Air war for the fun of it - Air Combat USA

Nation's Business, June, 1992 by Matt Richtel

It's high noon on a brilliantly sunny day, 6,000 feet above Montery Bay on the California coast. Two fledgling pilots nervously await Mike Blackstone's radio command. When it comes, they turn their planes toward each other, lower their gun sights, and engage each other.

Their planes turn and bank in a dogfight; radio flak and urgent shouts from their navigators fill the pilot's ears. Minutes later; after several adept maneuvers and a healthy bit of luck, one pilot finds himself behind the other. He steadies the sights and pulls the trigger.

"You got him!" cries the navigator. The enemy plane emits a stream of smoke.

Forget about a trip to the amusement park, or an afternoon spent playing home video games--no matter how big the television screen. This is Air Combat U.S.A. "What we do," says Blackstone, "is as real as it gets."

Blackstone, 44, who works full time as a captain for American Airlines, is the founder of Air Combat U.S.A., a firm that lets adventurous souls play the aerobatic role of Top Gun.

For $595, an aspiring pilot or thrill seeker gets closely supervised control of a Siai Marchetti SF 260 trainer, the same plane used for actual combat by a number of contries, including Libya and Panama.

There is a critical difference, of course: Instead of bullets, the contestants fire harmless electronic blips at each other.

No flying experience is required, not even a driver's license--just a bold heart and perhaps a strong stomach. Among Blackstone's 4,000 clients have been an 8-year-old girl and a 92-year-old man.

Experienced pilots fly the planes to 6,000 feet and then take on the role of navigator. The clients take over limited control of the steering--but not the plane's altitude or speed--and battle it out in three simulated air fights. The total time in the air--including takeoff, travel to the airspace for the dogfights, and return to the airport--is about one hour.

None of his clients has ever been injured, Blackstone says.

After a slow start in 1988, in Orange County near Los Angeles, Air Combat began to get media attention, and sales took off. Revenues were running at a $200,000-a-month clip earlier this year, and Blackstone projects a 1992 total of $2.8 million.

Air Combat U.S.A. has already begun offering flights in northern California, Las Vegas, and San Diego, as well as Orange County. Blackstone intends to expand his fleet of Marchettis--each costing $150,000 to $300,000--from four to 10.

His business skills have improved markedly since he lost $10,000 in the early 1980s, selling rides in a biplane. The biplane rides were popular, but Blackstone charged clients only enough to pay for fuel; he forgot altogether about depreciation and capital costs.

On the other hand, the popularity of the biplane business at Fullerton Airport in Orange County did tip him off that he might be on to something.

Blackstone, who is an aeronautical engineer, decided to develop a system that would allow two airplanes to track each other and duel with harmless electronic signals. He sold his biplane, his Porsche, and two condominiums to finance his first two used Marchettis. "Various family members told me I had rocks in my head," Blackstone says. "My attitude was that you haven't failed until you quit."

After four years of research on the tracking system, he acquired a patent and Federal Aviation Administration approval. He also patented a video-camera system for the planes so that clients could take home footage of their dogfights.

"Suddenly there were people all over Fullerton Airport," Blackstone says with a laugh. "It became a real crowd-control problem."

The popularity wasn't only among consumers. Pilots and former pilots began knocking down Blackstone's door, looking for work. He hired and transferred part ownership of Air Combat to Marine Lt. Col. Greg Sloan, who flew 100 combat sorties in Vietnam.

All but two of the 15 other pilots who fly with Air Combat are former military fliers. They are in charge during takeoffs and landings, and they are sitting beside the clients during the three dogfights each of which lasts up to five minutes.

The pilots teach combat tactics in an hour-long briefing for clients before their flights. During their post-flight debriefing, the clients watch the videotape while the pilots critique the battle.

Blackstone has witnessed some fierce battles in the skies, including some highly competitive husband-and-wife dogfights. "We've also had some great father-son shoot-offs, where both of them have flown in the military," he says.

For the true novices, Blackstone and his pilots try to keep the battles relatively even. "The first flight we let them go," he says. "Then we give copious amounts of instruction and information to the guy who lost. And for the third flight, we turn them loose again. We don't want anybody getting skunked."

Matt Richtel is a free-lance writer in Los Altos, Calif.