Adventure Only Dreamed About …

Combination Adventure Package – Visit this Program

Dear Fighter Combat International (FCI):

My friends and co-workers are starting to avoid me as they know if they even so much as say hello to me, I will launch into a exuberant monologue of my flying experience with your organization. I’m trying to send them your way so they can share the exhilaration I felt.

Both the aerobatic and combat flights are “experiences” I have dreamed about since I was a child. I was sent to the principle’s office in second grade once because during the pledge of allegiance I would just stare out the windows. They thought there was something wrong with me. Seems I was gazing at the sky through the windows pretending I was flying a WWII fighter. True story. To actually be at the controls and perform the maneuvers was astounding!

The combination package, around $1800. To see the smoke billow from my opponents aircraft, priceless!

I would like to thank all of you for operating an enterprise that allows armchair fighter pilots like myself an opportunity to actually be at the controls of those amazing aircraft with the confidence that the real pilots in the aircraft with me could handle any situation that may come up. I flew with “O.P.” for the aerobatics and “Otter” for combat. My highest compliments to them! The professionalism, skill and demeanor these gentlemen displayed left no doubt in my mind that FCI uses only the best.

Talk about a calm, cool and reassuring presence! Where as O.P. and Otter were talking me through every maneuver with detailed instructions, explanations, positive feedback and making sure I was okay, I was sweating bullets, because I didn’t want to make any mistakes, and doing g-strains upfront. I would have sworn that those gentlemen were, besides piloting the aircraft, monitoring (and correcting when necessary) my every move, the radio, the video system, all the gauges, flight parameters, safety, location of the other aircraft and anything else I don’t know about, they could have been having a cup of coffee and reading a magazine to keep busy. Impressive! I’m sure they were always at least five steps ahead of anything I might do. It was a privilege to have these gentlemen as my instructors.

In hindsight, something that I personally might have enjoyed would have been to “walk around” the aircraft with the pilot while he was doing his preflight before I got strapped in. But that’s just me. Most people probably don’t care and maybe it would interfere with the pilot doing his job, but I think I would’ve appreciated it just to satisfy my own curiosity. Hey, after all, I’m a guy and those Extra 300′s are pretty cool machines. Maybe I just needed to ask and they would have said okay.
From my initial contact with Faye to the goodbye as I was walking out the door after my combat flight. I was treated with respect and appreciation by all. My “Top Gun” plaque is hanging on my office wall and my Hero pictures are prominently displayed, Thanks to all at FCI and a special shout-out to Faye, O.P. and Otter.

There has, however, been some negative fall out from my adventure with FCI. Ever since I got home, I seem to be using just a little extra throttle on my motorcycle and I enter the corners with what some might call “excessive” aggressiveness. I don’t foresee these behaviors changing anytime soon.

Hope to see you all again.

Sincerely,
Joel Brush

- Joel Brush

April 18, 2009

Special Gift for Friends

Flying Friends –

Guys, I just came back from one of the most exciting flying experiences of my life – provided by Fighter Combat International headquartered at the Mesa Airport in AZ. Mark Solon (with valuable selection help from Mark Peterson) provided me with a gift certificate for this unbelievable adventure.

After listening to me tell about my (very slightly exaggerated) exploits in the Glasair, Mark wrongly assumed I was a candidate for the “Advanced Air Combat Mission” and signed me up for same, even though my only experience with dog fights actually involved dogs, not planes. Or, he may have thought “Advanced” referred to age….

