Luxe Life Blog

At Sky Combat Ace, a high roller equal loops, barrel rolls and spins

Posted August 2, 2012 • 6:29 p.m.

Sky Combat Ace.

While Robin Leach takes his traditional summer vacation in sunny San Diego and La Jolla, many of our Strip and Las Vegas personalities have stepped forward in his absence to pen their own words of wisdom. Our thanks to them all. We begin to wind down our guest columnists with Richard “Tex” Coe, a real “Top Gun” fighter pilot who has brought a thrill-of-a-lifetime experience to Las Vegas. Take a ride and then check it off your bucket list!

By Richard “Tex” Coe

As the city that knows no bounds, Las Vegas has everything one could ever dream of … except, of course, a place where you can re-enact a scene from “Top Gun” in a real fighter plane. That’s where we at Sky Combat Ace help.

My team of fighter pilots and I have taken “high roller,” a term synonymous with Las Vegas, and made it literal -- you’re doing loops, barrel rolls, hammerheads, stalls and spins high above the Strip in one of our state-of-the-art Extra 330 aircrafts.

As one of a few civilian aerial combat training centers in the world, Sky Combat Ace promises a thrill of a lifetime. Guided by one of our expert aerobatic pilots, we allow you to take the controls and live out your Iceman and Maverick fantasies by engaging in world-class aerobatics and air-to-air dogfights.

You’ll battle it out 6,000 feet in the air against your favorite (or least-favorite) friends and family members in one of our 330-horsepower Extra 330LCs, giving you the thrill of an actual aerial dogfight. Chase your opponent through the Nevada skies as you aim to shoot your adversary using SCA’s special effects, and you’ll get instantaneous feedback as smoke flows from your opponent’s plane.

Not for you? Ditch the tricks and enjoy one of our sightseeing tours, like our breathtaking Las Vegas Night Lights Tour, where we fly you and someone special over the neon lights of the Strip. We provide complimentary transportation to and from the Strip for all aerobatic and sightseeing experiences, and we’ll even throw in champagne for the night-flight option.

Even with the busy schedules of the celebrities passing through Las Vegas, many have made time to get in on the ultimate adrenaline rush that is Sky Combat Ace, including UFC’s Gray Maynard, Apl.De.Ap of the Black Eyed Peas, Christopher Knight, aka “Peter Brady,” and the fellas from Incubus, to name a few.

As a former Air Force F-16 fighter pilot, I’m fully aware that any aerial adventure wouldn’t be complete without the digs to talk about your flight aerobatics afterward. And seeing as we’re in Viva Las Vegas, we built a hangar unlike any other you’ve ever seen.

Sky Combat Ace’s hangar is one of the most unique venues you’ll ever visit. We host any kind of party you can imagine complete with a bar (available, of course, only post-flight), darts, pool tables, hoops, a stage, flat-screen TVs and planes -- the ultimate bachelor pad or party venue. Our spot is so rad, the Killers filmed their music video in our hangar in recent weeks.

No Las Vegas experience should be complete without the ultimate Sin City thrill ride and a view from the best seat in the city high atop the Strip in one of Sky Combat Ace’s aircrafts. Hold on to whatever seat you’re reading this from and see for yourself by checking out the video of SCA’s high-flying experience.

Our thanks to Tex for adding the “Top Gun” thrill experience in Las Vegas. Be sure to check out our other guest column today from entertainer Louis Prima Jr. Join us Sunday as Robin prepares to resume his beat on and off the Strip when our guest columnists are his friends from RhumBar, where he’ll touch down long enough for a fine cigar to get over jet lag, mentalist Marc Savard and the man who is changing the face of the Luxor and Excalibur’s restaurants.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.

Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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