putting a bit of life into those dreary dogfights

[Steve Lehar]

The essence  of a  good game is  to play against other  people.    The
anguished response when you beat them  soundly is such  sweet pleasure
that  no    machine  can match.    Unfortunately,  our  machine  is  a
standalone, so  we cannot  do the  regular dogfights  (much as I would
love to!)

We have devised some competitive games nevertheless that will keep you
amused for a while anyhow.  

SHORT LANDING
Take turns landing the plane and bringing it to a complete stop on the
runway (using reverse thrust), then view the final  position  from the
tower to see who can  land shortest.  You will  be amazed at how short
the f-15  can land  if you  drag it in  "over the   fence"  at minimum
airspeed and plonk it onto the very beginning of  the runway with full
reverse on!

QUICK TURNAROUND
Take off, turn around and land  in  as  short a time  as possible.  It
will take masterful  handling to do a  high  performance steep turn at
just the right distance out to allow just enough  time to line  up and
land in one piece.

FORCED LANDING
Take her to a pre-determined  position, for example 10,000 feet  right
over the field, kill the thrust and glide  it  in using just the flaps
and spoilers.

TURKEY SHOOT
Player 1 records a flight with a quick turnaround.  Player 2,  who may
not watch while the  first flight is  recorded, takes off and tries to
shoot down the first plane before it lands.  He must then also land as
fast as possible, and  this flight  is  also  recorded.   Player three
takes off and tries  to shoot down the  second  plane BEFORE it shoots
down the  first plane.   If  he  succeeds,  then   the first plane  is
"saved",  and player  1 gains a  point  for  each plane   successfully
landed.  Then player 2 tries to shoot down plane 3 before it can shoot
down plane 2,  thus "saving"  his  own plane 2, and  at the  same time
cancelling the "save" of plane  1.  This continues for several rounds,
and  the final flight is viewed  (with "shadow") to  tally  up who got
shot and  when, to compute  the  number  of planes that  landed safely
without being shot down.  To add excitement, make sidewinders illegal,
so you have to use rockets or cannon.


--
(O)((O))(((O)))((((O))))(((((O)))))(((((O)))))((((O))))(((O)))((O))(O)
(O)((O))(((               slehar at park.bu.edu               )))((O))(O)
(O)((O))(((    Steve Lehar Boston University Boston MA     )))((O))(O)
(O)((O))(((    (617) 424-7035 (H)   (617) 353-6741 (W)     )))((O))(O)
(O)((O))(((O)))((((O))))(((((O)))))(((((O)))))((((O))))(((O)))((O))(O)