Winspire Packages: Fighter Pilot For a Day

Following is a great article from LATimes.com highlighting one of our Winspire Packages: Fighter Pilot For a Day If you are interested in including a Unique Package Experience from Winspire in your fundraising event or auction, please email us or give us a call at 877-544-8555 to speak with a Winspire Team Member.

Experiences – The Gifts That Keep on Giving
By Shan Li, Los Angeles Times
December 24, 2011

When John Stange turned 50 this May, his wife, Kimber, plumbed her brain to come up with a special gift.

A sweater? Nah, she thought. That’s a snooze. Shoes? Too boring. A shiny watch? Not good enough.

A few months later, Kimber watched her husband zip into a flight suit and strap into a light attack fighter trainer plane (with a pilot along for safety). In the skies over the Pacific Ocean near San Pedro, Stange dodged and wove, mock fighting another plane flown by a fellow adrenaline-seeking customer. Every time Stange landed a “kill shot,” the other aircraft billowed smoke.

Price tag on the “Top Gun” experience offered by adventure company Air Combat USA in Fullerton? About $1,300.

“Probably one of the top five coolest things I have ever done in my life,” said Stange, of Murrieta, who develops and maintains a National Marine Mammal Foundation diving program. “And one of the best gifts ever.”

With Christmas Day looming, shoppers are running to malls to pick up sweaters for the siblings, slippers for Dad and a pair of earrings for Mom. But some are opting for a different kind of present altogether: experiential gifts.

Shoppers who don’t want to give Grandpa a tie or Grandma a book are increasingly turning to experiences — from relatively inexpensive ones such as massages, dinners out and ice-skating lessons to pricier ones, such as flights in jet fighters and vacations abroad…Read more