The Extra 330LC aircraft is a zero prohibitive maneuvers unlimited aerobatic aircraft, capable of 10-Gs, a higher G-force than an F15 fighter jet. And East County’s newest extreme thrill ride made its home at Gillespie Field on Sept. 26 with the help of local skateboarding legend Tony Hawk. Flying in with a friend, Hawk said the ability to have control of the plane in doing barrel rolls and other classic dog fighting maneuvers was an adrenaline rush he never experienced before.
The Extra 330LC aircraft is a zero prohibitive maneuvers unlimited aerobatic aircraft, capable of 10-Gs, a higher G-force than an F15 fighter jet. And East County’s newest extreme thrill ride made its home at Gillespie Field on Sept. 26 with the help of local skateboarding legend Tony Hawk. Flying in with a friend, Hawk said the ability to have control of the plane in doing barrel rolls and other classic dog fighting maneuvers was an adrenaline rush he never experienced before. And that is the entire concept behind San Diego’s newest thrill attraction, Sky Combat Ace (SCA).
Richard “Tex” Coe, owner and pilot of SCA said that a person could experience more G-force with the Extra 330LC than he did as a F-16 pilot in the Air Force. From Georgia originally, Coe joined the Air Force and clocked many hours overseas during combat tours. He moved to Las Vegas in 2003 and opened up the first SCA in 2011. Coe said he decided to move to San Diego to “get in a little beach time” and expand the business. He said with the success of the site in Las Vegas, he has high expectations in bringing it to the San Diego Region. SCA has four Extra aircraft and working on number five and is now open with a variety of packages designed for any level of thrill seekers, from spectating, riding or flying these high powered air machines.
“These Extra flyers reach 10-Gs with nine times the force of gravity. I can pull more G-force with these than I can in a fighter jet,” said Coe. “It’s incredible when you think about it. The craziest thing when you go up and pull 8 or 9-Gs is to see if you remain conscience. If anyone wants to come out and experience a real thrill ride like no other place in the world, we are here to do it.”
The grand opening brought lots of attention, especially with the combination of Hawk’s appearance and utilizing the event as a fundraiser for the Tony Hawk Foundation, which helps provides high quality, public skate parks throughout the United States. Currently, more than 4.8 million visitors utilize these skate parks, possible by the Foundation’s ability to work with community youth, government and local civic organizations.
Sen. Joel Anderson was on the tarmac for the event, presenting both Coe and Hawk with Certificates of Recognition for contributing to the local community.
“Tony Hawk is a homegrown local hero,” said Anderson. “Here is a guy who became successful, is at the top of his industry, top of his sport and really was one of the founders of extreme sports.”
Anderson said the community was fortunate to have Hawk there, with the Tony Hawk Foundation as a fundraiser, pointing out Hawk’s proven record in helping underserved kids and their communities.
“He’s such a great asset, and then to partner with SCA makes it a great day,” he said. “They are flying these planes that are greater than 10-Gs, and they are in our backyard. This is going to be a booming business and attract a lot of tourists and wonderful for our local communities because I can’t think of anything more exhilarating that being in air to air dog fighting. This is a great day for East County. It just shows what a wonderful asset Gillespie Field is to all of us here in East County.”
Kyle Napier, SCA operations manager and pilot, said this is not a simulator type adventure, as it is all real life flying. Adventure seeking packages cater to both the rider and the flyer ranging from flying in an alternate aircraft to see dog fighting from a higher elevation, riding in the high-speed Extra as it does combat and air show maneuvers to taking control of the aircraft and learning to pilot the plane through the operations. There are also packages for two, which Napier said many use with their friends in order to experience the dog fighting together in competition with one another. This is what Hawk, along with a friend did as they flew into Gillespie Field with a friend of his, dog fighting along the way before a grand landing to kick off the grand opening and fundraiser event.
“We take people up for aerobatic thrill rides as well as aerial dog fighting,” said Napier. “We have packages for those who just want to go on a thrill ride as we take them through an air show routine and packages where we teach people aerobatics and actually fly the aircraft themselves. We coach them through maneuvers and let them have control of the airplane and do loops, barrel rolls, hammerheads, and packages for aerial dog fighting where people can go up with their friends and learn the maneuvers to fight each other.”
For information about Sky Combat Ace’s several thrill ride packages visit www.skycombatace.com. To find out the primary mission and how to become involved with the Tony Hawk Foundation visit www.tonyhawkfoundation.org.
