Whether you have an interest in aviation or are just a weekend thrill seeker, now anyone can find out how it feels to soar like a fighter pilot.
When Paul "BJ" Ransbury, a certified Class I aerobatic instructor and former Canadian F/A-18 Hornet pilot, performed a flying duel over the Arizona desert for the IMAX movie Ultimate G's: Zac's Flying Dream, he fell in love with the grandeur of the American desert. Although he maintains a second location for his company, Fighter Combat International, in Niagara, Canada, Ransbury moved the headquarters to Mesa, Arizona. There, since December 2001, Ransbury and his team of top gun military fighter pilots from the U.S. and Canada provide a military type experience for vets and the general public alike. Considering himself to be a civilian promoter of the military world, Ransbury and his team enable individuals and corporate groups to experience the thrill of aerial combat.
Ransbury says that when his military duty came to an end, he knew little about business, but he and his partner, Paul Molnar, had one compelling idea. He says, "We thought, let's get some planes and show people what air combat is all about. From that, the rest developed." Ransbury says that interest in the military and in aviation in particular, is much higher in the United States than in Canada. "In Canada, the general public tends to view fighter pilots as war mongers to a certain extent. Here, the military is seen as powerful and awe inspiring."
The American passion for the excitement of aviation, and our respect for men and women in uniform, is indeed at an all time high, creating great demand for Fighter Combat's many services.
Aerial Combat Missions-Not a Simulation!
Aerial Combat Missions are the company's most unusual product. Using German-built Extra 300L aerobatic aircraft, the only aircraft of its category certified for commercial use, anyone can take the stick and actually fly for a fee of about $900. These flights are not a simulation. Clients sit right in front of the cockpit under a bubble canopy, with a trained pilot behind them, and individuals with no flying experience at all can fly as much as 75 percent of the air time, also taking control of a specially built integrated laser weapons system. A projected gunsight, quadruple view audio/video system, smoke generator, and a combat sound card make each dogfight almost just like the real thing.
"The 300L's feel very much like a little fighter," Ransbury says. "The G rate and the roll rate actually exceed the F-18, although not in the same category of aircraft at all. Its performance is very very similar to a fighter, without costing tens of thousands of dollars an hour to fly. The performance, seating, maneuverability, and the perception of the flying experience is virtually the same as the F/A-18," Ransbury explains.
Ransbury states that all of the people who fly with Fighter Combat are thrill seekers to a certain extent, while others are "closet adventurists" who have never before tested their skills in the field. Many of Fighter Combat's clientele have served in the military. "The people who have worked on planes or been associated with logistics in aviation want to find out what actual flight is all about," he explains. "We give them an adrenaline filled, military type experience."
People of all ages, male and female alike, frequently surprise themselves, as well as FCI's pilots, with their innate competence in the air, even on a first-time flight. "One of the wildest dogfights we've seen was with a couple of 17-years-old brothers," Ransbury says. "They were video game junkies and had never flown before, but they had no fear. They went absolutely crazy and did a wonderful job. They flew like little fighter pilots, whereas most people, not that it's wrong, are very cautious. We stress safety of course, but these boys were very aggressive."
Participants are impressed with the maneuverability of the 300-Ls, and find that the experience is much more dynamic and physically demanding than they had expected. "The average person reaches between 3 and 4.5 G's," Ransbury says. "The planes are capable of plus or minus 8 G's. Occasionally an individual will go up to 6, and depending on the group; sometimes no one in the group does less than 6.5."
Although FCI's flyers are primarily men, Ransbury states that the people who purchase services most often are women who intend to give the experience as a gift. However, women who take the initiative to fly find that they are well equipped for the experience. Ransbury says, "Women do better at air combat than men. I don't know if it's because their stomach muscles are stronger and can better withstand G forces, if they are less prone to nausea, or just more comfortable functioning in a three dimensional environment. The men who convince their wives to fly generally get their butts kicked."
Profound Benefits
An aerial combat mission is an adventure that yields surprising results for corporate groups. "Our biggest market is corporate," Ransbury says. "People select us to provide a once in a lifetime experience as a reward or incentive for groups and key employees."
Ransbury says that carrying out an aerial combat mission becomes a team building experience that is unparalleled. "You are fighting as part of a team," he says. "There are lots of metaphors to the workplace in air combat." Participants enjoy a sense of team camaraderie that they may have never experienced at work. "They come in not really knowing each other, then they start talking together about air combat. We talk about priorities, objectives and focus," he explains.
Participants don flight suits for the day and engage in a comprehensive tactics briefing. Each person is asked to define his or her personal objectives for the day. "For some," Ransbury says, "the objective will be as simple as just seeing if they can get through it without being sick. Others will say, 'My father was in WWII and I want to see what air combat is all about.' Still others just want to see what they can do."
Ransbury characterizes the experience as a "challenge by choice". "People are put in a position where they can choose to continue or not," he says. "That's what creates the real benefit. The true personalities come out. We call the air combat day 'The Equalizer'. Some guys may start out overcompensating by being overconfident, but by the end of the day, everyone is the same. When people are faced with stress, they react differently, but they've had a common experience and they become joined together by that."
