North American Top Gun

For all the hours many of us spend online, only a few of us have ever actually flown a real aircraft, and even fewer of us have ever flown in a combat aircraft. I recently had the opportunity to realize the dream of flying a combat trainer as I took flight in the skies over San Marcos, Texas in the aptly named T-6 Texan.

Flying with my North American Top Gun Instructor Pilot (NATG) I had the opportunity to take full control of the T-6 and put it through its paces. Since this was my first flight, I do not have a lot of things to compare my flight to, but rather a lack of things to compare it to can describe how extraordinary flying a real plane is.

After a safety briefing and assurance that NATG has a spotless safety record, my NATG representative and pilot, Bob Roth took me outside the hanger to wait for my ride. I could hear the engine of the T-6 on approach and I was a little surprised when they made a pass over the runway. They circled around and made a flawless approach and then taxied to a stop in front of the hanger. I waited as they unstrapped an elderly gentleman who was old enough to be my grandfather. Bob had mentioned that many of their customers are WWII veterans. Many WWII pilots come to fly to relive the thrill, and many of the other WWII aircraft support personnel also come out for a chance to fly a WWII era plane.

Bob then waved me up to the plane and that I needed to get over there and hop in. While strapping me into the parachute first, then the harness, Bob went over several other safety instructions. Probably the most important instruction was how to successfully bail out. There were no ACES II Zero/Zero ejection seats in WWII, and I can’t say that I was sorry I didn’t get a chance to try a bail out. Fortunately my flight was event free and there was never any hint of trouble during my flight Time.

I strapped on the headset and opened up communication with my instructor pilot (IP) Woody. I introduced myself and once introductions were done, we were ready to fly. Woody throttled up the engine and started his taxi to the runway. After getting clearance from the tower, and one last "Are you ready?" Woody applied full power and we were airborne in a few seconds. I have to admit I have never been in a small plane and the excitement of going up was incredible. What was even more incredible was when we leveled off at 1500 feet and Woody called over the mike, "Shepard, you ready to take control?"

With that I took a moment just to get the feel of the stick in my hand. A far cry from my Thrustmaster FLCS, the stick of the T-6 reminded me of a bicycle handle more than anything else. There was a trigger on the stick for their ACM flights, but today, it was just myself and the wild blue yonder.

"Bank left," Woody instructed.

I pushed the stick to the left slowly and gently because I have heard so much about how sensitive the sticks of a real airplane are. The plane rolled left and I applied a slight left rudder, and the ball centered right up on the instrument panel. "HEY! This is just like Warbirds and MS Combat Flight Simulator!" I thought to myself. With that, I leveled off and banked right, becoming more bold and pulling a little harder. G’s started mounting up and I eased off the stick.

What came next was amazing. I leveled off, and picked up speed. "Now, let’s see what this baby can do." I pulled up in a steep zoom climb and went from 150 IAS to 80 IAS when the plane started to buffet. I knew before I looked at the Airspeed Indicator that we were approaching a stall. Not wanting to get stalled I pushed the stick forward and I floated up a bit in my seat as we approached weightlessness. I leveled off at 3500 feet. And began to pick up speed again.

Now! For my next trick… "Mind if I do a barrel roll, Woody?" and I glanced in the rear view mirror to see my IP’s reaction.

"Go for it!" Woody said and gave me the thumbs up.

I was in a state of disbelief! I couldn’t see myself actually doing it, so I said, "Show me how it’s done."

With that, Woody pushed the stick forward to pick up airspeed and pulled up and rolled the plane. At the completion of the barrel roll, he pulled up on the stick and we climbed back up to 3500 ft.

Now it was my turn. I pushed the stick forward and picked up speed to 185 IAS and then pulled back on the stick and rolled left. The plane went into the barrel roll, and we rolled over and I have to say, the first time I saw the ground on the rollout of the barrel roll, it was a strange sensation. While not exactly scary, it was exciting as I pulled back on the stick and climbed again.

Again I pushed forward and with enough airspeed I pulled back on the stick and the G’s pinned me into the seat and we went up to the top of the loop. At the very top, it’s a strange sensation. Looking up at the ground I felt on top of the world. I felt the harness holding me as the Gs went to zero and the plane actually started to fall. I kept the stick back and we pulled out of the loop and all I could say was "WHOO!"

My confidence factor was increased by 100% right then. I requested to do some scissors, and Woody gave me the thumbs up again. I drew in my mind an imaginary bandit on my six and I began to do some hard breaking turns back and forth. Talk about FUN! Our airspeed started dropping from the hard turns and I could feel the loss of some of the control authority of the stick. I again leveled off feeling incredibly pumped.

My next question was, "How many G’s will this plane pull?"

"Five" was the reply.

"You gonna let me pull 5?"

"Ummm…. No." This I could understand because after a certain amount of stress on this plane, NATG has to get it inspected by FAA for stress related damages.

I was not about to complain. I was having the time of my life. "So Woody, how many can I pull?"

"Four," was his reply.

With that, I banked to the left and pulled back on the stick harder than before. The G’s began to rack up and I pretended to track an enemy plane by looking up. My head was getting REALLY heavy. We stayed in a sustained 4G turn for a few seconds before I let up on the stick. Wow! I could just imagine how 8 or 10Gs might feel. Ouch!

"Let’s head home." Came this sinister voice from the back seat. I could not believe my 30 minutes had passed like it were five minutes. In my excitement from flying, I had lost all track of where I was. I had no idea where the airport was and visibility wasn’t all that great due to the cloudy skies. Lucky for me, my IP knew where we were and instructed me to bring it left 30 degrees. After 6 miles I spotted the airport at about 7 miles. There wasn’t an ILS deviation indicator in the HUD, but it was easy to line the plane up with runway 22. Who needs ILS!

Woody obviously didn’t because he excected a perfect turn towards the runways and put the wheels down on the numbers. Not so much as a slight bump was felt. That’s how smooth his landing was. Although I wasn’t allowed to land the plane, I did kept my hand on the stick so I could see how it was done. It didn’t feel any different than landing a plane in MS Combat Flight Simulator, but unfortunately I would have to have a pilot’s license to actually land the plane.

So what does something like this cost? Well, for the basic up and around flight for 15 minutes, it will set you back $190. This isn’t enough time to do hardly anything. You’ll want to sign up for the 30 minute flights that go for $270 to $360 depending on what kind of action you want to do.

I would recommend the "Super Ace" package at $360 because you can do the aerobatics and you have a cool video to show your friends. NATG does offer ACM flights. This is where you fly up against another plane in hopes of shooting him down with the laser targeting system. Unfortunately this option wasn’t available at San Marcos. You’ll want to check the NATG Website for their schedule and to find out which locations offer ACM flights. Whatever package you go with, you are sure to have an amazing experience.

With a friendly staff, and a great plane to fly in, you’ll get a great taste of WWII style flight. If you love Flight Sims and always wanted to try your hand at the real deal, this is the way to go. There is NOTHING like flying the plane yourself. It was a lot easier than I expected, but then again, over 1000 hours of flight sims didn’t hurt.

I am looking forward to flying again, and hopefully seeing some Air to Air Combat in my future flights. This flight did wonders to my confidence factor. At first I was a bit nervous since this was my first real flight, but after the flight, I am confident I can handle other WWII planes. I will not be shy of controlling a plane the next time I get inside of one. This type of flight is a great step if you are wanting to work your way up to participate in the ACM package. You haven’t lived until you try your hand at flying! You’ll be amazed.