Become a fighter pilot for the day and work with your instructor to outsmart, outmaneuver, and outgun your opponents while pulling six G’s and aerial acrobatic maneuvers.

Description:
Off we go into the wild blue yonder… Your mission: work with your instructor to outsmart, outmaneuver, and outgun your opponents in heart-pumping, “g-pulling” dogfights. You will be manning the controls of a real, fully aerobatic, high-performance aircraft.

After attending a full briefing covering formation flight, gun sight tracking, and aerial combat maneuvers, you will don your flight suit and board the Marchetti SF260, a current production, Italian-built fighter aircraft.

Once airborne, your instructor pilot will hand the controls over to you as you engage your enemy in actual combat!

Imagine yourself scanning the skies in a real military aircraft in search of an enemy airplane. You spot the bogey at 3 o’clock, break turn hard and the fight’s on. Up, down, and around. Pulling G’s, making quick decisions until you out maneuver your opponent, put the gunsight pipper on them, squeeze the trigger. The enemy erupts in smoke and you roll up and away, victorious!

Basic Air Combat option:
Following your flight briefing, take to the skies and prepare to engage in an air combat experience you’ll never forget.

Shortly after takeoff you’ll take the controls and warm-up by practicing formation flight, combat maneuvers like high and low yo-yo’s and familiarize yourself with the gun sight.

Now it’s time for combat! You’ll engage your “enemy” for 6 aerial dogfights as you put your skills to the test and try to get as many “kills” as possible. You’ll spend half of the dogfights hunting your adversary attempting to get a clear shot and kill, while the other half will be spent eluding enemy fire. May the best pilot win!

Fighter Pilot Lead In option: If you really want to test your skills as a fighter pilot and see if you have what it takes, this is the experience for you!

With the Fighter Pilot Lead In option, your first flight will be a practice session, focusing on maneuvers like formation flight, high & low yo-yo’s, lead and lag pursuits, displacement rolls, and vertical & oblique turns.

This initial warm-up flight will help you adjust to the G-forces, and give you a chance to hone your skills before it’s time to engage in air combat.

During your second flight, it’s time to engage the enemy and put your dogfighting skills to the test! You’ll use the maneuvers you’ve learned in a variety of tactical air combat situations, and will engage in 10 dogfights. This is the ultimate civilian air combat experience!

All experiences include a mini digital video cassette from 3 in-cockpit cameras to keep the memory alive for years to come.

Essential Information:

No experience necessary. Participants should be at least 14 years old, must weigh no more than 250 pounds, and be no taller than 6'7". Please see the FAQ section for additional information.

Duration:

Basic Air Combat options: 2.5-3 hours with 1 hour of flight time. Fighter Pilot Lead In options: Approximately 5-6 hours with two flights, each lasting approximately 60 minutes.

Maximum Participants:

1 participant and instructor per plane. Then one plane vs. one plane in a dog fight.

Spectators:

The customers and their guests may sit in on the briefing and the de-briefing. Guests may also watch their loved ones take off and land. The actual maneuvers take place about 25 miles from the airport and at an altitude that spectators on the ground could never see.

Weather Dependent:

This experience is weather dependent. Always contact the Experience provider with any questions regarding weather conditions.

What to Wear:

Wear comfortable clothing and closed toed shoes; sneakers recommended. A flight suit is provided.

Booking Information:

For this experience, it is recommended to request bookings at least 30 days in advance.

DAY ONE—Saturday
Arrive in Moscow. You'll be met at the airport and escorted to the Metropol, a classic hotel chosen for its excellent location next to Red Square and the Kremlin. (The movie Dr Zhivago was filmed at the hotel.) You’ll have time to rest in your room and then, if you aren’t too tired, you’ll be invited to join our Moscow General Manager and her husband for an early dinner at a local pub. Over a casual meal, Lena will brief you on the days ahead and answer any questions you may have. Before you leave to return to your hotel, you’ll receive a Moscow cell phone programmed with the numbers of our Russian staff that you can use to reach them during your stay.

DAY TWO—Sunday
After breakfast in the hotel, you’ll be met in the lobby by our guide. Together, you’ll spend several hours touring Moscow. You’ll have time to visit Old Arbat for a little souvenir shopping or tour the Kremlin and Red Square. Our guide will make sure you have lunch and get you back in your room in time to pack a small bag for the trip to Nizhny Novgorod.

The trip to Nizhny is made by train. (Getting you there in time for your jet flight is very important and the train is the most reliable option.) Unless you’re traveling with a guest or other IA customer, you’ll have a first class compartment all to yourself. Don’t worry. The 4 1/2 hours will pass quickly. You can read, watch Russian TV, listen to music or sleep.

Waiting for you at the train station in Nizhny will be our airbase guide and driver. They’ll take you to the Alexandrovsky Garden Hotel for the night. The hotel was recently named the best four-star hotel in the city. There’s a restaurant in the hotel if you want to grab a late dinner, as well as a bowling alley and casino.

DAY THREE—The Big Day!
After breakfast in the hotel, it’s time to fly! You’ll be trans- ported to the Sokol Airbase for a day you’ll never forget. You’ll start by meeting your pilot and going over your flight plan. With the help of maps and jet models, he’ll demonstrate what you’ll experience and where you’ll fly. You’ll meet the base doctor and have your blood pressure checked. Once you’re cleared to fly, you’ll head for the locker room and suit up. You’ll be carefully briefed in how everything works, from the helmet visor to the oxygen mask. Soon, you’ll be in the cockpit and headed down the runway.

After your flight, you’ll tour the Sokol Air Museum and learn more about the factory’s 76 year history. Then you’ll head out to explore the city with our guide and driver. Nizhny (formerly known as Gorky) is located at the intersection of the Volga and Oka rivers and offers some unique scenery. Our guide will take you to lunch and won’t leave your side until you’re ready to board your commercial airline flight back to Moscow.

DAY FOUR—Tuesday
This is a “just in case” day. If for any reason you can’t fly on Monday, this gives you another day to complete your flight. If it’s not needed for flying, you can add on an extra tour or spend the day sightseeing on your own.

DAY FIVE—Wednesday
After breakfast in the hotel, we'll get you back to the airport in time for departure flight.

Times:
Early Morning: 8:30am, 10:00am & sometimes 7:30am
Mid Day: 11:30am & 1:00pm
Afternoon: 2:30pm & sometimes 4:00pm

*The 8:30am, 11:30am, and 2:30pm slots are filled first, then the 10:00am and 1:00pm are added. Occasionally a 7:30am or 4:00pm are added if all other time slots are filled.

Full Refund with 14 Days of Purchase. After that, no refund is given. However, you may reschedule your event within 1 month of the original date.