Anyway, after a reminder call and weather check from Faye the night before, and a sleepless night, I arrive early at FCI at meet a very sharp guy in fighter pilot togs who was an F-14 pilot until a few years ago and now flies corporate jets. I learn later, he is my opponent! Soon my “back-seat” instructor (and FCI honcho), BJ, arrives – a kind, sharp, F-18 pilot who instructed in the Canadian version of Top Gun. Both these guys are like 45 years old…. It turns out my opponent is training to become an air combat instructor with FCI and his “rear-seat” is like an F-16 pilot with the Air Force…..so you get the picture – old guy private pilot and some real young talent. I get fitted for a flight suit (XL) and sit down with everybody for a 60 minute “briefing”. Mark has sent in my call sign – “Jefe” (Spanish for “boss”) a name given to me by the guys at the car dealership in New Mexico. So, the briefing starts with a discussion of our aircraft, the Extra 300. Very impressive! +,- 10Gs, 360 degree/second roll rate, and actually certified for every known maneuver – seriously. In addition, each “fighter” is equipped with a targeting HUD and a trigger on the stick that when pressed lets loose with the sound of a 30mm Gatling gun on overtime. Plus, each plane has a 4 lens video system to record the disaster – a cockpit camera, a gun sight camera with reticule, a wing tip camera, and a forward looking camera mounted on the top of the vertical fin. The pilots at FCI guarantee that they can recover from any maneuver in less than 5 seconds – I took this to mean I could fly with total abandon! Then we brief on combat strategies and tactics from “The Tactical Reference Guide, Version 3 – Rev.2” (that’s a lot of versions and revisions???) and then we play with F-18s on little sticks and use terms I’ve never heard of. The briefing is great … Hard deck is 4500’, about 2500’ AGL which is no problem for me because I don’t plan on being below 20,000’ anyway.

BJ reviews the flight profile: after some practice maneuvers and practice dogfights flown by the back seats, we will fly 3 engagements with different aircraft performance profiles to simulate the performance of 3 different MIG models. The first combat situation, I will have a performance profile advantage, the second, we’ll be more equal, and the third, we’ll be equal and all out. Scoring is simple: 1 point for a kill, another if the kill takes less than 1 minute, and if you get killed, you get a point (posthumously) if you first evaded your attacker for more than a minute.

Then, each pilot gives a little history on their flying history. Mine is very short – private pilot flying a homebuilt…. After an embarrassing moment of concern and silence, I pull out a picture of the Glasair and people decide maybe it will be OK if I fly.

We strap in and ratchet down…seat belts with ratchets…I start to think of why you might need a ratchet…. I’m up front with only the basics – stick (with trigger), throttle, airspeed indicator and altimeter and the HUD….oh yeah, and a pile of “Boarding Passes” (airsick bags). A little sparse, but considering you never look at anything inside the cockpit when fighting, more than adequate. “Jefe” and “BJ” take off on formation with our opponents and fly 10 miles to an area where there is a big enough hole in the clouds for dogfights. BJ talks me through some rolls and loops – I notice a HUGE difference between the Glasair and Extra – the Extra loses energy very fast compared to the Glasair.

Then 3 practice engagements with the instructors flying – things happen fast and furious and BJ talks to me calmly about all he is doing. We approach head on and when we’re abeam, “fight’s on”. Everything is about turns, climbs, dives, Gs and more Gs, energy management and never, ever, ever losing sight of the enemy. We do double circle, single circle, and vertical engagements. Now it’s my turn…..

Engagement 1 – (we have the superior aircraft) – Head On – we’re all over the sky, but with BJ’s help, I manage to keep the enemy in sight (in spite of limited vision from Gs) and between BJ yelling instructions and my yanking the stick around, the enemy plane actually and suddenly appears in front of us! Following BJ’s instructions, I bring the enemy to the reticule (not the other way around) and pull the trigger. Smoke billows – the engagement is over and I am totally spent. I learn later in the debrief that this engagement was all of 22 seconds long….

Engagement 2 – (equal aircraft) – Head On – pandemonium in the sky and much more trouble keeping the adversary in sight. I learn that doing gentle aerobatics with your eyes forward in the Glasair is a lot different than violent maneuvers looking backwards. The engagement includes 2 accelerated stalls that give the adversary position advantage, but not enough to get a shot off. What seems like 20 minutes later, his aircraft gets in the right place of the canopy and a quick stick pull gives us a shot….blessed smoke pours from the adversary!

Engagement 3 – (plane profiles equal, but pilots NOT) – this time is head-on with vertical engagement (not circle engagements) – almost immediately I lose him in the sun (it was cloudy, where the _ _ _ _ did the sun come from). BJ keeps yelling “he’s closing, he’s closing” – I’m thrashing around trying to live, a couple of times I lose vision – but keep flying – I can’t even get him in sight for more than a few seconds – finally BJ yells “we’re hit, we’re hit” and this time the smoke comes from us. My mouth is like a desert, my heart rate is through the roof and I’m shaking from the adrenaline OD … The effects of Gs and adrenaline are amazing and leave me in a state of simultaneous ecstasy and total exhaustion. We do some light aerobatics to “unwind” but it’s time for me to sample the ground again. I feel tremendous gratitude toward BJ and never for a moment did I think I would die from anything other than excitement,

