car reaching for my phone a few years ago, that's about as close as I've been. I never touch my phone when I'm driving now, not even at lights.
Does that count?
Does that count?
A
AndyRew
Yes, it definitely counts...
Dallas
Legend Member
Don't mean to bore you with my long story but I this is my near death experience.
When I was 15 I learned to fly gliders and one day I was ridge soaring along the side of Mt Bogong which is the highest mountain in Victoria, and it was my first time flying in a mountainous area so I was unfamiliar with the potential for rapidly changing weather conditions. Well I had an eagle off my right wing soaring with me, it was awesome as I felt part of nature with this amazing bird teaching me how to fly like a bird.
The wind was also strong that was blowing towards the mountain and I was watching my altimeter climb at a rapid rate and had quickly exceeded 6000 ft. I looked above me and the edge of a cold front had suddenly appeared from across the mountains. Being both inexperienced in the mountains and having a boys feeling of indestructibility I was excited by the incredible lift I was now getting from the cold front and it felt like a high speed elevator and I quickly exceeded 9,000 feet and the Mt Beauty airport was looking very small below. Well before I could make an all too late decision to pull out and descend, cloud suddenly formed all around me, and I was enveloped in a total white out and as well i was hit with an incredible level of turbulence that made control all but impossible. I immediately attempted to descend as rapidly as I could because in cloud, you can't tell which way is up or down, and can quickly become disorientated and destroy the aircraft and yourself! I basically followed my training and put the air craft into a controlled dive with the idea being that as soon as I regained visibility, I would pull out and take control and land. Well I fought for control and trying to keep my air speed in between stalling and exceeding it's maximum which was about 200kmph all the while the g-forces on the aircraft and me were going from negative which means you feel you're being pulled out of your seat, to positive like you're being crushed.
So for the near death experience aspect, i was immediately gripped with panic as I watched the airspeed indicator rapidly unwind and realising any second I could be over the mountain and my life would instantly be over, I just froze for a split second and had the life flashing before your eyes as you hear about. Everything went quiet and peaceful for a moment in time as it was like memories from my child hood that I'd forgotten about suddenly being very very vivid and flashing before my eyes. However for some reason, I didn't remain in that paniced state for long, I some how was able to block out fear and I just had total focus in trying to control my situation. And as the altimeter unwinded and hit 500ft, which is pretty much seconds away from ground level I thought this is is, and suddenly I came out of the cloud and the turbulence stopped and I saw the runway ahead of me - luckily I had drifted away from the mountains, so I was able to make a very frantic and forced landing, and demolished two runway markers in the process. When I'd stopped, the Chief Flying Instructor just told me off for a very bad landing as he either hadn't seen what had just transpired, or he didn't want to acknowledge it. But that was my near death experience.
This photo was taken under calmer conditions a year later flying over Corowa NSW with a passenger who attempted to take my pic. It's 1978.
When I was 15 I learned to fly gliders and one day I was ridge soaring along the side of Mt Bogong which is the highest mountain in Victoria, and it was my first time flying in a mountainous area so I was unfamiliar with the potential for rapidly changing weather conditions. Well I had an eagle off my right wing soaring with me, it was awesome as I felt part of nature with this amazing bird teaching me how to fly like a bird.
The wind was also strong that was blowing towards the mountain and I was watching my altimeter climb at a rapid rate and had quickly exceeded 6000 ft. I looked above me and the edge of a cold front had suddenly appeared from across the mountains. Being both inexperienced in the mountains and having a boys feeling of indestructibility I was excited by the incredible lift I was now getting from the cold front and it felt like a high speed elevator and I quickly exceeded 9,000 feet and the Mt Beauty airport was looking very small below. Well before I could make an all too late decision to pull out and descend, cloud suddenly formed all around me, and I was enveloped in a total white out and as well i was hit with an incredible level of turbulence that made control all but impossible. I immediately attempted to descend as rapidly as I could because in cloud, you can't tell which way is up or down, and can quickly become disorientated and destroy the aircraft and yourself! I basically followed my training and put the air craft into a controlled dive with the idea being that as soon as I regained visibility, I would pull out and take control and land. Well I fought for control and trying to keep my air speed in between stalling and exceeding it's maximum which was about 200kmph all the while the g-forces on the aircraft and me were going from negative which means you feel you're being pulled out of your seat, to positive like you're being crushed.
So for the near death experience aspect, i was immediately gripped with panic as I watched the airspeed indicator rapidly unwind and realising any second I could be over the mountain and my life would instantly be over, I just froze for a split second and had the life flashing before your eyes as you hear about. Everything went quiet and peaceful for a moment in time as it was like memories from my child hood that I'd forgotten about suddenly being very very vivid and flashing before my eyes. However for some reason, I didn't remain in that paniced state for long, I some how was able to block out fear and I just had total focus in trying to control my situation. And as the altimeter unwinded and hit 500ft, which is pretty much seconds away from ground level I thought this is is, and suddenly I came out of the cloud and the turbulence stopped and I saw the runway ahead of me - luckily I had drifted away from the mountains, so I was able to make a very frantic and forced landing, and demolished two runway markers in the process. When I'd stopped, the Chief Flying Instructor just told me off for a very bad landing as he either hadn't seen what had just transpired, or he didn't want to acknowledge it. But that was my near death experience.
This photo was taken under calmer conditions a year later flying over Corowa NSW with a passenger who attempted to take my pic. It's 1978.
Dallas
Legend Member
Thanks Mr Happy, didn't mean to ramble on, but I've never told it to anyone before that's all. It's not like I have kids to pass it down to.
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AndyRew
It was cool man...........
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Buk
I'd say a resounding YES.
B
Buk
So true.....and the experience of risk taking