Original subtitles

[upbeat rock music]

- [Narrator] It's time to grab the wheel,

floor the accelerator

and take total control.

[loud engines revving]

We're giving you the keys to the world's wildest rides.

On land,

sea

and in the sky,

We'll discover the horsepower,

technology

and all out guts required to operate these beasts.

[loud bomb blast]

Suit up, strap in

and throw it into high gear.

No learner's permit required.

Now, Wild Rides on Modern Marvels.

[upbeat electronic beats]

If you were among America's 230 million licensed drivers,

[car engine revving]

this is one ride where you'll spend an average

of more than four years during your lifetime.

You may take the components for granted.

Gear-shift, steering wheel,

accelerator, brake, mirrors.

But there's an amazing array

of other wild rides out there.

And, some of the world's most extreme vehicles

First up, let's test drive

the army's quintessential off-roader

the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle.

Think of it as a crossover between

an armored personnel carrier and a full scale battle tank.

There's enough room for nine inside,

like a roomy minivan

but don't expect the interior of this beast

to be as user-friendly.

- It takes a little bit getting used to.

It's a lot different than getting into any other vehicle,

just 'cause you gotta watch the heavy hatch,

make sure it doesn't close on you or anything

and then, just snake your way in.

So, it's a little bit different.

It's not too bad once you sit in it.

[quirky electronic music]

- [Narrator] The first thing the driver notices

is that he's practically sitting on the engine block.

- You've got a pretty thin wall separating

you from the engine pack.

Keeps you really warm,

if you're in a desert, not so good probably.

On the older versions,

they didn't really have any cooling system for the crew.

So, you were just, if you caught a breeze,

that's what you got.

- [Narrator] The cozy confines aren't

the only difference between the driver's seat

of the Bradley and the one in a car.

Instead of a steering wheel,

there's a steering yoke.

And, though the accelerator and brake pedals are familiar,

one key component is missing,

a windshield.

- It's called what we call periscope.

It's a really small and narrow pieces of glass

that are really thick.

- The Periscope limits forward visibility

to the 11 to one o'clock positions.

A fraction of the nine to three o'clock view

afforded by the windows of a car.

But it's a small price to pay

for the added security it provides on the battlefield.

Besides the driver can see plenty on the monitors

with feeds from high-def, night vision

and thermal imaging cameras.

Another car component missing from the Bradley, tires.

Instead it's equipped with tank like tracks.

They provide better traction

and make the driving experience nothing like that of a car.

- [SPC. James] In an automobile,

when you were to take out left turn,

you would slow down,

but in this, in order to take a left turn,

you have to press on the gas

because that's how the track works.

- [Narrator] But along with the challenges, comes some fun.

No car can do this.

The tracks enabled the tightest turning radius imaginable.

That's 27 tons of vehicle turning on a dime.

With that precision handling comes

some pretty heavy duty firepower.

Sitting just behind the driver,

the gunner fires away

with a Bradley's high-powered machine gun,

an anti-tank missile launcher.

And if anyone fires back,

it's nice to know that the aluminum armor surrounding

the crew can really take a beating.

- Able to withstand several rounds

of 50-cal point blank.

We can take anything up to a direct hit from a missile.

[tank tires screeching]

- [Narrator] For a slightly roomier driver's seat,

[upbeat band music]

let's try out this heavily armored ride.

It's official designation is

the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected

Military All-terrain Vehicle

but soldiers learning how to operate it,

call it the MRAP.

- All terrain is basically what you see out here.

It climbs mountains, deserts, sand, snow, mud,

anything you name, it's capable of encountering.

[loud screeching tires]

- [Narrator] Floor the accelerator of the MRAP,

and it's 370 horsepower engine will speed

up to 72 miles per hour.

Not exactly blistering,

but keep in mind that the MRAP weighs more

than 12 tons as much as four full-size SUVs.

- This vehicle is extremely fast

compared to other military vehicles.

- [Narrator] Encasing the driver's seat

is the MRAP's heavy duty composite armor.

It's just the protection the driver needs

since one of the MRAP's main purposes is to carry up

to three soldiers on missions to clear minefields,

All that armor also shields everyone on board

from one of the deadliest hazards found in war zones,

[loud exploding bombs]

the improvised explosive device or IED.

