From catapulting flaming soldiers over castle walls to sitting on active geysers, humans have long been fixated on flying through the air. Absorb the wonderment of flight with today’s deal for a 30-minute airborne adventure for one or two passengers from Barnstorming Adventures. Choose one of the following flight options:

• $85 for a 30-minute cadet flight for one passenger (a $177 value)
• $129 for a 30-minute scenic biplane flight for two passengers (a $259 value)
• $239 for a 30-minute warbird flight for one passenger (a $495 value)

This Groupon is not valid for holidays or sunset rides. Customers can use the value to upgrade to other flights. Flights take off from the Montgomery Field Airport seven days a week.

Since 1994, the adventurous airpeople at Barnstorming Adventures have thrilled more than 100,000 restless prisoners of gravity with their air-lifts. After a quick pre-flight class on the basics of flight, one novice pilot can opt to get strapped into the back seat of a propeller-driven Varga VG-21 and journey through the untamed skies for the cadet flight, which seats you behind your instructor and gives you near-total control of the plane, a nimble little airship that is capable of quick turns, fast climbs, and rapid rabbit trails to the moon. During the scenic biplane ride, you and your best friend or building manager will occupy the front seats of a restored 1920s open-air plane as a skilled pilot flies from the back cockpit. The flight buzzes along the Southern California coast, over scenic beaches, through the clouds, and under dangerous rainbows. For a third option, guests can choose to look at life from a warbird's-eye-view by climbing into the 1941 North American SNJ-4 Texan's cockpit. For half an hour, a pilot sits in the front cockpit and flightophiles ride out the adventure in the backseat, surfing across the wind's waves and winking at nearby geese while riding in a craft that was used to train World War II fighter pilots.

With matching headsets, you’ll be in constant communication with the pilot, who will customize your journey as you wish and take you wherever you’d like to go at a leisurely drift or a grueling pace that would exhaust even the strongest yolk of oxen. Each safety-minded pilot will guide you along the bell-curve of thrills from takeoff to the peak of excitement to the gentle landing. No pilot’s license or experience is required for any of the flights, but a strong stomach and the ability to contain one’s hunger for adventure are recommended. Different height and weight requirements apply, so call ahead to check.

Waiver required.

Reviews

Barnstorming Adventures was featured on CNN.com. TripAdvisors give it an average of 3.5 stars, while five Yelpers give it a five-star average:

• We blast into the bright-blue sky over a glorious field of rainbow stripes. The Flower Fields at the Carlsbad Ranch explode every spring with 50 acres of blooms combed across rolling hills. It's quite a spectacle viewing them on land, but from a bird's-eye view, well, that is one trippy sight. – Susan C. Kim, CNN.com
• The crew were professional, courteous, engaging and funny. But the kicker was that they seemed to enjoy themselves every bit as much as their (in my case) giddy customers. – A TripAdvisor Member