We watched while they pre-flighted the aircraft. Oil, plug wires (which I just could not bribe them to pull one off YODAs plane), lose nuts (thank god they didn't look over at me or Papa Smurf! - plenty of loose nuts there) and made sure we were good to go. We climbed in and made sure comms worked ... and realized the canopy would not close over my head. I have more upper body than I do legs, so I sit high in everything. We ended up pulling ALL of the padding out of the seat tub. So now I am sitting in a metal cup with nothing under my ass and a parachute for a back pad ... nope, this is NOT first class on Lufthansa. Oh what a comfy trip this was gonna be. To be honest, I never even thought about it until we were back on the ground over an hour later.

We spooled up and taxied over to the run up area behind YODA and Jad. There we checked all the comms again and systems too. We also adjusted the 3 cameras in the plane for our in flight video. The cameras are place to get three angles, your face while flying (the "HERO" cam), over your left shoulder out the window, and the HUD/Gun sight. When you look in the pictures and music video at the end of this article, you see a box between the pilot and the co pilot. It looks like an ICP panel, but is actually a small LCD screen in there to see what each camera is looking at. Now, the video quality is not the greatest, but to YODA and I, they are Academy Award material and we will cherish them forever. 

We waited while a couple of A-6s took off. Where I live, the northern aerobatic box is just south of my house. I have seen these planes flying nearly every day in tight formation. I never knew where they flew out of, now I do. Once they took off, we taxied out and did a formation take off. Remember, the real pilots are taking off and landing, so here we are just along for the ride.

With the canopy closed, the heat in July in this area became stifling quick. We played with the mini air vents but they are pretty much useless. Rhon was obviously feeling the heat too and popped open the canopy for a while. We did this regularly between engagements as well. Only problem is it blew in av-gas smell too. That was not a helpful thing at all when one is pending on nausea.

Once we got pointed in the right direction, Rhon asked if I was ready to fly "YES!" ... I grabbed a hold of the stick and realized IMMEDIATELY ... you do not need to move this thing much AT ALL to make a directional change. Rhon told me to tuck up next to YODA and fly formation. It took a couple of minutes to get the feel of the aircraft and I drifted around a little but got my bearings and pulled in nice up on YODA's wing. We were told we would never get closer than 500 feet during the flight. I am going to guess they meant during engagements, because I am positive we were closer than 500 feet as we flew to the aerobatic area south of Stockton. The aircraft handled COMPLETELY different than the average flight simmer might expect. I would probably compare it closest to MiG Alley by ROWAN/Empire in feel. It had many elements of Falcon 4 in its response and feel as well. This little plane can MANEUVER. It was very precise, much more so than most any sim I have flown. It was quick to respond and was very easy to control. When you wanted to stop a roll ... it stops NOW. What was interesting is that when we had asked about rudder use in the pre-brief, we were told not to worry about them ... the aircraft really didn't use them much for maneuvering. It would be good to note here as well, the fighter pilots with us worked the throttle. All you get to do is fly. Now, at least in a phase one flight ... that is not a big deal ... you are really taxed with just the flying part, having a throttle man was an okay thing. I would have liked to have controlled the throttle myself, but maybe in phase 2 or 3 I will get to do that.

When we got closer to the combat zone, Rhon got me to pull ahead of YODA and we allowed YODA to practice gun tracking. We made wide sweeping corners and reversed a few times. And gave him some very minor maneuvers to keep up with. After he got done and was satisfied he was ready, we switched spots and I got to practice gun tracking. I pulled in behind YODA and was INSTANTLY aware that there has not been a game produced ever that has modeled this right. It was AMAZINGLY easy to just drive up and line him up for a kill. At first I thought, well he is just lollygagging around up there, in the fight it will be harder. I was to find out later that it was even easier at speed and maneuvering. During the gun tracking practice, we practiced some high and low YOYO maneuvers and a barrel roll. I have to admit, between my focus, the heat, the comms being "okay' but not great, when Rhon told me to barrel roll, I got a little confused and almost started rolling the opposite direction. But we had more than enough energy and with some direct coaching, we pulled a barrel roll easily. I had been a little concerned they would limit the maneuvers we could use. At this point I realized ... there really is no holds barred here. We are gonna go kill us a YODA - WHOO HOOO!

