A record 36 players flew pre-determined aircraft in three preliminary rounds of two dogfights each, from which the top eight players advanced using a modified double-elimination system. Aircraft used this year were all from Zero!:

Round 1 2 elements A6M2 vs. 2 elements Hurricane IIB
Round 2 2 elements A6M2 vs. 2 elements F4F Wildcat
Round 3 2 elements P-40B vs. 1 element Ki-27 + 1 element Ki-43-I

Unfortunately for him, Stan Buck had to withdraw, allowing 9th-seeded Steve Caler to advance in his place.

The quarterfinals were a test of thinking skills as two elements of Ki-27s faced one element each of I-15bis and I-16 Type 10s, as all leader's had zero burst ratings. Three of the higher seeds, Chris LeFevre (#1), Tim Hall (#3), and Ed Karpowicz (#4), fell; only Roger Taylor (#2) advanced , and he did so by defeating Mike Nagel.

The semifinals pitted one element each of A5M (Claude) and A6M2s against one element each of P-40Cs and P-35As. Dan Hoffman narrowly defeated Peter Perla, 14-to-12, while Caler beat ex-champion Taylor, 14-to-9, to set up one of the closest finals in the 5-year history of this event.

The finals consisted of two elements of J2M5s (Jack) vs. two elements of F4U-4 Corsairs. The first game ended in a 7-7 tie. After switching aircraft for game 2, Steve took a very early 5-0 lead when his first element's leader blew up one of Daniel's F4Us wingman even before Daniel had a chance to play a card. Already down 5-0, Daniel slowly fought back and by the end of turn 3, the score was 5-4. By the end of turn 4, Daniel took a slight 9-7 lead. Starting turn 6, it was knotted at 12-all. On Steve's last play, he tried to finish off Daniel's crippled aircraft but failed. Overtime loomed but on Daniel's last play, he shot down Steve's crippled leader for a 15-12 win!

Every participant received a sealed pack of two aircraft elements from the GMs. Some packs contained rare cards (in full color) not normally included in the DIF series such as the Hawker Typhoon 1B, the La-5FN, or the MC-200; others included more common types. In addition, all eight quarterfinalists got to keep their Soviet aircraft, all four semifinalists kept their P-35s and A5Ms, and the two finalists took home all their aircraft. Special thanks go to Martin Scott (artist for the Zero! play deck and the Full Throttle cards in C&H), who made this possible.