There's another feature that keeps

the drivers safe from IED blasts.

Unlike the seat in a car or truck,

this seat is suspended in midair.

- This driver's seat if you notice

it's not mounted to the floor at all,

it's suspended by D-rings and harnesses,

in case if this vehicle gets an IED blast,

by the seats not being mounted to the floor,

the body doesn't absorb the full shock or the full blast.

- [Narrator] One incredible statistics speaks

to how well the MRAP protects the soldier

in the driver's seat.

In a study of 18 months of use

during the war in Afghanistan,

MRAPs reduced deaths and injuries by more than 30%.

To face an entirely different type of combat

in a much larger machine,

let's take the wheel of the Oshkosh Striker 4500.

No problem with visibility here.

The Striker 4500 is a colossal firetruck

used to combat blazes at some of the largest

airports in the world.

Like here at Dallas Fort Worth International.

- The Striker 4500 is not just a key tool,

this is the tool.

Without this tool, we wouldn't be able to rescue

[unintelligible] passengers out of a burning aircraft.

And that's what we're here for, is to save lives.

- [Narrator] Fires that result from plane crashes

can be the deadliest of all.

[dramatic music]

Jet fuel can burn at temperatures

of up to a thousand degrees Fahrenheit.

The Striker is designed to allow

its one and only operator to fight a fire

without ever leaving the driver's seat.

But first things first,

[noisy engine reeling]

step one is driving to the site of the fire

and that's no easy task.

- [Brian B.] The airport is mainly concrete

but airplanes don't always crash on the concrete

so, this course here trains drivers

on how the truck actually handles

going up and down slopes,

going through thick mud.

- [Narrator] Imagine going off road in a vehicle

as long as a four story building.

It weighs as much as 20 pickup trucks.

But thanks to the Striker's eight wheels,

each operating on an independent axle,

the driver can maneuver some pretty tough terrain.

- It's pretty stable for how big it is.

There's not a lot of places that it can't go.

- [Narrator] Although driving this massive truck

does take some getting used to.

- [Tom] The way these axles are set up,

they both turn at the same time.

So, you feel like you're drifting

when you turn the vehicle.

So, an ordinary person would feel like the truck

was out of control when they drive this.

- [Narrator] When the driver masters steering the Striker,

it won't take long to get to the scene of the fire.

It's got a top speed of 70 miles per hour.

Once at the scene,

the driver takes hold of this joy stick,

which gives him control of this turret hose

mounted on the front bumper.

Then, he unleashes up to 1200 gallons of water a minute.

- [Brian B.] As first unit on, on my main priority

is to create a point of egress for the passengers.

You want to make sure they have an escape corridor

for them to get out and not get burned.

- [Narrator] Storage tanks holding 4,500 gallons of water

help accomplish that mission.

That's why they call it the Striker 4500.

After extinguishing the burning plane's exterior,

the Striker driver has to put out the blaze

inside the fuselage.

To do that, he uses this control

which extends a 50-foot boom.

Then, he remotely controls the device

on the end of the boom called a schnozzle

which pierces the plane's skin.

Then, spews out more water or foam inside the cabin.

Total elapsed time for the Striker 4500

to put out most airplane fires,

just two minutes

and hopefully all from his seat.

Nearly 90% of American adults have a driver's license,

but some of the coolest rides on earth

require a pilot's license.

And from this seat,

a pilot can launch an assault on a raging inferno.

An average of 60,000 wildfires erupt in the US every year,

many in the dry expanses of the American West.

Areas so vast and remote

that the best countermeasure comes by air.

The crew that mans this converted commercial jetliner

preps for that challenge every day.

- Before take off checklist.

- Before take off checklist, ignition is continous.

- [Capt. Dennis] This is the DC-10,

its length is 181 feet, wingspan is 165 feet.

And it's just like the aircraft that

used to carry passengers except for one big difference.

[ominous music]

- [Narrator] The difference is these massive tanks.

They hold 12,000 gallons of water or foam retardant,

which can be dumped on a raging wildfire

in a matter of seconds.

That means this aircraft doesn't accept

any additional passengers.

- This is the inside of our DC-10

in past configuration, it carried 350 passengers.

All the seats, carpeting and paneling has been removed.

