The average life expectancy for a fighter pilot during the Battle of Britain was 3 1/2 days. These aerial warriors lived as though each day was their last–and often it was.
Chicago-area Walter Mittys can capture a bit of the intensity of life that those World War II fighters must have experienced. But at DuPage Airport, the aerial fights are flights of fantasy, fliers do live to fight another day, and it’s videotape that’s being shot, not bullets.
Fighter Pilots USA, based in Kissimmee, Fla., during the winter months, this year established the 61st Fighter Squadron at DuPage, with plans to make the location its permanent summer home. The company’s mission is to enable anyone who ever dreamed of flying a combat mission to fulfill that fantasy. And mind you, this is actual aerial dogfighting, not on a simulator.
“I’d say our average customer fits the profile of the aggressive risk taker,” said Fighter Pilot’s director of operations and chief pilot Tim DesMarais. “But 70 percent of them have never had their hands on the controls of an airplane before.” Guest pilots have ranged in age from 11 to 92.
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It’s a sultry July day, and two Chuck Yeager wannabes are expected at the 61st’s hangar. Jim Hall from Aurora, accompanied by his wife, Margaret, arrives first.
“I learned about this through our flying club, Shamrock Aviation,” says Hall, who holds a private pilot’s license.
Margaret adds, “I’m giving this experience to him as a gift. Or rather, I should say, I’m giving my permission for him to spend the money to fulfill his fantasy.”
The price for that dream fulfillment is $750.
Hall’s opponent, Robin Kurlas, enters the hangar with her husband, Dennis, and his video camera, and their children, Nick, 11, and Tyler, 9. “We just flew in from Cincinnati,” says Robin Kurlas, who still hasn’t quite recovered from the surprise of receiving the dogfight as a birthday gift earlier that morning. “Dennis just told me to pack a bag, but he wouldn’t say where we were going,” added Kurlas, who has no previous piloting experience.
Once the guest pilots don flight suits, they meet with DesMarais for a one-hour briefing. DesMarais discusses the mission’s objectives, the plane they will be flying and how to maneuver it, the rules of engagement and safety precautions. “We’re going to spend most of our time talking about how to maneuver your airplane effectively against your opponent,” he says.
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DesMarais, a former F-16 fighter pilot with more than 5,000 hours of total flying time, retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel to help start Fighter Pilots USA. The group employs eight other former F-16 pilots, all of them hand-picked by DesMarais as much for their people skills as their flying expertise. The squadrons–the 61st at DuPage, as well as the 62nd at Kissimmee–were so named because at one time all of the pilots had been associated with those squadrons during their military careers.
Fighter Pilots USA began in 1991 at the Florida base of operations. Lee Abernethy of Barrington, now president of the organization, was part of the investment group that enlisted the services of DesMarais to design the flying programs, procure the airplanes and outfit them with video systems, lasers and receivers.
“Fighter Pilots is owned by the holding company known as Check Six,” Abernethy said. “We’re providing support and marketing activity for the air operation.”
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In the briefing room, DesMarais is using a pair of wooden planes to get his point across to Hall and Kurlas. “All the flights will start by passing left wing to left wing. Then I’ll call, `Fight’s on.’ Those are the magic words. Go for the gusto, and may the best man win. We’ll let that fight go to a logical conclusion, then set up another one. Normally, we get three to five fights, depending on how long they last.”
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The aircraft is a SF260 Marchetti, an Italian-built plane that is used by approximately 25 countries for fighter training. A highly maneuverable aircraft, the Marchetti was described by DesMarais as being the closest thing to the F-16 fighter, although it is a propeller-driven plane. It is produced only for military use, although used planes make their way into the private sector, and is one of the few high-performance aircraft that is FAA certified to carry passengers for hire. The two-seater has dual controls, allowing the instructor flying with the “Top Gun” to take over if necessary–something that happens infrequently, according to DesMarais.
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The winner of this day’s dogfight will be determined by the number of hits the opponent’s plane takes. Lasers that strike receivers mounted on the planes put out a burst of white smoke, allowing pilots to register their kill.
“It’s our job to make sure we abide by the rules and keep it safe,” DesMarais is saying. “We’re not going to fly below 2,000 feet and we’re not going to get any closer to each other than 500 feet.”
Before heading off for the wild blue yonder north of DeKalb, the guest pilots are given some rules to live by, including keep sight of your opponent, airspeed is life, and altitude above your opponent is a wonderful thing. “And never admit defeat,” DesMarais adds. “Lie, lie, lie. Until your opponent can prove otherwise from the videotape we make of you in the cockpit, lie, lie, lie.”
