Bruce, the coolest part was a hammerhead. After a fast dive, he headed up till the wings stalled and it fell over backwards. Plenty of altitude to regain control.
The next crazy trip to that air strip was to go up in a glider. With a genuine WW2 German glider pilot. The real surprise was when we found an updraft, it didn't "glide" up at an angle, but just felt like it was pushed straight up like a strong, fast elevator.