And, my job as a pilot takes place up here in the cockpit.

Now where it may take just one person

to drive an automobile or a car,

in this plane we have, it takes three people.

Pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer.

We all have specific duties

that we perform to lead a successful operation.

- [Narrator] Today, the three-man crew

of this firefighting wide body is conducting

a training exercise.

- Front brake?

- Set.

- [Narrator] Before getting airborne,

they must make sure every inch of the plane

is functioning properly.

- Ignition.

- Off.

V.I.E?

- 218.

- [Flight Engineer] Engine and the ice.

- [Fred] Off.

The full check is now complete.

- [Narrator] Prior to takeoff, the pilot punches

the coordinates of the fire into the onboard GPS.

Much like the GPS units available for most cars.

- Two, niner, 84, set.

- [Air Traffic Control] 82910 ready, roger, runway 17,

winds 1808, cleared for take-off.

Cleared for take-off, runway 17.

[airplane engine whirring]

As we're lifting off the runway,

that's a bit more complicated

than pulling out of a driveway.

The control panel of a jetliner makes the dashboard

of a car look like a kindergarten toy.

- [Capt. Dennis] Zero, three, and we'll roll out to the end.

[quick electronic beeps]

[loud airplane take-off]

- [Narrator] Take-off requires thrust

and that's what this throttle control

beside the seat is for.

Push forward and each of the DC-10's

three engines thunders with 40,000 pounds of thrust,

more than enough to get this plane airborne.

[loud airplane take-off]

- At level of 4400, ...

- [Narrator] Once in altitude,

the pilot controls the plane largely with a yoke,

which resembles a steering wheel with more movement.

Turn the yoke left or right to move the ailerons

and the wings up and down,

making the jet bank to one side of the other.

Pull the yoke back or push it forward

and the elevator on the jet's tail moves

up or down making the jet climb or descend.

That covers the flight basics

but the water drop requires more support.

That comes from the pilot of a scout aircraft

near the fire zone,

who offers advice on the best angle of attack.

Then it's all up to the DC pilot

to make a run as low as 200 feet above the flames

and drop the load of water with pinpoint accuracy.

- We have three separate tanks.

So, what we're gonna call out to the captain

is we have three tanks set at 50%,

coverage level five

and these will all be five,

three green lights, three-drop checklist is complete.

- [Fred] Just standby.

- [Narrator] Every move this crew makes has to be perfect.

When they're over the target,

the press of one button relays

the drop sequence to the storage tanks.

- Coming up to our drop start point.

- [Fred] Hit that button,

that button is live now.

- Drop. - Drop.

- [Narrator] The crew can program the tanks

to drop their 12,000 gallons of water

and a drizzle covering a wide area

or a downpour confined to a specific zone.

But shedding 50 tons of water in just eight seconds

can send the plane swooping upward,

like cresting up the hill of a rollercoaster.

And, it's up to the pilot to instantly adjust.

- [Narrator] Months can pass between wildfires,

but during peak fire season,

the crew might fly as many as eight or nine missions

in a single day.

Weekly training ones like this one,

keep them sharp until that crucial time arrives.

- [Capt. Dennis] DC-10 and the firefighting role

has been the most satisfying flying I've ever done.

Not only do we get to enjoy the flying

of flying a larger aircraft close to the ground

and flying it closer to its limits,

but we also get to do something that is helping.

While some may find battling a blaze from the cockpit

of a DC-10 to be the ultimate adrenaline rush,

for an airborne wild ride with a little less heat

take to the skies in the serene cockpit

of by helium filled airshow.

Behold the Eureka,

it flew is one of a new generation

of German-made zeppelins before the company

that operated it moved on to other ventures.

With a semi-rigid frame,

it's 14-feet longer than a 747

and each of its 14 seats including the pilot's

is first class.

- [Brian Hall] It's not a blimp, it is an airship.

And the main difference is that a blimp is a envelope

with no rigid structure inside

with the gondola suspended from the envelope.

In our case, we have a rigid air frame

made of aluminum and carbon fiber.

- [Narrator] Unlike a blimp,

the engines are attached to its semi-rigid frame

far above the cabin, not to the cabinet itself.

- [Capt. Oliver] Look at this incredible view.

