CRUISING over Adelaide in an ex-military Chinese fighter-trainer, the South Australian capital looks beautiful ... and just a little vulnerable.

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That's the nature of flight. You get to see the land below exposed in all its glory.

But doing it in a slightly menacing-looking fighter-trainer used by China's People's Liberation Army Air Force adds an edge of drama. 字串6

That drama turns to exhilaration as pilot Ashley Spurling takes the two-seater up to 1500m then puts it through loops, barrel rolls and stalls.

Ashley and wife Emily have operated the joyflights from Parafield Airport since October under the business name Adelaide Warbirds. 字串2

The couple are both engineers, ex-naval officers and submariners – they even met on a submarine before their present venture took them to the skies.

They have two ex-military aircraft, a North American T-28 Trojan and the Chinese Nanchang CJ-6A. 字串7

The CJ-6A was built in 1968 and operated by China's air force before being imported into Australia in 2004.

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The rugged aircraft was used as an advanced fighter-trainer, so is highly manoeuvrable for intense combat training, capable of 360km/h and rated to 6.5G.

As Ashley threw the CJ-6A around and the world turned upside down and backwards, the G-forces felt like they were pushing my face around to my ears. 字串4

Flights range from a gentle sightseeing cruise ($199) to an aerobatics flight ($399) to the $550 Adrenalin Junky package with more complicated manoeuvres such as spins and the Split S.

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The Adelaide Warbirds recently showed their aircraft at the Classic Jets Fighter Museum's annual Antique and Classic Aircraft Fly-In Spectacular.

The museum, housed in a hangar, is home to aircraft including a P38H Lockheed Lightning, a Mirage, a Gloster Meteor, a De Havilland Vampire, a pilotless radio-controlled Jindivik, a P40 Kittyhawk wreck and a Bristol Bloodhound missile. 字串4

Sunday Mail

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