Our Story (85 Percent): My Top Gun

they look pretty cool in these fighter suits

It is not every day that a boy turns 11. My Brandon is growing up. It just seems like yesterday that I held this little tiny baby boy in my arms. I sometimes look back at old photos of him, and I miss the days where I could kiss him freely. Now, my kisses are received with unpredictability. Depending upon his mood, he may or may not welcome my smooches.

I spent his actual birthday (Valentine Day) running the LA Marathon, but when I woke up that morning and was going through my pre-race ritual, I sat down with my coffee and sent a message to him. A lot was going on that day for me, but nothing as important as Brandon’s birthday. He was with his dad, but I wanted him to know that he was my first thought.

We didn’t celebrate his birthday until two weeks later, and the celebrations were done in style. Brandon had a ‘fighter jet’ birthday party at FlightDeck, which provides real life air combat experience through simulation machines. The guests went through a briefing prior to getting in the cockpits. I personally found the briefing to be VERY confusing. Lance who flew many times and had a pilot’s license (it’s expired) said the instructor could have simplified the instructions.

The boys were very eager to get into the simulators, and quite honestly, they spent the first few minutes trying to control their jets. There were a lot of crashes into the ocean. The consoles were very sensitive. Lance was also eager to try, and he got into the simulators as well. He said it was very realistic. Each guest also had two attempts to try to land their plane onto an aircraft carrier. Out of 24 attempts, there were only two successful landings. It was DIFFICULT.

about to get into the simulator

Following the adrenaline pumped experience, we settled down for pizza and cake. While eating, the instructors announced each person’s flight scoring, which included how many kills and successful landings. Brandon (aka Thunderbird. He chose this name.) received the Top Gun score with the most kills, and in recognition of that accomplishment, he received his own set of aviator glasses. Frankly, he looks bad-ass with those sunglasses on. I love aviator glasses.

Lance and Dylan want to return to FlightDeck to try the simulated commercial airplanes. They actually have retired pilots training you on this, and we also learned many of the employees at FlightDeck are retired servicemen. Lance immediately bonded with them.

(I must add that there are two sets of simulators--one for adults and one for the kids.)