For the engagement, we separated and will merge left to left. The wing lead will call "FIGHTS ON" at the merge and then we dance. In sims, I generally climb at a merge and try to get some altitude, but Rhon was adamant that we drop the nose. YODA usually likes to drop the nose on merge ... but Jad kept him climbing. Obviously we were paired up backwards based on our preferred flying style. At the first merge, we both were eager and a little nervous. YODA tells how Jad kept telling him to pull harder. YODA having flown light planes and instructed in them before is not used to banking a small aircraft that hard. Me on the other hand ... the first thing I heard was "NOT SO HARD - EASE UP!" ... I was flying a sim in my head and yanked a 90 degree bank and started playing FALCON. I got on YODA's rear quarter quickly, but due to the altitude difference, I had to work for a while to slowly climb up behind him to get a shot. With his altitude, I think had this been the 3rd or 4th engagement and YODA was more comfortable, he would have yanked that plane over on it's back and converted. The first kill was mine  "YAA HAA .. YODA's DEAD" - obligatory TOP GUN reference now complete - and yes, I really do have that on tape. And no, you will never get to hear it.  That was once Rhon "motivated" the old guys to come down to the killing zone for a real fight. You can hear this comment at the beginning of the video. Kills are scored based on the pilot calling over the radio .. "TRACKING TRACKING TRACKING". After the third time he says tracking, which means I have had the gun pipper on YODA's plane that entire time. The pilot in the other plane hears the third tracking and hits the smoke generator to identify that the kill as been confirmed. Just as YODA "got hit", Jad calls out they have smoke in the cockpit. Apparently the smoke generator puffed some in. YODA later said Jad was just calm and cool, "Got a little smoke in the cockpit, not a problem". YODA of course was at least startled, but all was well.

We leveled out and separated for the next engagement. No one got sick, but it was un-believably hot in the cockpit. Rhon popped our canopy open for a minute as we lined up for the next engagement. Ah, the lovely smell of AV GAS ... I could tell that was going be a problem later in the flight.

Next merge, again I was told to keep my nose down and YODA climbed above us. We went into a turning fight, with YODA with more altitude. Hard deck was set for 3500 feet. I quickly went below 4500 feet and at one point was at 3900 feet during this fight. YODA had the advantage and was coming down to take a shot. I pulled up and made a reversal that kept me alive a little longer, but it did nothing more than prolong the inevitable. This fight had a couple of high G pulls (not sure how high - but Rhon was straining too). I would eventually pull a quick 6 Gs during the flight, but I now had another piece of experience - Gs are a physically draining activity. YODA took the second kill of the day and we were at 1 and 1.

We had a brief bit of excitement in engagement 3. Remember that Extra 200 I saw at the hanger? Well, he was out in the area as well and we began a merge right over him and had to abort and move off a ways to fight again. Once engagement 3 started, I pulled hard, dove down for some speed and converted on YODA pretty quick ... but was too low for a shot. Now we were back to the YO-YO routine trying to get some altitude. I had a near quick shot, but would have dropped off in a stall before I could hold it long enough and I began the YO-YO again. After a few more circles, and a bit of constant reminding from Rhon to be patient ... I had worked my way up for a shot on YODA's Left rear quadrant. The score was now 2 to 1 ... so much for Evenstrain's bet that I would get only one mercy win.

The fourth engagement was a traditional YODA smacking CRASH around in a props fight. YODA went high, and I turned hard to keep him off my 6. I was constantly looking up at him and really in a bad spot from the FIGHTS ON call. Rhon called me to reverse and almost INSTANTLY YODA got a kill on me. After we had finished, we talked about this fight. I think it was a revelation for us. YODA and I think that they wanted to make sure the score was even at the end and I was deliberately pulled into YODA's sights. Of course we are speculating, but we both said "That was NOT the move for that moment." Not what I would have done at all. Maybe just a mistake ... but we were at 2 to 2.

