HARRISON TOWNSHIP – Danny DeKeyser prepared for the ride of a lifetime by packing a couple of plastic bags in his pants pocket.

He took them out when he felt a little air sick while flying over Southeast Michigan at speeds he'd never experienced before, but he didn't need them.

DeKeyser, the second-year defenseman for the Detroit Red Wings, handled it well, his 40-minute flight Tuesday on a Blue Angels F/A-18 Hornet.

"It was awesome," DeKeyser said at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, minutes after stepping off a jet that's capable of reaching speeds of 1,400 miles per hour. "I'm still feeling a little woozy right now. I've never experienced anything like that."

The Blue Angels are in town this week for the Selfridge Open House and Air Show Saturday and Sunday. They asked the Red Wings if anyone was interested in a demonstration. DeKeyser, who grew up a few miles from Selfridge, eagerly accepted.

"You don't really get an opportunity to do something like this too often, so I figured why not?" DeKeyser said.

"I didn't do anything to prepare. They put you through a little tutorial before and kind of tell you how to tighten your legs, and you got to squeeze certain muscles so you don't pass out. You just got to do it to know what it feels like."

He described taking off at what felt like a 90-degree angle as a "weird feeling."

"(The pilot) guns it off the end of the runway, straight up and you're gone," DeKeyser said. "We're up to Port Huron (about 30 miles away) in about two minutes."

Lt. Commander Chris Shipe was not the pilot for the flight but described DeKeyser's experience.

"In your normal everyday environment you're pulling 1 G on your body, one times your weight," Shipe said. "That (jet) goes up to about 10 G's. I'm not sure what (DeKeyser) pulled on it but ... at some point in time in that flight they pulled six times their body weight. That's why they're walking off a little tired. It's like a marathon."

Shipe didn't think DeKeyser's flight actually hit 1.4 Mach (1,400 mph).

"I don't know if that's what they went today, but that's what it's capable of," Shipe said. "I didn't hear them break the sound barrier, so I don't think they went that fast."

Shipe added, "All the pilots from the Blue Angels are from the fleet. This aircraft, the Blue Angel F-18 Hornet, is no different than a fleet aircraft, but all the weapons have been taken off. So they are, on a day to day basis, flying the Show profile, doing similar techniques they use in the fleet, whether that's for engagement or bombings or fighter air combat maneuvering. What they're showing people by doing this is what Naval aviation does on a day to day basis overseas. It's a way to show the Navy in the best possible light."

Contract talks with the Red Wings aren't speeding along at the same pace, but DeKeyser is confident he'll have a new deal before training camp starts on Sept. 18.

"I think we're going to talk again here soon and hopefully get something finished up," DeKeyser said. "I'm pretty confident."

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