North American Top Gun School

[merc49]

North American Top Gun is coming to mid-Michigan in June. Prices seem quite reasonable for a ride of a lifetime in a warbird. You can even buy packages that do aerobatics, loops and rolls, and goofy daredevil stuff. I don't know if they have enough anti-chicken pills for an old dog like me... they even say you can fly the plane...as if they would let me if they really knew me...

Has anyone here tried it? Or do I have to be a trailblazer?

 

[mike cummings]

I did the Air Combat USA .::Fighter Pilot for a Day - AirCombat Flying Adventures::. about 12 years ago. It was a total blast and I got 3 shoot downs. I already had my private pilots license at the time and the biggest obstacle I had to over come was pushing the plane beyond the normal limits since all my training up to that point was to keep the plane straight and level. Once the instructor got me comfortable with high speed stalls and inverted flight, it was GAME ON.

I'd suggest doing it if you have the disposable income.

 

[merc49]

I did the Air Combat USA .::Fighter Pilot for a Day - AirCombat Flying Adventures::. about 12 years ago. It was a total blast and I got 3 shoot downs. I already had my private pilots license at the time and the biggest obstacle I had to over come was pushing the plane beyond the normal limits since all my training up to that point was to keep the plane straight and level. Once the instructor got me comfortable with high speed stalls and inverted flight, it was GAME ON.

I'd suggest doing it if you have the disposable income.

All income is disposable!

 

[Alan]

I did the Air Combat USA .::Fighter Pilot for a Day - AirCombat Flying Adventures::. about 12 years ago. It was a total blast and I got 3 shoot downs. I already had my private pilots license at the time and the biggest obstacle I had to over come was pushing the plane beyond the normal limits since all my training up to that point was to keep the plane straight and level. Once the instructor got me comfortable with high speed stalls and inverted flight, it was GAME ON.

I'd suggest doing it if you have the disposable income.

Some reality TV show had a group of guys that did Air Combat USA, can't remember which show, but it looked like a blast!!

All income is disposable!

Yes Sir, we certainly can't take it with us!!

 

[mike cummings]

Some reality TV show had a group of guys that did Air Combat USA, can't remember which show, but it looked like a blast!!


It was a blast. Prior to that, all my flying had been in a Piper Cherokee which isn't the fastest plane built. The Marchetti SF-260's that the school uses are high performance planes that feels like a small jet. In addition to the dogfighting, we got to do formation flying and some aerobatic maneuvers en route and coming back from the designated fight area.

I was totally wiped out after the one hour flight. The G-meter on the plane indicated we did a maximum of 6.2 g's at some point in the flight. My neck was sore the next day from the weight of the flight helmet under all the G's we pulled. I'd love to do it again, but it is very costly for an hour of entertainment.

 

[BaldyLochs]

There's a place here on the airfield that runs something similar, but they use a pair P-51 Mustangs. I've done it before and it's really wild.