WELCOME TO THE DANGER ZONE AT AIR COMBAT USA, A THOUSAND BUCKS TURNS YOU INTO TOM CRUISE.

Byline: Story and photos by Bill Becher Correspondent

FULLERTON - The airplane shudders at the edge of a stall - the fine line between riding a slick flying machine and a brick plunging toward Earth. This is called pushing the envelope.

We're squashed against our parachutes in a high-G turn, chasing the enemy plane. I center it in the ring sight and squeeze the trigger on the control stick.

``Guns, guns, guns!'' yells my instructor pilot, sitting next to me. The bad guy's plane spews smoke. Get out the butter and jam - he's toast!

At Air Combat USA in Fullerton, you can fulfill your fighter-jock fantasy with a flight that's only lacking live ammunition for realism.

``The customer gets to peek under the tent and see what being a fighter pilot is all about,'' says John (call sign ``Nails'') Neubauer, one of the instructors. The customer also gets dubbed with a call sign and flies the plane, even if he or she has never flown one before. Nails and the other pilots handle the boring bits, like takeoff and landing.

Nails knows his right stuff: He was a naval aviator with 219 combat missions over Vietnam. The planes are ex-military too. The Marchetti SF-260 is used for combat training because it handles like a jet.

Machete might be a better name for this sleek aircraft with knife-edge wings. It's fully aerobatic, capable of pulling six G's - that's six times the force of gravity and more G's than most of us will use in a lifetime. Four G's are enough to make your vision start to dim, the corners of your mouth pull back into a smile like a Halloween pumpkin and your eyeballs feel as if they're going to pop out the back of your head.

But before you fly, there is a pre-mission briefing. You learn some basic dogfighting tactics and how to exit the plane in case of an aerial mishap.

``If it gets really breezy and you look over at the seat next to you and it's empty, that's a good sign it's time to get out,'' says Mike Blackstone, an airline pilot and owner of Air Combat.

Before this happens, your pilot will yell, ``Eject, eject, eject!'' And he's not kidding, says Blackstone, who demonstrates the correct procedure for pulling the rip cord (use both hands and pull hard).

In the briefing you learn some fighter jock lingo, like the ``hard deck'' - that's the agreed minimum safe altitude for the fight. If, while evading the other guy, you bust the imaginary hard deck, you're considered dead. This is called a ``rocks kill'' because it's presumed you have become a scorched spot on the stony ground. If this happens you're not supposed to whine.

``Just shut up and die like a man,'' says Blackstone.

Many of the instructors are ex-Navy or Marine aviators, some from Top Gun - officially known as the Navy Fighter Weapons School, which was made famous by the Tom Cruise movie. The aviators are tolerant of Air Force pilots. Somebody has to fly the target plane.

After the pre-mission briefing, I stroll out to the flight line wearing a jumpsuit, chute and helmet. It's a real hero's rig and it's hard not to swagger.

Then I climb into the Marchetti with my instructor, Bill ``Mac'' McMillan, a former Marine A-4 jockey who handles the takeoff. The plane is equipped with a ring sight - if you ``kill'' your opponent, his plane makes a smoke trail.

We head out over the ocean and do some formation flying with the other Marchetti. My opponent is John ``Bulldog'' Koh, a businessman from Hong Kong flying with Nails.

Bulldog is on his second flight of the day and practices getting into the kill position behind me with a barrel roll.

Then the instructors line us up on opposing parallel courses. When we pass each other, the fight's on. I fly the plane with a joystick that's bristling with buttons, like a video game controller. Pull back and the plane climbs for the wild blue, push forward and the ground gets bigger faster. A sideways motion and you're turning.

For some this can be a queasy ride. Blue airsick bags are within reach if needed. There are a lot of blue bags. Blackstone says 90 percent of his customers don't have a problem.

I'm afraid I'll be in the 10 percent and my call sign will be ``Hurl.'' But I stay with it. There's something about chasing another plane around the sky that gets my competitive blood boiling.

I try to get on Bulldog's tail by yo-yoing. That means turning hard and at the same time climbing or diving.

Bulldog is on his game in this fight and I learn another fighter jock term when he gets behind me. I'm a ``missile sponge.''

Our fights are videotaped from the cockpit and we get to take the tape home. There's a post-mission debriefing after we land.

Nails is like a little kid watching our tapes, his hands flying as he illustrates the finer points of the high yo-yo, trying to teach us how to be aces and not missile sponges.

Bulldog had better watch his 6 o'clock - Hurl's going to wax him next time. Just keep the blue bags handy.

IF YOU GO

Air Combat USA is located at the Fullerton airport. The company tours other U.S. cities offering air combat experiences. Cost for the Basic Air Combat Maneuvers flight and video is $995. For more information call [phone] or visit www.aircombatusa.com.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- 3) The view from the Marchetti SF-260, a plane used in combat training becasue it handles like a jet, can be breathtaking, top, but don't get too comfortable - a would-be ace at Air Combat USA such as Hong Kong businessman John Koh (above, flashing a victory sign, with instructor John ``Nails'' Neubauer), might have you in his sights.

Bill Becher

Box:

IF YOU GO (see text)