Fighter Pilot Certification

The Fighter Pilot Certification Program is one of many Certification Programs within Rescue Squad One designed to train specific skills. The Fighter Pilot Certification is specifically designed to identify, train, and reward the best Combat Pilots within RS1. If you are interested in improving your Fighter Pilot skills, please see the Advanced Fighter Pilot Training page.

There are 6 Fighter Pilot Certification Levels, each with their own set of requirements and/or limits.

Badge	Certification Level	Cap
	LVL 1	Unlimited
	LVL 2	Unlimited
	LVL 3	13
	LVL 4	6
	LVL 5	4
	ACE (3rd)	1
	ACE (2nd)	1
	ACE (1st)	1

Fighter Pilot Levels

Fighter Pilot LVL 1

Is earned by participating in RS1 Flight 101 Course within the Rescue Academy. This LVL is often skipped, as experienced pilots can earn LVL 2 by passing the 1v1 LVL 2 Evaluation Match.

Fighter Pilot LVL 2

Is earned by participating in an evaluation match vs a LVL 5 or LVL 6 Pilot. The 1v1 match will be held with Light Fighters, and your flight skills will be evaluated.

Fighter Pilot LVL 3 And Above

Earning LVL 3 and above requires a challenge match vs someone in the rank above you. If the winner is the lower ranked pilot, they will move up a rank, and the loser will move down a rank. If the winner is the higher ranked individual, no ranks will change and they will have successfully defended their right to hold onto their certification level.

If there's an open slot in the LVL above you, you can challenge either a pilot at the same level, or one level higher. If you win, you can occupy the vacant slot without anyone dropping down a rank.

For example, a LVL 2 Pilot Challenging a LVL 3 Pilot. If there was already a vacant LVL 3 slot, if the LVL 2 pilot wins a challenge match, the losing pilot will not go down a rank since there was a vacant slot.

Challenge Match General Rules

Challenge matches are required in order to rank up from LVL 2. There are a few rules for Challenge matches which must be upheld.

• Challenge Matches are always Best of 3. Two wins are required in order to claim victory.
• Can be held in Arena Commander or the Verse- Arena Commander preferred.
• Light Fighters strongly preferred. Medium Fighters and Heavy Fighters are allowed so long as each pilot both use ships of the same class, and agree upon the ships used.
• Both combatants must share their loadouts with the opponent
• Both combatants must agree that the loadouts are fair and balanced. If the opponent does not agree upon the use of distortions for example, the pilots must respect that decision.
• Mirror matches are preferred, but are not required
• Any loadout is allowed unless disagreed upon by the opponent
• No Missiles
• Combat will start via the standard "1v1 etiquette". This should have been taught to you when you entered the program. For a reminder, you do a flair and pass with your opponent, turn and fight.
• Any map location is allowed.
• You can only challenge one person at a time.
• Running away the whole match in order to force a draw will result in a loss
• Matches must conclude within 30 minutes

Issuing a Challenge

Challenges must be issued via #Academy-Tickets.

• Pilots above LVL 4 will be unable to refuse a challenge without dropping a rank. This is to prevent the program stagnation and challenge avoidance.
• Challenged Pilots must respond within 72 hours or lose their rank.
• LVL 4 and above challenges will be events that can be spectated. This must be done publicly via Discord's Event system.

Higher Level Pilot Challenges (LVL 4 and above) are made public for fun, but also to ensure the challenge matches are held in accordance with the rules. If both challenge candidates have potato PCs and can't stream, open up Free Flight and allow others to join in Arena commander to spectate.

"I'm Lagging Bro" - Good Sportsmanship Clause

If you accept a challenge match and experience issues during your fight- be it internet problems, 30k, ship glitches, game bugs, etc- Inform your opponent of the issues at hand, attempt to resolve the problems, and try again. Use common sense.

If you are caught repeatedly having issues "conveniently" mid fight when you are losing, you may be in violation of the "Good Sportsmanship Clause".

The Fighter Pilot Certification Program's intent is to reward those who put effort into training and bettering themselves. Win or Lose, we must accept the results of our encounters and congratulate our teammates. Winners should be modest, and losers should congratulate the victors. We are all on the same team, and should remember that within the competitive Certification Programs.

Those who are not a good sport within the program and introduce toxicity may be restricted to LVL 2 Fighter Pilot.

Challenge Cooldown

If someone goes up a Fighter Pilot Cert LVL within the past week, they have the right to refuse a challenge without penalty.

Final Notes

There are a few edge cases which do not have rules defined, but can be regulated by the Certification Program maintainers. For example, if someone is getting excessive challenge requests, there may be a "cool-down period" put into place to encourage others to challenge different opponents. Another example is if someone is submitting too many challenge requests, a "cool-down period" may be put into effect to prevent excessive challenges.

Another scenario which will be regulated is the refusal of challenges. If someone does not ever accept a challenge, the concern is they will sit on their rank without opposition. The intent of the program is that everyone LVL 3 and above must make a strong effort to participate in the living program. If there is not an effort to accept Challenge Requests, you may risk losing your rank automatically.

The Certification Organizers reserve the right to adjust the Fighter Pilot Certification Levels as required. If members are inactive for too long, they may be subject to automatically losing their rank (Typically down to LVL 2 where there is no member cap)

Soft-Wipes may occur on a regular basis to encourage member activity within the program. Think of this like "Seasons" where you must re-earn your rank and position. This will keep the system from becoming "stuck" with many inactive members. A soft-wipe would bring everyone down to a LVL 2 certification.