YES!!! The Avatar beer tanker gets a 22 gun salute from our battleships when it enters the harbor (supposed to be a 21 gun salute, but our guys can't count very well). And it arrives just in time for the party!
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day everyone! Due to this very important holiday, the competition is on hold for 24 hours. Instead we invite all of the competitors, support crews, and guests to relax for the day. Head down to Bombardier Park for the all-day barbecue and concert. Stop by the Avatar tankers for some brew. Head down to the flight line to watch the air show. There will be flyovers by vintage aircraft from around the world, and a spectacular performance by the ROD Air Force’s very own Sky Dog demonstration team! Perhaps we will even invite the sober F-4 drivers to strap in and dazzle the crowd with some fly-bys.
We have some really great musical acts lined up for today. We kick it off with the rock band Tongue Box, followed by rapper Big Phattie, and then rock band Smegma Bomb will take the stage to finish.
After the Phantom fly-by, the Fighter Rodeo Committee was happy to announce the 20 fighter pilots that are moving on to round 2 of the competition. Tomorrow (Thursday) these 20 pilots will each complete 2 head-to-head engagements to determine which 4 pilots go on to the finals. If necessary, additional sorties will be added in order to determine the top 4 pilots.
The final head-to-head event will be Friday.
The world famous Sky Dogs performing their routine:
Yesterday’s party was great, and everyone had fun. Apparently too much fun for some people, like the CoC pilots that got on stage last night and took over the concert in Bombardier Park.
The competition is back on, and fiercer than ever! All of the squadrons are competing in the maintenance competition, and between having their aircraft evaluated by maintenance experts, the attack pilots are in the air for the attack cannon shoot.
The top 20 fighter pilots in the air as well, competing in the head-to-head competition to be one of the 4 finalists for the Top Dogfighter trophy.
Today was another great day of competition. To begin with, all 20 squadrons were subject to the maintenance competition, where a panel of distinguished aircraft maintenance experts scrutinized all of the planes and judged them. The winner of the 2021 aircraft maintenance competition is the Bulgariadom Fighter Squadron (MiG-29)!
The attack pilots also had the opportunity to compete in the attack cannon event, attacking a stationary ground target with internal or external guns. Here are the winners:
And finally, the 2nd round of the head-to-head competition was held today. 20 fighter pilots each flew 2 missions and the four pilots with the highest points totals advance to the final round, which will be held tomorrow. The finalists are:
Today was perhaps the most exciting day of the Fighter Rodeo so far! All of the pilots were in action with live ordnance, and the Top Dogfighter was named!
For the Fighter pilots, it was drone shoot day. Each pilot took to the air and intercepted a drone, which they engaged with cannon fire – either internal guns or an external gun pod depending on the type of aircraft. After all 111 fighters had a run the points were tabulated with the final results:
The attack pilots were in action as well in the attack bomb drop competition. Each pilot engaged a stationary ground target with a 500lb bomb. Boom! Here are the results:
And the grand finale of the fighter head-to-head competition was this afternoon – the 4 remaining pilots each flew 3 sorties and the 2021 Top Dogfighter was announced:
RPNW Orca Squadron Aircraft #1 in the fan favorite F-4E! The crowd went wild when the announcement was made. Perhaps we will continue to see Phantoms in the competition after all!
Have fun tonight, but don’t get too crazy! The grand air war is tomorrow morning!
0600 – all pilots report to your hangars for orders.
The squadrons are organized into two opposing wings. Devil Wing is assigned to the Red Air Force and Angel Wing is assigned to the Green Air Force. Here is your briefing:
There has been a lot of submarine activity in the area recently. The two nations (Red and Green) are at war and blockading each other's coastline. Submarines on both sides are being used to break the blockade, as well as to attack merchant shipping. Each wing will take off from separate airfields and try to find the enemy submarines, while protecting their own. Attack aircraft will be loaded with live ordnance to engage the subs, while fighters will be equipped with air-to-air engagement systems to simulate aerial combat.
Squadrons take off in different directions and form up on their respective air control aircraft. Once everyone is airborne the war begins!
Great looking aircraft from Karmanaskis! Especially those F-4s - gotta love the Phantoms!
The Air War was a fantastic event! All of the aircraft got into the air without problems, but then the challenges of multinational operations came into play. Different communications systems, languages, and terminology all had to be overcome before the shooting even started.
The fighters found each other first and a massive, swirling dogfight ensued. At first the squadrons were able to maintain unit integrity, but after a while it evolved into a confusing brawl with pilots trying to determine which planes were friendly and which were hostile.
While the battle was raging at altitude, the attack squadrons went in low. Once they were able to identify the scrap subs that were anchored offshore, they began their attack runs, dropping live bombs and strafing the targets with cannon fire.
The time seemed to go by quickly, but the entire event lasted well over an hour. In the end all of the subs had been utterly destroyed and the fighters were running out of fuel. All of the aircraft returned to Vulture Field and an awards ceremony was held on the flight line, followed by a barbecue and an effort by all of the participants to empty the Avatar beer tanker.
Was the Avatar Beer involved in Karmanaskis's rather Reckless stunt?
Of course not, Avatar ensures that the host committee does not serve pilots when and if they flying that day or the next.
The pilots all know the rules, only three came saying they were pilots set to fly, so those three were not served. The rest, the hundreds, thousands of servings every day all were ground crew, observers, media and PR duties or pilots not flying that day or the next. Since everyone was so helpful we distributed kegs among the tables for quicker service stations. Everyone liked that option, even those that wanted service since they had shorter lines.
