SKY JINKS

Pre-flight jitters? Air sickness? Dumont got you edgy? Settle down. You'll do just fine. But, please read this manual before takeoff. It'll help put your nerves on autopilot, and give you some real pointers on piloting to victory and the coveted Thompson Trophy.

The object of Sky Jinks is to race your P41 through the pylon course, in the shortest possible time, without hitting pylons, trees or balloonists.

1. Hook up your video game system. Follow manufacturer's instructions.
   
   
2. With power OFF, plug in game cartridge.
   
   
3. Turn power ON. If no picture appears, check connection of your game system to TV, then repeat steps 1-3.
   
   
4. Plug in left Joystick Controller. It's the only one you'll need. When playing, hold Joystick with red button in the upper left position.
   
   
5. Set left difficulty switch at b.
   
   
6. Select game with game select switch.
   
   

   Game 1:	Polo Grounds	(25 pylon course)
   Game 2:	Aero Acres	(50 pylon course)
   Game 3:	Love Field	(75 pylon course)
   Game 4:	Speedway Meadows	(99 pylon course)
   Game 5:	Thompson Tourney	(99 pylons and a new course each time you select Game 5)

   
   
7. Use a Joystick Controller. Moving your Joystick to the left will bank your plane to the left. Move your Joystick to the right, and your plane banks right. Moving your Joystick forward or back during a race does not affect movement of the plane. The red button on your Joystick is your plane's throttle. Press the red button to accelerate. Release the button to slow your plane down.
   
   
8. To begin or start a new game. Press game reset to position your plane back at the beginning of the course and set your race timer to 0. Then, press the red button or move your Joystick to begin a new race.
   
   
9. Difficulty Switches. Only the left difficulty switch is used. In the a position, trees are randomly placed directly in you flight path along the course. With the left difficulty switch in the b position, trees are removed from the direct flight path.
   
   
10. Pylons. You must fly to the right of the red pylons and the left of the blue pylons. There is a 3 second penalty each time you fly on the wrong side of a pylon. Your pylon count is shown above the timer on the screen and counts down each time you either successfully pass or crash into a pylon. So, at the end of the race, the count remaining on the screen indicates the number of missed pylons for that race.

Note to owners of Sears Tele-Games Video Arcade: Difficulty is called skill, and a is expert, b is novice.

Your P41. You'll quickly find that flying your p41 racer is just like real flying.

As you accelerate to full throttle, notice how your racer's altitude increases and your plane's shadow falls back. Using your plane's shadow as a gauge will help you determine your air speed.

Also, notice how your plane banks when turning. And, just like real flying, your P41 accelerates into turns, but it won't respond immediately when turning. This delayed reaction gives a more realistic sense of flying.

Obstacles along the course. You'll not only have to properly bank around the pylons to make the best time, but you'll also have to deal with (and dodge) other obstacles as well.

Trees and hot air balloons have been strategically placed along the course to really keep you on your toes and keep you from flying the fastest, most direct path. You'll need to master your racer and be able to make split-second decisions in order to do well in Sky Jinks.

In high stakes air racing, you'll need razor-sharp reflexes and a keen sense of anticipation. In order to sharpen your reflexes and really get to "know" your P41 racer, you should take a couple of warm-up runs down the field.

At first, don't even try to fly the pylon course. Just soar at slow speed in a fairly straight path to check out your instruments.

Learn how your plane banks and accelerates. Then, when you're more comfortable with the controls, take a practice run through one of the pylon courses. Learn to anticipate the upcoming pylons and begin turning early, before you reach the pylon marker. At this point, don't even worry about time, there will be plenty of races for time later.

If you beat a time of 37.0 seconds on Game 1, without missing any pylons, you can join our Activision "Sky Stars." Just send us a picture of your television screen, along with your name and address, and we'll enroll you in this honored club.

Tips from Bob Whitehead, designer of Sky Jinks.

Bob Whitehead is a Senior Designer at Activision. He also designed Boxing, Skiing, Stampede and Chopper Command.

"The key to winning any race is speed. But, in pylon air racing, you'll have to match your speed with flying skills. That means becoming a good judge of distance and how soon or late to begin your turns.

"As your skills really progress, and you become a precision pilot, you should almost be able to fly full throttle through most of a course without slowing down for pylons, trees or balloons. Cut your turns sharply, and try to get as close to the pylons as you can. The path to becoming a "Sky Star" takes lots of patience and plenty of crashes.

"But remember, even when you do have a mishap and crash into something, quickly accelerate back into the race. You'll be surprised at how good your times can be even after a crash or two.

"And, please stay down from the wild blue yonder long enough to drop me a note. I'd love to hear how your racing career is going. Good luck, good flying and God bless!"