What do Ducks and planes in the 9th Annual Pacific Airshow have in common? They both fly together.
And this week, they had another thing in common: Ryan Strome.
The Anaheim Ducks forward was the passenger for a pair of quick flights ahead of the largest airshow in the United States, which draws big crowds from far and wide to Huntington Beach, California.
Needless to say, Strome’s experience riding shotgun with airshow pilot Gregory Colyer was a little different than a team flight to Ottawa or Boston.
“There’s usually a lot more cards being played,” Strome, entering his 13th NHL season and fourth with the Ducks, joked to NHL.com on Friday. “A rollercoaster is a great comparison. It feels like that except with maybe 100 times more force and torque on your body. You’ll feel weightless for a bit, then you turn and really feel the gravity. It was such an unbelievable experience.”
“We did a couple of rolls, did a 2G turn, a 3G and 4G turn,” Colyer, an airshow pilot for over four decades who’s done countless flights for VIPs and athletes including former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, told NHL.com. “At 4Gs Ryan weighs about 800 pounds. But he was having a great time up there, laughing. The goal is always to get them out of the plane with a smile on their face.”
Strome got a bird’s eye view – or to be more accurate a Thunderbird’s eye view (he flew in a Carbon Cub FX-3 STOL on Thursday and then a T33 shooting star Thunderbird Friday) of the Honda Center and some other familiar sites.
“It’s crazy, especially going over the Pacific Ocean. I just drove here straight from my kid’s flag football game and I could see we flew right over the field,” Strome said. “Then we went by and I looked down right at the Honda Center.”
Strome said he remembers attending airshows as a kid and is a big fan of the two “Top Gun” movies.
“I love ‘Top Gun,’ both of them. And they way those movies were shot, it was super realistic looking, but it’s a different experience when you have the mask on your face and you’re harnessed in the real thing,” Strome said.
Strome said his most likely interested teammate would be defenseman Drew Helleson, but he’s not holding his breath for any Ducks to follow him up there.
“When I talked to the guys, I got a ton of ‘hell no’ but this was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Strome said.
Strome and the Ducks would love to get off to a flying start, as they play their season opener Thursday against the Seattle Kraken.
“We got a great mix of young guys and vets, coach (Joel) Quenneville (hired by the Ducks this offseason) is a legend with all he’s accomplished and we want to add to that resume,” Strome said. “We have a bunch of pros and good teammates. I’m excited to get the season started.”