**The Sky's the Limit

Item Number: 147
Time Left: CLOSED
Online Close: Jun 14, 2006 10:00 PM CDT
Bid History: 0 bids - Item Sold!
Description
This item will be available on live auction at the event on June 17th. The Sky's the Limit with this package. Start with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for 2 to ride in backseats of award winning Lima Lima flight team stunt planes during the 7/29 Venetian Night Air Show. Arrive by limo to your very own bon voyage party right on the Schaumburg Airport air field! Invite 10 friends to join you for the party featuring delicious barbecue favorites, bottomless beverages, the chance to check out the famous planes and pose for a souvenir photo with your pilot and his plane. Then, wave goodbye and climb on board for a ride you'll never forget. Explore Chicago from new heights as your plane races, dives and spins over the water to the backdrop of fireworks and festivities. One month later, learn what it's like to soar out of this world when you meet for a private dinner with retired astronaut, Leroy Chiao, whose last mission in 2005 was a 6-month stay on the International Space Station. Over a dinner, learn about Dr. Chiao's 4 space missions and 6 space walks during which he logged more than 229 days in space. Hear stories about weightlessness and space food and ask questions about anything from how they sleep to the future of space exploration. End your evening with a souvenir mission pin and signed photo by Dr. Chiao himself. Next, get the insider's scoop on commercial flight with a VIP tour of Midway Airport by Southwest Airlines. Go behind the scenes and learn how the airport really works, touring areas typically restricted to the general public. End the tour with 2 round trip tickets to travel to Texas for an aviation dream come true: Start in Dallas where you will tour the Southwest facilities, followed by the unique chance to see and feel exactly what it's like to fly a commercial airliner in Southwest's training simulator. Next fly to Houston (don't worry a trained pilot will fly you!) to meet back up with Dr. Chiao for a two-hour VIP tour of the NASA Space Center, given personally by Dr. Chiao himself. You've flown in jet engines, consorted with an astronaut and seen the inner workings of modern commercial air. This fall, get back to the roots of aviation, as you and a special someone take flight by hot air to view the splendor of the autumn colors. Rise slowly over the trees as an enormous, colorful hot air balloon lifts you into the sky for a relaxing three-hour sight seeing tour like no other. At the end of the journey, sink down to earth and toast a season of great adventures with a glass of champagne.