You don't find that in an airplane, for example.

Or a helicopter and it's not so loud.

I mean we can even have a nice conversation.

This airship combines

characteristics from an airplane,

a helicopter and a balloon, all in one.

- [Narrator] What made flying the Eureka

unlike most aircraft is that

its three 200-horsepower engines can rotate

up to 120 degrees using joysticks.

The pilot can control precisely how much each one pivots.

- [Capt. Oliver] We can go into hover.

That means we can stand still over a certain point

and be able to make like a left, right movements,

or 360 for example.

That is similar to a helicopter

but the controls are way different.

- [Narrator] And so is the top speed.

The Eureka maxes out at about 80 miles an hour,

and though the pilot can take the ship

to an altitude of 10,000 feet,

he's likely to stay much closer to the ground.

That's because like a child's balloon on a windy day,

an airship is at the mercy of air currents and thermals.

Pilots have to adjust accordingly.

- [Katherine] You really have to feel what the air

is doing to the ship

and it's not so much physically demanding to fly

like the other blimps.

They have pedals and wheels

and it's really physically demanding.

This is far more mentally demanding.

You really have to fly by the seat of your pants.

- [Narrator] But for the few veterans Zeppelin pilots

around the world,

that's not the catch,

that's the fun.

If this wild ride just seems too tame,

imagine a high-tech vehicle so difficult to operate

that learning the ropes takes even

the most experienced drivers, two years.

That's the challenge for every licensed helicopter pilot

who wants to grab the reins

of a US Army's AH 64 Apache Longbow.

[indistinct radio chatter]

This driver's seat is in the backseat.

- The design was with a tandem seat, the back-seater

his primary focus is actually piloting

and flying the aircraft

while the front-seater is conducting the majority

of the reconnaissance and attack operations.

- [Narrator] With a pilot seated behind the gunner,

the Apache is ready for action.

- [Traffic Control] Whenever you're ready, you're clear.

- [Narrator] Designed to protect ground troops

by launching devastating assaults,

[loud bomb blasts]

this machine is a flying tank.

- [CW4 Chris] The primary function of the Apache

is to a deal death and destruction on the battlefield.

The Apache has the distinct honor

of being the most lethal attack helicopter

in the United States inventory.

- [Narrator] The Apache can soar

as fast as 167 miles per hour

and as high as 15,000 feet.

It can also execute evasive maneuvers

impossible for most helicopters

including barrel rolls and loops.

[loud helicopter throttling]

Any pilot who begins training on the Apache

has already earned his wings as a chopper pilot.

But for those whose experience might be

limited to the freeways,

here's an idea of the basics.

The key instrument in the cockpit

is the cyclic control stick.

It gives the pilot control over the helicopters

four rotor blades which are essentially rotating wings.

Moving the stick causes the rotor blades to tilt,

which changes how much lift they provide,

adjusting the tilt equally for all the blades

lifts the helicopter straight up and down.

Changing the tilt for some of the blades

creates uneven lift causing the helicopter

to climb, dive, or turn.

The Apache helicopter has been a vital part

of army combat missions ever since

they first entered service in the 1980s.

The Apache is the army's premier attack helicopter

capable of destroying a multitude of targets

in both day and night.

And, it's not only the backbone

of the US Army helicopter fleet

but also 14 other international defense forces,

including the United Kingdom, Egypt, Greece and India.

But sitting in the driver's seat of this helicopter

requires tough training and nerves of steel.

Flying this chopper is so sophisticated

and the enemy territory traversed is so hostile,

the pilots referred to it as riding the dragon.

[ominous music]

- [Capt. Hummel] In the eyes of the enemy,

the Apache is a very dangerous helicopter,

in the eyes of friendly forces,

it's also a very, very dangerous aircraft

to learn how to fly.

Typically, an aviator will go through approximately

anywhere from a year and a half to two years

of flight training from start to finish

to become an Apache pilot.

- [Narrator] One of the most difficult things

about flying the Apache is having to constantly shift

focus from one eye to the other

because the helmet is fitted with a monocle

that's fixed in front of the pilot's right eye.

12 different instrument readings from the cockpit

are projected onto the monocles screen.

Other images can be superimposed there

from those shot by the helicopters cameras

to radar information.

