There were six CJ's, but they flew in two groups of three today for safety reasons. I guess it is more difficult to coordinate the actions of six pilots versus three when flying wing to wing. I spent an hour glueing the battery door back onto my Nikon while I listened to Rob, Marty and Mort brief the hand signals, radio frequencies, call signs and airspace limits for the flight. I rode back seat in Mort's plane. The CJ is certificated as an experimental aircraft since it is of foreign manufacture. That, and the aerobatic nature of the flights, requires the full time use of a parachute. That is subject for another post...
Formation Flight
We flew some tight formation flight for about 30 or 40 minutes at 4,000' MSL, and then Rob's plane departed the formation so Mort and Marty could have a dogfight. Marty is an ex-Marine fighter pilot, and since there is no such thing as an ex-Marine, this was a real dogfight. I have been flying aerobatic training flights with Mort for some time now, but nothing could have prepared me for the 5 minute dogfight that followed. After the first 30 seconds, I realized I was not going to be able to shoot photos, as I almost lost consciousness in the first engagement.
Pre-Combat
I was trying to look through the viewfinder of my camera when I realized that I was having some vestibular irregularity. I put the camera away, but it was too late. I was just a few seconds and one maneuver from decorating the canopy with some porkroll and omelet. As my very good luck would have it, Marty's son puked up his breakfast and they called the match "guns off". We pulled Rob back into formation and headed for home.