The debrief is next and we replay the videos from the flight. A scoring grid appears and we go through the engagements. Our first kill was not the 4 minutes I guessed, but 21 seconds, the second, 46 seconds and in the final engagement where we get killed, we managed to evade for over 60 seconds and are awarded a point (posthumously). In no time, a picture on BJ and me by the plane is produced along with a certificate and a Top Gun plague – and the video tapes of the flight. But most meaningful are the laughs, handshakes, and pats on the back from some real fighter guys and gentlemen that still enjoy mixing it up, even with an old amateur. Their dedication to providing an incredible experience to “guest pilots” is unsurpassed. One of the pilots waiting for his flight asked me how it was, and I just stared at him with moist eyes and told him to get ready for the experience of his life.

Driving back to the hotel, I marveled at just how great BJ and his team are – directing all out air combat, making sure we’re safe, coaching, teaching, and encouraging, monitoring vital signs (“you awake up there?”) and switching cameras for the best coverage, and all the time, making sure they deliver some “hits” and the experience of a lifetime. And to my partner Mark, never-ending gratitude for providing me this opportunity.

For all of us that love to fly – this is an absolute must. Let’s do this….. together if we can!

- Phil Reed, Boise Idaho

January 20, 2007

Christmas Gift for 76-yr old Father

It had become difficult trying to find anything new and different for my 76 year old father for Christmas year after year … Fantastic! We purchased the gift and set the date for January 6 with high hopes it would meet up with our expectations. We were met from the outset with courtesy and professionalism that set out minds at ease. We were introduced to pilot, Phil Oppenheimer, “O.P.”, who was to take my father on the flight of a lifetime. He began by explaining everything there was to know about himself, the plane and any question we could possibly have for him. He did so with great enthusiasm, humor and a confidence that he carried with him throughout the course of the flight and afterward. My father had come down with a nasty cold the day before and wasn’t sure he would be able to thoroughly enjoy the flight but was willing to give it a go and so they flew. They did, however, do so much more than fly!

They soared, they spun, they freefell and did more than plane or man should ever be able to accomplish. All the while, every movement was carefully explained by “O.P.” My father is not an effusive man but could not say enough about his ace pilot all the way down to the feather light touchdown back to earth.

We want to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for helping us
give a most unique gift and my father one of the most thrilling rides of his life.

Sincerely,
Deborah Mealer, Mesa Arizona

- Deborah Mealer

January 14, 2005

Most Outstanding Experience of My Life!

Your whole organization is outstanding. I expected the pre-flight to last only about 20 minutes or so, but it was so complete it left very few questions for me to ask. It was a time period where my confidence certainly was built up and I really looked forward to the flight itself. It probably was one of the best, most outstanding experiences of my life and I’m anxious to do it again. As to when, I really don’t know but I hope it’s soon … I do endorse the flying adventure and would recommend it to anyone…

- Ken Yabe

October 18, 2003

Couple’s Gift

Just a quick note to say THANK YOU.

I had an amazing time on Saturday, and not just because I kicked ass. You guys are a lot of fun and very good at what you do. I am still about 6 inches off the ground and likely will not touch down for a few more days. I never would have believed that I could have so much fun (and be sooo good at it too).

The down side is I now find corporate finance rather trivial. The picture of me and “BJ” now covers the picture of Glen’s Air Combat photo on my desk. The experience was quite inspiring and very self-fulfilling. You should market this as a major morale booster!

Thank you for your instruction, patience, professionalism, humour and making each one of us feel incredible. Thank you for allowing people like me to do stuff like that! No one could ever duplicate what you do and the quality with which you do it. You are a great team. I had just as much fun during the afternoon on the ground as I did up in the air.

I now agree with you that the “Flight of my Life” was the best anniversary gift I could possibly receive. I will certainly do this again if you are not sick of the four of us yet.

I sincerely hope you have a very successful season of instruction, air shows, movie premieres, and making people look up (or down) in wonder as I have. Oh, and take care of my plane, ok?

Thanks again,
Dea Bidwell, Woodbridge Ontario Canada

- Dea Bidwell

April 15, 2000