Pilot Dave Karczewski will be flying with Kurlas. Karczewski joined Fighter Pilots USA in September 1993. He had served in the Persian Gulf and flew more than two dozen combat missions during Desert Storm, then served as an F-16 instructor at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. “We’re going to have fun today,” Karczewski tells Kurlas. “If that means gunning Jim Hall out of the sky, so be it.”
Hall and Kurlas pose for cameras and video recorders, then climb into the cockpits of their planes with DesMarais and Karczewski, respectively. As they slip the surly bonds of Earth with the instructors at the controls, they wave good-bye with a double dip of the Marchettis’ wings, and then it’s off to do or die.
Within moments, the sounds from the cockpits can be overheard on a radio in the hangar. Hall’s “Tally-ho” indicates that he has Kurlas in sight. DesMarais responds with “Fight’s on.”
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“We started this operation in the Orlando area, but we wanted to start another permanent base,” Abernethy said. “With the Orlando Sentinel owned by the Tribune, and WGN and the Cubs on television down there, Chicago seemed a natural. We’ve noted that a large percentage of the clients who flew with us in Florida were from Chicago.” The 61st Squadron will remain in place at DuPage through mid-September, with plans to return next June.
DuPage Airport was selected as the squadron’s base because of a connection with Travel Express Aviation, a flying club that rents out planes. “The president of that company had flown with us on several occasions. He got to know some of our pilots, and it progressed to us leasing a hangar here,” Abernethy said. “Travel Express has been very supportive of our operation.”
Gary DeWindt of St. Charles is the president of Travel Express. “I flew with this group six times in Florida,” he said. “Then some of their pilots came up and presented a safety meeting for Travel Express, and it just developed into a good relationship.”
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Six thousand feet above ground, aerial combat is in progress. “Guns! Guns! Guns!” screams Hall, using the common military phrase to indicate that he just took a shot at Kurlas.
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The large number of Fortune 500 companies in the Chicago area was another impetus that brought Fighter Pilots USA to this area. “That’s an arena we’re really trying to penetrate,” Abernethy said. “We’re focusing on corporate groups for motivation and incentive programs. We feel there’s a correlation between a military mission and what goes on in the business world. The days of givens and tried and true are over. Corporations are all in uncharted waters now.”
An experience with Fighter Pilots is a way for senior managers to go beyond what they thought they were capable of doing and get beyond their own little comfortable sphere, Abernethy explained.
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“No joy,” Hall says from the cockpit, meaning he has lost sight of his opponent.
DesMarais sees her: “Turn left, she’s over your left shoulder.”
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Once pilots participate in the initial air combat maneuvers program, they are eligible to partake of Fighter Pilots’ more advanced offerings. “For those who want to proceed beyond the first ride, we have more programs that allow you to earn your patch, so to speak, like Boy or Girl Scouts,” Abernethy said. The cost of multiple flight programs can run into thousands of dollars.
“We do have a lot of repeat customers, and we have group competitive programs as well. Within the groups is where you really get a flavor for the camaraderie that develops.”
The image of the fighter pilot as the aerial warrior–the last of the gunslingers–is the image upon which Abernethy hopes to capitalize. “This is about selling the sizzle,” he said. “Our guest pilots are the type of people who may have always wondered, if their lives had taken a different path, would they have had what it takes to be the world’s greatest fighter pilot?”
Despite the emphasis on high drama, safety is an area that is stressed. “There are always safety concerns when operating aircraft in a large metropolitan area, according to Mike Nowicki, manager of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Flight Standards District Office at DuPage Airport. “But I’ve not encountered any safety problems when reviewing the records of this group.”
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The warriors return. The canopies pop open and out jumps one jubilant Jim Hall.
“Wow!” he shouts. “Now I am here to tell you, that was cool!”
The conversation between the former enemies is fast, excited.
“The third time I heard you yell, `Guns, guns, guns,’ ” Hall tells Kurlas, “our whole cockpit filled with smoke. I do have a newfound respect for flying.”
DesMarais and Karczewski set up the videotapes that were filmed of the pilots during their flights. On two side-by-side screens, the tapes are viewed simultaneously, and the maneuvers critiqued by the host pilots.
And the winner of the dogfight?
“We definitely won,” Hall says to Kurlas. “We had three fights and I got you on the first and third.”
“Nope, I’d say we won,” Kurlas replies. “That second fight we completely blasted you.”
Hall shakes his head. “Lie, lie, lie.”
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To contact Fighter Pilots USA for information and reservations, call 800-56-TOP-GUN.