While the pilots right eye is interpreting all that data,

his left has to be free to scan outside

the aircraft for threats.

All the while sensors are detecting exactly

where his monocled right eye is looking.

Just move the monocle across hairs on a target below,

and the weapons he selects will swivel

and aim precisely where he's looking.

- I think the biggest thing

that everybody asks us about is,

if the gun really does follow the line of sight

or where the pilot's looking at

and it absolute does.

- [Narrator] The Apaches arsenal includes

the M230 automatic canon, moded under the fuselage.

It can take out a target more than two miles away.

- [Capt. Hummel] You can shoot an excess

of 600 rounds a minute.

We don't generally do that

but I like to compare it to each round

has almost the capability of a single grenade.

- [Narrator] With the touch of a button,

the pilot can also deploy a variety

of smaller missiles and free flight rockets,

usually mounted and fired from underneath the wings.

But the most powerful weapon

at his disposal is the AGM-114,

aptly known as the hellfire missile.

- [CW4 Chris] That's a missile that'll penetrate

any known armor on the battlefield

and this thing will reach out and touch you

five miles plus, pinpoint accuracy.

- [Narrator] For all the onboard firepower,

one of the most reassuring aspects of flying an Apache

is the blanket of security that protects the crew.

The windshield is made of reinforced glass

that can withstand every type of small arms fire.

And the pilot seat is covered

in a heavy duty layer of Kevlar.

- [Capt. Hummel] This aircraft withstood significant damage

in both Iraq and Afghanistan,

a lot of small arms fire, RPG fire.

I think some of them features

that make this aircraft as amazing as it is,

its capability to stay in the fight

for long periods of time.

It's ability to take an excessive amount of enemy fire

and still stay in the fight and provide

that capability to guys that desperately need it.

- [Narrator] It's what makes the Apache

one of the militaries most advanced

and most celebrated aircraft.

For a thrill ride without the heights

and the two-year training course,

[loud engine whirring]

let's try on the wintry speed machine

owned by nearly 2 million people in North America.

- [Patrick] The main lure to riding snowmobiles,

jumping snowmobiles, hill climbing snowmobiles

is the adrenaline rush.

I think that's what drives most people,

Everyone sets up goals

and they want to jump higher,

climb higher, go faster

than they've ever even dreamed possible.

- [Narrator] Racing souped up models

up to 150 miles per hour

and riding big air like these experts

isn't for the average weekend snowmobiler

but it's a ton of fun.

Even without pushing the envelope

and driving isn't that complicated.

- Unlike your car,

snowmobiling is a little bit different

where the controlling of the vehicle

are done with your fingers as opposed to your feet.

As you can see on my snowmobile,

I've got a thumb lever for the gas,

and then I also have a finger lever for your brake.

- [Narrator] Pressing down the gas lever

engages the snowmobiles belt track

which operates on a friction system,

similar to the Bradley fighting vehicle.

Once the belt track is engaged,

how extreme the ride gets is up to the driver.

There are virtually no limits in terms of climbing,

no limits in terms of handling

and as far as jumping in these things,

I mean they've got so much power.

The only thing limiting a rider is their own nerve.

You can carve these snowmobiles through deep powder,

just like it was water.

- [Narrator] And who needs snow?

With a little creativity and the right parts,

the snowmobile can be modified to drive virtually anywhere.

- [Patrick] There's truly nowhere a snowmobile can't go.

You put a few wheels on the skis, a flat track,

you can take it to the asphalt.

You can extend the track,

put a bigger lug on it, take it to the mountains,

or you can take your seat off

and use your standard track and walk across water.

So, with a few simple mods that anybody can do at home,

a snowmobile can go anywhere.

[upbeat drum beats]

Say hello to one of the largest mega machines on the planet,

the 8050 Dragline Crane.

The 8050 Dragline and two others just like it,

do the heavy lifting at this phosphate mine

in Aurora, North Carolina.

The machine weighs a whopping eight million pounds,

thunders with 8,000 horsepower

and sports a boom as tall as the Statue of Liberty.

- The amazing thing about it is it's operated

by one man in that little perch over there.

- [Narrator] Like the driver's seat of a car,

the Dragline 8050 is equipped with a windshield

that allows the operator to watch out

for any potential dangers with one big difference.