More excitement in engagement 5. Fights on is called and we are banking and yanking, as I come around I see what I think is YODA to my left, but YODA has to be to my right. Then I realize ... "BI-PLANE TO THE LEFT!" as soon as I call this Rhon grabs the stick to maneuver to safety and calls KNOCK IT OFF. We were not that close to the Pitts Special that we nearly merged with, but close enough and it was clear that these guys had the whole thing under control and were ready to make sure nothing stupid happened. Again I was impressed and comforted. So we start the engagement once again. Again, YODA goes high and I go low. We actually mix it up quite a bit and Rhon yells at me "1000 feet to hard deck." (note: I heard that a lot ... I spent a lot of time down low) This was while I was inverted and trying to pull up and around. Before I get much of a chance to pull out of the maneuver I am in, WHAM ... hard deck. Once again YODA has run me into the ground ... thank god this time it was 3500 feet above the real ground. It is difficult to tell when you are close to the hard deck, all gauges are in front of the pilot and there is no visual reference. Not that that has helped me much in sims ... but I HOPE I would be a little more cognizant of it in real life! 3 to 2 ... one more to go.

Unfortunately, my video stopped recording after engagement 5. Not sure why. When I went back to watch YODA's to see what happened, it did not help much because I was behind him and low most of the time. I do recall that had that video been working, it would have been the best gun site shot of all. I came up under YODA and pushed to the edge and hung the plane on the prop as he flew through the gun site. I dropped the wing a little and followed him for the kill until I dropped off and had to dive for smash with the tying gun kill. 3 to 3.

Between engagement 5 and 6, the heat and the maneuvering was starting to take it's toll on me physically. I was nauseous. Not much, but enough to know to get the canopy open for a nice blast of av gas and some wind at least. It was in the high 90s in Livermore that day. In those bubble canopies, the temp certainly must have soared into the 110s or higher. Rhon was obviously a bit uncomfortable too and when we landed, YODA and Jad looked a little haggard as well. YODA told me later that he was feeling a lot like I was from about engagement 4 on. The heat was really a big factor and I will make sure my next time up will be during a cooler time of the year. We never got sick, so that is a plus. Funny thing is I fully expected engagement 6 to end with a session with the "WHITE MIC", but as soon as FIGHTS ON was called, I completely forgot about my ill feelings and focused and fought. As soon as I got my last kill and we leveled out I looked at Rhon and said .. "PERECT TIMING ... put a fork in me, I'm done." We opened the canopy some and cruised home leisurely while I took pictures of Jad and YODA flying on our wing. YODA took the time to signal to me that I was Number 1 Baby! At least that what HE said he was doing.

When we got back to "base" we all had to peel our completely sweat soaked flight suits off. Then Jad set up our tapes on two TVs side by side and synchronized them pretty close so we could see the fight form both perspectives. YODA and I started laughing at each other as we listened to Jad telling YODA "PULL HARDER, PULL HARDER" as Rhon was telling me at the same time "NOT SO HARD ... EASE UP". The perspective comparison was fun and Jad would tell us what was going on and what may have been a better idea in various situations.

YODA and I stopped for lunch and a beer and to do hand re-enactments of the morning. The Livermore airport has a golf course next door, so we stopped into the golf club looking ridden hard and put away wet and probably confused the hell out of the golfers. In total we spent about 2.5 to 3 hours with the guys from AC USA. We were in the air about 70+ minutes. The experience is irreplaceable. I learned so much more about what things feel like and what is going on during maneuvers. I know more how it feels and what should be happening and what to expect. I also got to see what 6 Gs feels like ... tie a sack of concrete to your head and try to turn it ... your getting closer. It was a life long dream nearly come true. It wasn't a jet and it wasn't real combat, but it is as real as one can get without years of training and military life. I will say that from an entertainment point of view, it was the best $895 I ever spent. I do plan to do it again and go through stage two.

Video of the Air Combat USA experience from this article. Click on the Windows Media Viewer image to download a 33.4 meg summary video of the days events.  This video captures clips from both CRASH and YODA's video tapes. The video is about 6 minutes and 30 seconds long.

33.4MBs

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