Marc's Public Blog - Flying


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This is a collection of my blog entries and experiences with flying, and learning to fly. Something I had been wanting to do for quite a while.
You can find all the pictures I've taken here, and read below for my experience.
Specifically, I have a page for my Trips to Oshkosh, the mecca for pilots

Table of Content for flying:

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2013/10/13 United Family Day at SFO with Arturo
π 2013-10-13 01:01 in Flying, Nflying
Arturo had been wanting to go for many years and scored a couple of tickets this year, so he invited me and we went together this year.

He picked me up and we drove a special parking lot at SFO and got in the maintenance employee entrance:


One hangar had planes on display and MX people answering questions on how they do maintenance. That was interesting:


they use eddie currents to see invisible cracks
they use eddie currents to see invisible cracks

engines sitting outside pre or post maintenance
engines sitting outside pre or post maintenance

We got to visit the test cell, a very interesting part of the visit:


this is where the engines get overhauled and tested
this is where the engines get overhauled and tested



impressive facility to test engines (they get tested for over 8H)
impressive facility to test engines (they get tested for over 8H)


mega blast door in case the engine disintegrates
mega blast door in case the engine disintegrates


Planes on display were nice, including plane pulling contests

warmup for the plane pull
warmup for the plane pull

it would be fun if we used them to tow planes from now on :)
it would be fun if we used them to tow planes from now on :)

Emergency slide deployment
Emergency slide deployment

Plane tours
Plane tours

Yes Arturo, this is what coach looks like. That's where other people sit :)
Yes Arturo, this is what coach looks like. That's where other people sit :)



They also had random other planes and cars for display:




the fire truck was cool
the fire truck was cool






Sky writing, dot matrix style:



And that was it. The only thing we messed up on was not getting in line to see the 747 cockpit very early on before a crazy line started, but oh well.

2013/10/12 Air Combat USA Fighter Lead-In Program at Livermore
π 2013-10-12 01:01 in Flying, Nflying
I had done Sky Combat Ace twice in Vegas (July 2012 and June 2013), so I thought I'd try Air Combat USA since they were coming to a local airport.
So, here's a comparison between the two.

Air Combat USA:

  • You can get 2 flights for $2000, which includes video (Sky Combat Ace can cost close to $2000 for one flight if you pay for adrenaline and if you pay for video which is extra)
  • Air Combat USA video is HD, SCA video is low res analog. Both videos are multi camera angles which are selected by the instructor. SCA does have nicer video angles though (from the tail of the plane and the outside of the wing), although those are mostly useful during acrobatics, not dogfighting, and ACU doesn't really do much acrobatics anyway.
  • ACU gives you video right away on an SD card. SCA needs some time to work on it and gives to you over the internet later. However, the ACU video is raw AHCD/MTS that you need to have softare to process (or a player that can read that directly). I had to re-encode the AHCD video from ACU and de-interlace it, although if you upload to youtube, it'll mostly do that for you. SCA gives you re-encoded video that is easier to play/deal with (they also add music) but you'll have to wait for it and download it over the internet (they also charge you more if you want the raw video in addition to the edited video).
  • ACU has a fancy visor you can actually use to target the other plane. SCA, you kind of just shoot in that direction. It still works, but no cool precise targeting like ACU.
  • The ACU Marchetti SF260 is slower and not as agile, but has a nice side to side seating configuration. It's probably better for non pilots actually since the instructor is next to you.
  • ACU offered more instruction on the art of dogfighting in their program, however they felt less organized. It was not clear what would happen before each flight, how many engagements we'd have, how many were practise, and how many were real. That was my flight though, it's probably different for each.
  • ACU used the time to fly to the fight location and back to allow each pilot to try formation flying. I found that both challenging and quite nice to try (not as cool as acrobatics, but definitely an interesting skill to try).
  • ACU travels around the US, so if you can wait for one of their dates, they're easier to get to.
  • Sky Combat Ace:

  • The Extra 300 planes they use have more power and are much more agile than the Marchetti SF260, but the instructor sits behind you. That said, while I prefer the 300 hands down, to be honest, it's a lot of plane and Gs for someone not used to flying though, so it is likely overkill for a non pilot (I did 6Gs in one of my SCA flights and got close to blackout).
  • The adrenaline program in the Extra 300 gives 2 practise targets, 3 engagements, and 15mn or so of cool acrobatics. There were almost no acrobatics in Air Combat USA (they focus on dogfighting).
  • The vegas location offered low level flight on the way back, and it was uber cool. Not as useful to a pilot as formation flying practise since you're not flying that piece, but it was just that cool.
  • It was shorter, but just felt more fun in the end, that said I think the fun factor will depend for each person (pilot, non pilot, how fit and how many Gs you can take, and so forth).
  • SCA is in Vegas only, so it's a no brainer if you're there, but if you have to fly across the country to go there, that makes them less attractive to you, unless you have other reasons to go to vegas :)
  • My verdict: if you'd like more flying time and engagements, Air Combat USA offers more flying time for sure. If you'd like more Adrenaline, Sky Combat Ace offers a more Gs and more adrenaline for the money. That said, travel and location are key, so Air Combat USA is likely the best choice if you're not going to Vegas, while Sky Combat Ace is the more fun choice in my opinion if you're going to Vegas.

    All this being said, let's talk about the program itself: I did the 5-6H Lead-in program which consisted of 2 flights with a break in between.
    We started with a class on the basics of flying and dogfighting taught by a former air force pilot:


    Then we went to our planes:





    They had a lot of equipment inside for video and targeting:


    The formation flying was quite cool and gave for great pictures:









    And all good fun comes to an end




    While it's not the same on a video, in you're curious, here are three:

  • Nice video of a takeoff and formation flight (skip one minute, and maybe watch for one minute):
  • Target shooting taken from the plane's HD cameras (jump to 1:45 to see an engagement):
  • Dogfighting taken from google glass (jump to 7:00 for engagement and you'll see the smoke at 07:20)
  • And there you go, after 2 flights that were over too soon, so was the fun, and it came time to go home. I hope to do this again and get more engagements next time.


    More pages: November 2023 October 2023 April 2023 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 May 2021 November 2020 August 2020 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 June 2019 March 2019 January 2019 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 June 2018 May 2018 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 April 2017 January 2017 December 2016 August 2016 July 2016 May 2016 February 2016 January 2016 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 September 2014 August 2014 June 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 July 2013 June 2013 April 2013 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 January 2012 November 2011 August 2011 July 2011 April 2011 March 2011 November 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 May 2010 March 2010 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 March 2009 November 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 December 2007 October 2007 September 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 December 2004 September 2004 August 2004 May 2004 March 1999

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