In a car, his attention is usually directed ahead,

here, he needs to broaden his focus.

- In a car, you're looking forward to see

what the next driver is going to do

and here, you don't have to worry about that.

You're always looking down

and looking off to your right or left

out of these two windows to see

if anyone has pulled and ended up in your swing path.

Right here, this is like your car steering wheel right here,

and your brake pedal down here.

- [Narrator] The foot pedal swing the enormous boom

from side to side,

levers on the left control the boom's vertical movement

and a panel on the right manipulates the giant bucket.

Every scoop was 52 cubic yards of dirt and rocks

enough to fill a two car garage.

- [Steve] In order to be competitive in this business,

you have to move a lot of materials

and so, the key to it is the amount of ore

that these big guys can pull out of the ground.

- [Narrator] Every scoop contains phosphate,

a substance vital to the production of everything

from toothpaste to soft drinks to flat-screen TVs.

Mining it all is a costly endeavor

and a huge chunk of that expense

is the electricity that powers

each of the mines three Draglines.

- [Steve] It's all electric.

So, our electric bill here at Aurora

is around $3 million a month

and this machine consumes a large part of that.

- [Narrator] Who knew consuming electricity

could be so much fun.

- Oh yeah, it's fun to get on them.

I mean it's like being on a battleship

when you're in the back

and you can't see out, it's rotating around.

So yeah, they are definitely amazing

pieces of equipment.

- [Narrator] This wild ride may be a bucket full of fun.

[loud engine whirring]

But out on the farm, this machine is the pick of the crop.

It's the 32 ton custom built 440 horsepower,

Carrot Harvester. Designed and used

by Bolthouse Farms in Bakersfield, California.

[loud engine revving]

This mega machine is the only one of its kind

and driving it might seem highly complicated

but the truth is the Bolthouse harvester

virtually drives itself.

- We just turned on the machine pretty good

and we turn on your GPS and your screen.

Make sure everything's okay and we're ready to go.

- Like most high-tech harvesters today,

these giant carrot plucker has a specialized

GPS navigation system that keeps it

almost flawlessly aligned with every row.

So, the driver can just sit back and enjoy

the three mile per hour ride.

- Your steering here is steering free.

You don't got your steering no more.

- [Narrator] If he does have to make an adjustment,

it's always tiny

and only takes it his one finger on this touch screen.

Unlike driving a car,

the trick is to not keep eyes on the road,

but on the instruments.

- Well, in a car, you gotta see

'cause you're looking straight,

on these machines you gotta look down

because you got to keep it pretty much straight

to see where you're at.

So, see like right now, right here,

I'm moving just about half an inch to my left,

so I gotta go a half an inch to the right

so I could get lined up,

so I could pick up all the carrots

from the front end pretty good.

- [Narrator] Another big difference between

a car and the Bolthouse harvester

is when it reaches the end of the field

and the driver needs to stop.

Don't look for the brake pedal,

there isn't one.

That's because the harvester is equipped

with a hydrostatic transmission.

That means pressure from hydraulic fluid

is used to turn the drive motors.

To brake, the driver just eases off the throttle

and the flow of fluid to the drive motors

is reduced or stopped.

- So, similar to a forklift,

what we're able to do is by throttling it up

and back and slowly putting it into reverse,

we actually use it as negative pressure,

which creates us to be able to stop it.

[engine whirring]

[upbeat drum beats]

- [Narrator] When it's rolling,

the driver gets a little help from an operator riding

on the rear of the harvester.

It's his job to make sure the conveyor system plucking

the carrots is operating as designed.

At the time the work day is done,

they've picked 500,000 pounds of carrots.

Enough to build 2.7 million three-ounce bags

for kids' lunch boxes.

[upbeat rock music]

Some of the fastest and most dangerous rides around

are experienced from the driver's seats

of two utterly different vehicles,

speed boats and airplanes.

Combining the best elements of each

results in one of the wildest rides of all.

Welcome to the driver's seat of a hydroplane.

- These boats are called hydroplanes

so hydro for the water and plane for the air.

- [Narrator] Here at Mission Bay in San Diego, California,

professional hydroplane drivers are dueling

for top honors at the world series of power boat racing.

