HILL AIR FORCE BASE — Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. silenced critics and supporters alike by literally breaking the sound barrier Monday.

In a high-speed guided tour aboard one of the 419th Fighter Wing's F-16s, Huntsman also endured aerial twists and turns — at one point reaching nine G's, or nine times the force of gravity — and buzzed his workplace before returning to Hill Air Force Base.

Going supersonic seemed to suit the governor. "He is the first governor to fly in an F-16 and not lose his lunch," said spokeswoman Tammy Kikuchi.

Maj. Paul Delmonte, an F-16 pilot from the Hill's 419th Fighter Wing, said Huntsman was in for a rough ride. Delmonte said about 70 percent of the guests who take a guest ride on the F-16 get pretty queasy.

"You almost make yourself so nervous," Delmonte said. "There's a little bit of disorientation because the airplane moves so aggressively, sometimes it's difficult to determine where you are in space."

Huntsman looked like he was enjoying himself, giving a thumbs-up before jetting off to the pilots of an Air National Guard refueling tanker that his plane met in midair.

"It's pretty impressive to look out the bottom of a KC-135 and see your boss," said Mike Mower, Huntsman's legislative liaison, who was a passenger along with other governor staff members and news reporters on the large KC-135.

"Have a nice ride, Mr. Governor," Master Sgt. John Salazar said as the F-16 finished refueling.

"Thanks very much, thanks for your support," Huntsman said to the crew.

The Utah Air National Guard operates 10 KC-135s out of its Salt Lake base.

The group hosts a variety of missions, from homeland security to combat abroad. A group of airmen recently returned from a 30-day deployment to Turkey where the KC-135 refueled aircraft supporting both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Salazar said crews will work as many as 25 hours straight on some missions.

"We drink a lot of water," Salazar said when asked how he can stay awake for so many hours straight.

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