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The Art Of The Kill
Mark "AZ SPAD Man" Jennings
February 22, 2002
Ahh - the ever elusive kill. Never easily executed, but when you get one, it is an exciting, blood pumping, adrenaline squirting moment in time when you are the successful aerial predator! Ahh, the kill!
All good things take time. A beginner must understand that this is a complicated maneuver which takes practice to become proficient at. A baseball player invests untold hours practicing for the game and so a combat pilot must practice to improve his skills. Find a partner and take turns chasing each others streamers. This can be a humbling experience, but in a short time (4 to 6 tanks of fuel) you will see improvement. And guess what? It's a blast chasing each other around! At first take turns flying in a pattern with long streamers (20 ft), then cut it loose and fly combat. Remember we are out here to have fun. Now guys, don't even think about staying away from competition because you aren't good enough yet. One other factor comes into play for beginners and the experienced alike, and that is good old fashioned blind luck. During the second heat of my first combat meet, I had two kills in two minutes. Now how is that for beginners luck. I ended the day with 3 kills! Wow! What a cool day flying combat. Luck is great, but it is a fickled partner. Skill is much better. Practice will improve your skills and you number of kills. There is nothing like locking onto a planes 6 and staying with it until - ZIP - there's another streamer floating down. Another one bites the dust!
Now lets discuss technique.
Technique #1: (my favorite) Fly above the hairball (where everyone is flying) and slow down, level your wings, then look for an unsuspecting target. When I find a plane doing a big maneuver, say a loop or wide turn, I calculate a good place to intercept. Then power up, and down from the sapphire blue sky comes my spad of death to surprise and basically scare the pants off some poor schmuck. Now the screaming and spinning starts. When you get close, a barrel roll will increase your kill zone. If you miss, just do a few loop-de-loops and head back up to reset your trap.
Technique #2: Often times friendly rivalries develop. You know, the old story of "you cut my tail off last time and now it's your turn sucker". This situation calls for another technique called the vengeful chase. Oh yes, there is nothing like locking on some planes 6 and staying there until you get that streamer. No matter how many times he eludes you, get back on his tail and make him CRAZY!! You may not score as many kills, but you just might become a folk hero among the combat community. Now, how cool is that!?!
Technique #3: When skill is lacking, a good way to boost your luck is to employ the good old Loop-de-loop of Death Technique. It is simpler than it sounds. All you have to do is find where most of the action is and go there fast, then do a bunch of loop-de-loops and ziggy zaggs and left, left, lefts right in the middle of as many planes as possible. This technique has stuck many a shiny star to my killer spads wings. Don't be bashful, just get in there, stay close and have fun. The Loop-de-loops of Death also produces the most spectacular midairs with chunks and parts flying everywhere, much to the delight of our spectators. Keeping in mind the spad only costs $10.00 and took 5 hours to make. That is if you don't win a new spad for the best crash award.
Now guys, lets remember that we are out here to have fun and no grudges are allowed. Combat pilots are happy pilots freely releasing tons of stress during each combat meet. The better you become at plucking streamers, the more fun it is - so practice as much as possible.
Have fun and watch your 6!
Mark "AZ SPAD MAN" Jennings
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