Aircraft Setup and Systems

• Final systems check completed, aircraft ready for flight
• Both planes equipped with laser tag arrangements
• 15 sensors per aircraft in 3 categories:
  • Lethal hits: engine hit (triggers smoke), pilot hit (triggers red clay paper simulating blood)
  • Non-lethal hits: wings and fuselage (plane can continue flying despite multiple hits)
• Special effects actuators installed to indicate lethal hits
• Simulated machine gun fire systems integrated

Participants and Aircraft

• Peter Jackson (aircraft owner) arrives to observe
• British RE8 vs German Fokker DR1 matchup
• First authentic dogfight simulation in over 100 years
• Gary as pilot, narrator as gunner on RE8

First Dogfight Engagement

• Traditional thumbs up signal to start combat
• Fokker executes classic stalking maneuver with steep dive
• Fokker gets under RE8's tail in blind spot
• RE8 scores non-lethal wing hit on Fokker
• Fokker scores multiple non-lethal hits on RE8 wings and fuselage
• Gary performs evasive maneuvers to shake Fokker
• Simultaneous lethal hits: narrator hits Fokker engine, Fokker hits RE8 pilot
• Result: mutual destruction/tie

Second Dogfight Engagement

• Rematch initiated due to first fight tie
• Fokker again starts with non-lethal hits
• Gary and narrator develop teamwork coordination
• Narrator scores 2 lethal hits on Fokker (engine and pilot sensors)
• Triggers red blood trail streamers and engine smoke
• RE8 achieves decisive victory

Final Results Analysis

• Fokker: 7 non-lethal hits total across both flights
• RE8: 2 non-lethal hits total
• Lethal hit category (decisive): RE8 3 kill shots, Fokker 1 kill shot
• RE8 won both dogfights (first simultaneous, second decisive)
• All systems functioned properly: simulated machine gun fire, special effects, laser tracking