Heroes star flies at Luke

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Susan Stout
  • 944th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Unlike his television character on the TV show Heroes, Milo Ventimiglia needed an Air Force pilot to help him fly. 

The actor, who plays Peter Petrelli on the show, strapped into an F-16 and climbed high to the skies over Arizona Nov. 16 with the 944th Fighter Wing, a Reserve unit here. 

The day before his flight, Ventimiglia attended egress training and received a medical examination to ensure he was fit to fly. 

"While I was up there, everything helped," he said. "To know what was around the cockpit and what was coming - but you don't really know until you get up there. Once you're in the air, you understand what everyone was talking about." 

Ventimiglia said he wasn't nervous at all. Perhaps it was the skill of his pilot, Lt. Col. John Wynne, that eased his mind. 

"Honestly, my heart didn't even start to race the whole time I was in the jet," Ventimiglia said. "I felt very safe and very calm, in fact." 

When asked about whether or not he got sick on the flight, Ventimiglia smiled and said, "I would say I felt the effects of G-force and some aerial acrobatics. My body is not used to that." 

In addition to learning about the Reserve, the 944th Fighter Wing, and Luke Air Force Base, Ventimiglia also signed hundreds of autographs for Luke Airmen. 

"I met a lot of good people," he said. "To see the world of the base and a community of friendly, talented people was really nice."