We did the Sky Combat Experience in a group of 3 with the Red Rock Canyon Scenic Thrill Ride add-on. This tour could have been great, but equipment problems ruined it. Skip to the end for a list of tips to avoid having my experience. The tour started out smoothly with pickup from our hotel on the strip, check-in + safety briefing + upsells for add-on packages/video, and a bit of wait as the folks signed up for our timeslot had to be split into 2 groups of 3. SCA folks on the ground were friendly and professional. Once it was our turn, they took us out to the hangar and paired us up with our pilots. They skipped the flight suits for us due to warmer weather, but it's pretty cold in the air, definitely worth keeping them. Our pilots strapped us in, added cameras to the planes, and got us going. Unfortunately, this is where the problems began. Although the pilot did a comms check on the ground, what was barely understandable on the ground due to radio noise, was almost incomprehensible in the air, and I should have spoken up when I couldn't properly hear/understand what was being said during the pilot's initial ATC comms. We took off, and our pilots started us with the Red Rock add-on. The was a pretty cool experience, though it did involve a number of rolls that made me a bit nauseous. Probably would have preferred to do this at the end versus at the beginning of the flight, so I could be at 100% when it was my turn to take the controls. Once this was done, we headed higher for the dogfight. Bad comms really took their toll here. I got yelled at for touching the controls too early/late when I thought I was told your controls, and we seemed to be waiting/circling even after I said I was good to go after a short nausea break. Unable to hear where we were in the fight, I had one chance to actually take the controls, and was getting instructions I couldn't properly hear from the pilot, which led to them taking control again. Out of the entire flight, I had the controls for maybe 5-10 seconds and wasn't able to participate in a single run with my friends. Major disappointment. After we landed, we spoke to some folks in the group that went before us, and apparently one of them had the same issue with their headsets, so it wasn't just me. For something that cost our group $6k~ in total all-in, that I had been looking forward to and hyping up to my friends for months (I actually turned friends down on this, since there wasn't availability for more of us), given my experience in the air, I was pretty disappointed leading to my 2/5 star rating. If you're planning on doing any variation of this experience, here are some things I wish I had done that you can do to make your experience better than mine: 1. Please test your headset on the ground, and let your pilot know if you can't hear CLEARLY (audio should not be fuzzy). Everything is understandable on the ground with no engine noise, it's another story altogether when you're in the air. You should be able to hear the ATC comms. Above all else, not doing this and finding out I couldn't properly communicate with the pilot when it was too late ruined the experience for me. 2. I don't know if I missed this because of the broken headset, but during the safety briefing they mentioned your pilot would tell you what to do in the air - mine didn't do this, so worth asking on the ground. 3. Definitely worth running through the itinerary with your pilot before takeoff - we expected the acrobatics/red rock add-on to happen after the dogfight, but it happened first which left us all not feeling great (nausea) when it came time to take control - the thrill ride had a lot of rolls. That said, the add-on is definitely worth it and was what made this a 2/5 instead of 1/5 stars, I would ask to do it after the dogfight though for a better experience. 4. Apparently other pilots did this with my friends, but mine didn't - It's definitely worth talking to your pilot about how intense you want the thrill ride to be before you take off. 5. Use the flight suits, even if it's warm on the ground. It's quite cold at altitude and you have outdoor air blowing on you the whole flight from the dash vents.

I booked this experience as a surprise for my husband’s 60th birthday and it did not disappoint. I booked the Afterburner. On arrival we booked extra time to fly over Red Rock Canyon which my husband said was well worth the extra cost. In total flying time was around 40 minutes. Photo/video package was a little pricey but it’s optional and we wanted to capture the moment to share with family and friends. Overall it was an unforgettable experience.

Bought this for my husband for his 40th birthday. He has some flight experience but isn’t a pilot. He did the low level and sky combat. He said it was the best experience! His pilot was amazing! We got the video add on of the flight and I swear he’s watched it 100 times and shown everyone we know! I was a nervous wreck, but he said he never once felt unsafe. The lounge is stocked with snacks, coffee, water, games and a comfy couch for the ones too chicken to go up… **ME** Definitely recommend for the airplane connoisseur!

5 stars doesn't cut it, these guys are off the scale!!! By far the BEST experience we have ever had, apart from the first time we did this 10 years ago of course 🙌 The communication and organisation was spot on from the start. Jackie the driver was knowledgeable and friendly, and the transport was clean and comfortable. Josh my pilot, was awesome!! Huntley, aka $ store Tom Cruise 😄 was Helens pilot was awesome too!! The pilots are so talented and I am in awe of them being able to do the tricks they do. Incredible work! It was amazing from start to finish and we will definitely be booking again when we return next year. Highly recommend you buy the footage as that has been well worth it for the laughs it has given us. We still watch the videos back and cry with laughter at the g force pulling my face off. Absolutely hilarious!! Thank you so much for an incredible experience once again, we appreciate you and recommend everyone going to Vegas to pay you a visit!

Tommi had great time, this experience was his birthday present. He turned 40, so we had to start the big day even bigger! He will remember this forever. He did the Top Gun/ sky combat flight experience. Highly recommend this for everybody who dream is to fly aircraft and loves top gun! Great pilots, well maintained and we were warmly welcomed. Everything went smootly from the start . Amazing thank you so much!