I just saw this. Has anyone here done it? Looks like fun!

http://www.aircombatusa.com/index.php

Went several times in Kissimee, Fl. Great experience and fun time. Machetti is a great airplane & got some acro in after the dogfights. Would keep doing it if I had an unlimited source of income.

My boss has done it out of their Fullerton, CA location. Had a blast and said it was worth every penny!!

Jaerl,

I used to fly for them from '92-'95 when they were first starting/expanding. My understanding is that not much has changed other than the names and the price. It's a good outfit with some of their pilots better than others, in my opinion.

Air Combat was supposed to be the first of these types of companies, with many springing up after the 1st Gulf War. Most of the other companies fly (or used to fly) the T-34 until their wings started falling off (not sure if the FAA has let them start flying again -- I would guess they have, since that was a long time ago). The Marchetti (SF-260) is what Air Combat flies and I believe the company in Kissimmee. It's a great airplane that is flown pretty hard, but seems to have held up real well to the abuse.

I'm not sure what type of questions you have but feel free to pm me any and all, or we can keep it in the forum -- your call.

Mark

Thanks for the info Mark. I just ran across the site and thought everyone here might want to check it out. Looks like the makings of a great memory!

In my fantasies I would excel at this exciting endeavor......
The reality would be a cockpit fouled with barf-and a major surcharge to clean the aircraft.

I'll just hang on to the fantasy, thank you.
lc

No worries, Jaerl. Part of the frustration working for the company was that people spent a lot of money to experience a once-in-awhile flight with you. As an instructor, I wanted to give each and every customer their money's worth. But when you have to fly 5 of them in a day, it would sometimes be tough to give the customer what they paid for.

Dogfighting is also a very unique experience. After one year of flight school, we then went through Lead In Fighter Training (LIFT which lasted a month), then RTU (flying the F-16 in my case, which lasted 6 months) and then once with my new squadron, a couple-week program to become mission ready -- I'm sure it's all changed now, but the bottom line was after a long time of training, I still didn't know that much about dogfighting. Air Combat asked us as instructors to teach somebody as much as we could in a one hour ground school, one hour flight and a one hour debrief -- very unrealistic. So as an instructor, the quicker you realized you were there to get the customer the best experience possible whether they learned anything or not, the better off you and they were.

I've had some of the best times of my life dogfighting in my previous life, but now am having almost as much fun flying my 180! I figure once I learn enough to take it into the backcountry and begin doing it on a regular basis, I will have a hard time deciding which is more fun!

Mark

P.S. I do have alot of "good" barf stories in only 3 years/1000 hours of flying for them!

Shiek wrote:No worries, Jaerl. Part of the frustration working for the company was that people spent a lot of money to experience a once-in-awhile flight with you. As an instructor, I wanted to give each and every customer their money's worth. But when you have to fly 5 of them in a day, it would sometimes be tough to give the customer what they paid for.

Dogfighting is also a very unique experience. After one year of flight school, we then went through Lead In Fighter Training (LIFT which lasted a month), then RTU (flying the F-16 in my case, which lasted 6 months) and then once with my new squadron, a couple-week program to become mission ready -- I'm sure it's all changed now, but the bottom line was after a long time of training, I still didn't know that much about dogfighting. Air Combat asked us as instructors to teach somebody as much as we could in a one hour ground school, one hour flight and a one hour debrief -- very unrealistic. So as an instructor, the quicker you realized you were there to get the customer the best experience possible whether they learned anything or not, the better off you and they were.

I've had some of the best times of my life dogfighting in my previous life, but now am having almost as much fun flying my 180! I figure once I learn enough to take it into the backcountry and begin doing it on a regular basis, I will have a hard time deciding which is more fun!

Mark

P.S. I do have alot of "good" barf stories in only 3 years/1000 hours of flying for them!

I'm not sure when my boss went through Air Combat in Fullerton, but he said it was a two day program. One full day of ground school/training. Then the second day was brief, suit up, fly to location, dog fight, back to Fullerton, then debrief. He thought it was very thorough and well organized. Maybe he did it during a slow period, I dunno

I'm not sure when my boss went through Air Combat in Fullerton, but he said it was a two day program. One full day of ground school/training. Then the second day was brief, suit up, fly to location, dog fight, back to Fullerton, then debrief. He thought it was very thorough and well organized. Maybe he did it during a slow period, I dunno

That's good to hear -- anything that gives the customer a better experience is a step in the right direction. During the busy days, it felt like an assembly line...in one door, out the other..."next!"

Shiek wrote:

I'm not sure when my boss went through Air Combat in Fullerton, but he said it was a two day program. One full day of ground school/training. Then the second day was brief, suit up, fly to location, dog fight, back to Fullerton, then debrief. He thought it was very thorough and well organized. Maybe he did it during a slow period, I dunno

That's good to hear -- anything that gives the customer a better experience is a step in the right direction. During the busy days, it felt like an assembly line...in one door, out the other..."next!"

Yeah, I know what you mean. There might be a big difference on what location you go too. Some are busy like I can imagine the Kissimee location would be, and some might be much slower.

I guess it's just like going to the DMV. If you go to the busy one in downtown L.A. your going to wait all day and get crappy service. If you go to the DMV in my town, you'll most likely be the only person to see the one and only DMV employee and she has the whole next hour to help and explain every every question you have in great detail.

I did the IFR/Combat program with Fighter Combat in AZ. It taught me alot about slip,skid stalls, spins, etc. IMO worth every penny. CAUTION: I never barfed, but 3 days of always feeling like you are going to is not fun. If you have a weak stomach dont do it. I felt like crap for several days after doing it too. They really ring you out. I think the training I received has saved my life more than once flying low, slow, and on the edge of a stall close to the ground.

If you're ever out in vegas, we've got that here too: http://skycombatace.com/

Air Combat has several package deals. A few friends were instructors there several years ago. A few non-military friends went based on recommendations from them and they loved it.