The experience also becomes meaningful for each individual, as they soon realize that their true mission in the sky is to test the limits of their personal performance. "It is one dogfighter versus another, but in the cockpit there is a lot happening," Ransbury says, describing the way in which individuals find that they must overcome not just their opponents, but their personal beliefs about their capabilities. "They have to decide what they want to achieve and prioritize."
Other corporate team members on the ground observe each individual flight, trying to learn from every experience. "Each participant comes back with tactics the others can employ. The best advice and game plans come from their own business associates. They win points individually and as a team. At the end of the day, their team has worked together to win the day," Ransbury explains. He states that the impact of the experience is so profound that it frequently takes several days for the participant to realize how much the experience meant to them. "My inner strength is higher than it has ever been before," one man remarked.
"The rewards that we receive back from the participants are unbelievable," Ransbury says. "People will say, 'My God, the physical environment is so demanding! I have so much respect.' Although we've asked them at the beginning of the day what their personal objectives are, at the end of the day they've forgotten those objectives, because they've accomplished so much more." An awards ceremony at the end of the day recognizes each individual and the team. One woman commented, "You should market this as a morale booster." .
About the Pilots
All of Fighter Combat's pilots are experienced fighter pilots, each with multiple tours of military flight duty and thousands of hours flying operational air combat, both nationally and internationally. Karl Schlimm, a U.S. Air Force veteran, is Fighter Combat's chief pilot, in charge of training employee pilots. "The job is fantastic," he says. "The people are outstanding, the airport commission is supportive of our business, and the planes are fantastic. I've never heard a negative comment from any customer. We provide a very unique service."
"Schlimmer," as he is known to the team, served in Desert Storm and as an instructor pilot out of Luke AFB, then relocated to Pennsylvania after leaving the Air Force, where he was part owner of a charter company and performed aerial aerobatics. However, family ties lured Schlimmer and his wife and children back to Arizona. There, he considered Guard duty and flying for the airlines, but was looking for something more interesting, when he saw an ad in the Arizona Business Journal for a position with Fighter Combat. He sent a resume and was hired shortly thereafter, in January 2001. Now he flies with Fighter Combat at Williams AFB, in the same building where he trained in the T37.
"This work is a lot of fun for pilots," Schlimmer says. In April, the company orchestrated an airborne wedding, taking the bride and groom into the skies, side-by-side, each in the front seat of a different fighter plane. A minister spoke to the bride and groom in their cockpits as they recited their vows, and the pilots flew the married couple in formation, leaving a heart-shaped smoke trail in the sky to celebrate the union. "The wedding was amazing," Schlimmer said. "The groom had a blast." The bride, however, suffered some stomach upset, but nevertheless, enjoyed an unforgettable ceremony.
Schlimmer also enjoys the friendships that are almost instantly made between pilot and client after sharing an air combat adventure. He says that all Fighter Combat's pilots become involved with the rewards of customer interaction. "One WWII veteran brought all his photos and memorabilia and wanted to share it with us," he says. "He also had an original document signed by one of the Wright brothers. He was very proud of that."
"Aviation in the military is an extremely rewarding career," Schlimmer says, "but sharing it with the public is something you can't do in the military. It's very rewarding and we take it very seriously."
Schlimmer trained as a pilot at Williams AFB, in 1987 and 88 and served as an instructor, flying the F-16 for eight years. Schlimmer enjoyed the camaraderie and challenge of Air Force life. "If you had told me that being a red flag mission commander was something I would end up doing, I would have thought you were crazy. But, you rise to the occasion. It's incredible what they can train you to do in a short time."
Training, Stunt Flying, Airshows and Adventure Rides
The team provides specialized training for U.S. military pilots in emergency maneuvers and aerobatics, and teaches pilots how to recover from unusual attitudes. The team recently returned from the US Naval Test Pilot School in Maryland, where they flew for two weeks with students and instructors, allowing Navy personnel to evaluate Fighter Combat's aircraft and to discover advanced aerobatics.
Stunt flying for the entertainment industry is one area that, according to Ransbury has exploded. The team also performs spine-tingling aerobatics with lots of crowd-pleasing smoke at air shows around the country, and finds Mesa, Arizona, America's capitol of aerobatics, to be an ideal base. Frequently the feature act on the air show circuit because of their precision and entertainment quality, "Team Extreme" was featured on the cover of the January issue of World Airshow News.
Adventure rides are available for those who aren't ready to fly themselves, for fees as low as $250 for a 15-minute power ride. Guests have the opportunity to take it easy or to experience loops, barrel rolls, inverted spins, lomcevaks, tumbles, or a maneuver called "the centrifuge," if desired.
The Love of Flying
Fighter Combat's safety record is unblemished. Ransbury states that in five years of operation, the team has never even had a close call. "We are very safety conscious," he says. "We use the right pilots; we have the highest standards. We never take anyone flying without a thorough briefing beforehand. It's very clear to the participants that the pilots are in charge and in control."
Ransbury says that he never exceeds his abilities but that his own skills in competition flying continue to grow. He intends to remain the industry leader in delivering Fighter Combat's programs. "We make people special for a day," he says. "Customers get excited and you can see the smile on their face."
To contact Fighter Combat International:
Fighter Combat International, L.L.C.
Williams Gateway Airport
5803 South Sossaman Road, Suite 102
Mesa, Arizona USA 85212
Phone: 1-866-FLY HARD
www.fightercombat.com