But first the driver has to squeeze

into a cockpit so small,

the steering wheel has to come out before he can go in.

- So as you can see in the cockpit,

it seats one, barely.

- [Narrator] The cramped conditions are similar

to the ones found behind the wheel of a Formula One

or Indy style race car.

And, just like race car drivers,

behind the wheel of a hydroplane,

standard attire is a flame resistant suit.

- We have to have a fireproof suit

just in case it catches on fire.

We also have to have the shoes

and the socks and the whole deal.

Next is a helmet, certified helmet.

You gotta have it crash lit.

And in my case, I came across these visors

from the military that I've mounted onto my helmet

in case there's glare.

I got a good visor.

- [Narrator] Underneath the helmet,

he's wearing form fitted ear pieces

that protect his ears from engine noise

and keep him in constant contact with his team.

- It's also works real good to keep the water

out of your ears if you're upside down.

Unfortunately, sometimes that'll happen.

- [Narrator] Anyone in the driver's seat of a hydroplane

also wears a specialized neck brace called a Hans device

which keeps the head and neck secure

during even the most brutal crashes.

- Sometimes we're in so tight,

it's hard to breathe at first

but you get used to it.

And then, last but not least very critical is our air mask.

And it's like an F16 fighter mask.

Got my communication in here.

It seals really tight to my face.

In case, we are upside down,

the cockpits will fill up with water.

[melodic electronic music]

- [Narrator] The only thing hydroplane drivers

need more than safety is stamina.

- [J.W.] Just physically exhausting to be able

to turn the steering wheel,

run the canard wings

and just physically hold on

and keep your head up and keep your focus

is unbelievably exhausting.

[loud hydroplane skimming]

It's not a paved track like you'd find

typical in auto racing.

It's very bumpy and you're going through

a turn at anywhere between three to 4 1/2 g's.

It becomes extremely violent.

- [Narrator] Traveling at a max speed

of 200 plus miles per hour,

a hydroplane is the fastest thing on water.

Though as the driver of one of these crafts knows

very little of the vehicle actually touches the water.

In fact, a hydroplane is designed to keep

as little of the boat in contact

with the surface as possible.

Essentially it flies over the water.

Here's how it works.

The bottom of the craft is flat,

but the deck is a smooth curve,

shaped like the edge of an airplane wing.

The design forces oncoming air to travel slower

over the top of the craft than the bottom creating lift.

Ideally only the propeller remains in the water

to provide propulsion.

- [J.W.] A hydroplane relies on air pressure to run.

So it's got a tunnel in the middle

and the sponsons on the outside

and the air rushing through there,

it actually suspends the boat above the water.

- [Mark] And due to the fact that

we got a lot of aerodynamics,

we have a front wing now that we run with our left foot

and I could actually bring this thing down

and create lift and get the nose of the boat to come up,

which is pretty dangerous especially when it's windy.

And then, if we get going too fast,

I can just bring it back down.

So, we literally just fly the boat.

- [Narrator] But the craft's aerodynamic shape

and its front wing aren't the only design features

that make the experience behind the wheel

less about boating,

and more about flying.

The most commonly used engine in hydroplanes

is a 3000-horsepower turbine.

The same one used on the army's hulking Chinook helicopters.

As this driver races atop of water

at more than 200 miles per hour,

he's riding a fine edge between control.

- [Announcer] Jeff Bernard crashes out

at the end of block one.

- [Narrator] And catastrophe.

Generate too much lift and the results could be fatal.

In one terrifying incident at a race on the Detroit River,

a malfunction sent J.W. careening

toward a seawall crowded with spectators

at 70 miles per hour.

The wreck could have been life-threatening,

but thanks to the arsenal of safety equipment inside

the driver's seat,

J.W. only suffered a broken foot.

- I'm extremely lucky.

The cockpits that we have now are unbelievably safe.

And, nobody, when they engineered these cockpits,

never, ever would have thought of a scenario

going straight into a wall.

Yeah, I got a broken foot but that, big deal.

- On the glassy water,

over rough terrain and through smokey skies,

some of the most action packed moments in life

happen in a wild ride.

All it takes is an expertly designed vehicle,

a mastery of the controls

and the will to push the limits.

Add it all together

and you've got the recipe for a wild ride.