On the 19th and 20th September this year, fifteen hot shot fighter pilots met in Sydney, Australia, and squared off to work out who was the best of the best. Between them they had experienced over a thousand engagements with enemy aircraft, although most of them have never flown a plane.

They are all keen flight simulator pilots; 'virtual' warriors who have found that you do not have to be one of the elite few in order to experience the thrill of flying a fast military jet in combat. In fact, you can do it while keeping your feet on the ground! Utilising the latest flight simulation software to turn their personal computers into jet fighters, these simulator pilots are able to connect their computers together in a network and fly in teams, wingtip to wingtip.

The Topgun championship is an annual event that involves clubs from around Australia and New Zealand. Over two days, clubs and individuals compete in five gruelling events. In the competition, pilots face vicious one-on-one dogfights, coordinate multi-plane intercepts in team vs team battles, and use their utmost cunning to guide their squadron to achieve mission goals in full-scale simulated wars. The competition tests their flying, combat and teamwork skills to the ultimate, and decides who will hold the coveted title of 'Top Gun' for the following year.

The air combat simulation clubs involved in the Topgun competition are very different from the typical 'computer games' club that you may encounter. The average age of club membership is around 30, mostly professionals and all dedicated military flying enthusiasts. The clubs focus on achieving the utmost in realism; seeking to reproduce the experience of flying modern military jets as accurately as is possible with available software and computer equipment.

The quality of the simulations demands many of the skills needed by real combat pilots, and as in real life, those skills can take years to develop. The dedication required for this, along with an obsession with accuracy and realism is what sets these clubs apart.

This year the championship was fought using Mindscape's Russian-developed Su-27 Flanker simulation; a military-grade simulation available off the shelf, and chosen for its fidelity, and for the remarkable flexibility that enabled it to be used for all five events.

The five events were designed to test the full spectrum of pilot skills, and consisted of:

The Topgun contest was a long, hard, battle. Closely contended, the outcome hung in the balance right up to the final event.

The first event was the 2v2 guns. Here each pair faced their opponents starting with a 40km separation. The pairs would then close in to gun range, about 1.5km or less, and begin a series of violent manoeuvres, as each tried to get a bead on their opponents. As they approached, teams would try different tactics in an attempt to establish an initial position of advantage.

Click to continue . . .

Some would come in close together and concentrate their attack on a single opponent, seeking to down them before the remaining opponent could intervene. Others would establish a wide separation of altitude, making it harder for their opponents to keep track of both of them at once.

Once engaged, the fight becomes a dance of physics, where energy is life, to be hoarded and spent like a speculator on the stock market. To turn and engage your opponent, you must expend energy. If you lose too much energy you are at the mercy of your enemy, but spend too little and you will also die. It becomes a matter of fine judgement and split-second decisions.

At the end of the event, it was clear that the favourites, Dan "Buckshot" Rose of the 27th Williamtown Warlords and David "Killer" Morrison of the 62nd Fighting Falcons, were going to be the two to watch. In six fights, Dan and his wingman won 4, drew one and lost one, while Dave's pair won five fights and drew one. This left David in the lead at the end of the event with a stunning 19 points out of a possible 23, while Dan held 16.

A cluster of pilots around 10-13 points looked set to wrestle over the 3rd place. The second event was almost a mirror of the first, except that now each plane was loaded with a mixture of short and medium-range missiles, and they started 80km apart. The most powerful missiles could reach up to 60km, but each pilot only had a few to spare. Suddenly new tactics and new skills were required, and a new pair of pilots came to the fore to demonstrate their skills.

These battles were fought at long range, using radars and infra-red sensors to reach beyond the limits of human vision. Each pilot strove to find a position where they could send their 3.6m long missiles streaking towards their enemy at over 4500kph, and yet be able to evade the similar package of death that their opponent would be sending them in reply. Pilots sought to play upon the weaknesses and strengths of their sensors and weapons, dropping chaff bundles to create confusing radar returns, and exploiting the vulnerability of airborne pulse-doppler radars to 'notching' manoeuvres.

Tactics were complicated by missiles that required guidance from the aircraft's own radar system, meaning that the pilot could not turn away and evade after launching a missile.

Here the Williamtown Warlords demonstrated that they did indeed know their business (they are all Air Defence Officers with the RAAF). The team of Dean "Pato" Patterson and Paul "Pablo" Fournier of the 27th blitzed their opposition, with four victories and one draw out of six matches. Their team took the laurels in this event, with Dan Rose and Jim Kearney, also of the 27th, taking second place.

Although Dean scored the highest personal total from that event, 16.3 out of a possible 23, his earlier guns performance left him with a long way to go. David Morrison still held the lead with 31.7 points, but Dan Rose was now close on his heels with 29.0. Jim Kearney now held 3rd place with 26 points, with a cluster of pilots threatening him at around 20-23 points.

The final event on the first day of competition was the solo navigation and bombing event. This gruelling challenge required precision piloting and ground attack, flying a 40-minute course to hit each target precisely within a 10-second window, and with surface-to-air missiles lurking to pick off any pilot who strayed from the flight plan. This one separated the pilots from the fly boys!

Most of the course had to be flown at a speed of 900kph, a mere 40 metres above the ground. At this altitude, pilots had to be on the look out to dodge tall buildings and power lines! After heading out to sea and dodging an attack from an offshore cruiser, pilots had to turn inland and fly 75km to destroy a single artillery gun in the midst of a small village, at precisely 12:10:00, without damaging any of the surrounding buildings. After this easy warmup, the mission became tougher.

This time the gold went to Michael "Loophole" Barnes of the 62nd, with 18.9 points out of a possible 20 (he was a few seconds off on a couple of targets, and fired only eight rounds at the gunnery target instead of the required ten). Dan Rose showed that he had not forgotten any of his navigation skills, and collected 17.85 points. David Morrison only managed a disappointing performance with 14.6 points

With this upset, Dan Rose took the lead with 46.9 points. David was hot on his heels with 46.3 points. Michael now leapt to third position with 42.3. The rest of the pack had started to drop back, with a gap of 10 points to the next closest contender.

Go to Part II