In February, 1997, a special event was run in Air Warrior on AOL. It was announced that there would be a tournament whereby squadrons could compete against other squadrons in dogfights. The victor would advance in the ladder until there was a champion. The Skulls entered the tournament and faced the Kilted Yaksmen in the first round. The Kilted Yaksmen were a collection of veteran pilots who were flying for sport. Typically they were involved in other squadrons and were flying the Yak-9 just for fun. They were very good pilots flying a very bad plane.

The battle started out at 15k altitude, with the Yaksmen flying mostly Yaks, with a Ki-84 and a few miscellaneous US planes rounding out the numbers. The Skulls flew mostly Hellcats and a couple of Bf-109s. The Yaksmen had underestimated their opponents, losing most of their pilots midway through the battle while the Skulls suffered only one loss: Bishop (who deliberately put himself in harm's way in order to eliminate a superior enemy pilot and make life easier for his comrades). The victory came as a surprise to the Yaksmen and to most of the Skull pilots as well, particularly the commander of the fighter wings, Pancake, who had anticipated a lopsided loss to a superior-skilled enemy. The squad room was filled with cheers and whoops and hollers for about ten minutes before order was restored.

The next battle was against the Shillelaghs, a fellow C-Land squadron who fought with a style similar to the Skulls. Again, most of the Skulls flew Hellcats, a slow-moving, highly-armored, very maneuverable and forgiving aircraft. The Shills flew mostly Hellcats as well but with a few Corsairs and N1K1s to round out the force. The Shills were dispatched, with good sportsmanship displayed on both sides. This victory put us in the Final Four of the tournament.

After the battle, the tone wasn't one of exhilaration but rather the tone of a team that had just lost a big game. Certain pilots accentuated the negative aspects of our fight and really threw a damper on the positive mood of the victory. Some valid issues were raised ("We were too spread out" and "we weren't paired up") and steps were taken to correct these flaws.

The next battle was against the JG 27, a FR Europe squadron that patterned themselves after the German Luftwaffe. They were one of the better squadrons on AOL and consistently placed in the top 10 in fighter squadrons, bomber squadrons, and pilot scoring. Their strategy for the tournament became apparent once all of the planes had engaged: they flew a mix of FW190's, Mustangs, and some Turn-and-Burn aircraft. They sent a lone P-38 out in front, hoping to draw the Skulls into lining up behind the Lightning, making it easier for them to then line up behind the Skulls and take target practice. We didn't fall for the Lightning trick, but it wasn't really necessary as our Hellcats just couldn't handle fighting a "blended" wing of enemy aircraft and we succumbed.

Worse than losing the tournament was the fallout that happened a few days afterwards. Private discussions between the Commanding Officer, the Executive Officer, and a few of the pilots resulted in the resignations of the CO, XO, and two of the top pilots in the squad. This prompted the resignation of a few other pilots as well, mainly because they felt that the Skulls were on the decline. The Fighter Group Leader, Pancake, stepped up to assume command of the 24th Fighter/Bomber squadron and began reorganizing the squadron hierarchy. He dissolved the individual wings and went with a two-group structure split into bombers and fighters, with the former Bomber Group Leader Trap retaining his position and promoting the Fifth Fighter Wing Leader Ruger to the rank of Executive Officer. A promising young fighter pilot named Wheels was selected to head the Fighter Group.

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