Fighter Combat

108 ONE-VERSUS-ONE MANEUVERING, SIMILAR AIRCRAFTadversary should be well below vertical-maneuvering speed. If the bogeypulls sharply up in response, the energy fighter pilot should continue azoom climb. In this case his greater energy should allow him to top outhigher than his opponent, providing vertical separation for an attack as thebogey pilot is forced to level off or to dive (Figure 2-15).When your opponent lunges at you . . . feign weakness. When the opponenthas come in quite close, suddenly increase the distance by backing . . . away.Come in forcibly . . . and win as the opponent shows signs of slacking.Miyamoto MusashiA nose-to-nose turn series was described here because this maneuvermakes it easier to keep sight of the opponent. Particularly as the bogeygains more angular advantage, nose-to-tail turns can result in lengthyblind periods after each pass. Another complication with nose-to-tail turns(illustrated in Figure 3-5) is that a faster-turning opponent will completehis turn, time "3" (i.e., point his nose in the general direction of the energyfighter again), at greater range. This separation allows him to acceleratewithout turning for some time before he is required to begin a lead turn toachieve maximum angular advantage over the energy fighter at the nextpass. The period of acceleration and greater aircraft separation distancesmake it more difficult to judge the bogey's relative energy.In cases where maintaining sight of the opponent is not considered to bea problem, a nose-to-tail turn series is actually superior to the nose-to-nosetechnique for the purposes of bleeding the bogey's energy. Once the bogeypilot has reduced his speed and turn radius slightly by making an initialhard nose-to-nose turn, he can attain further angular gains without pullingso hard on subsequent turns—and reduced bogey G results in less energybleed. Nose-to-tail turns, however, require the bogey to continue at agreater turn rate throughout the maneuver, turning hard and bleedingenergy for every degree of advantage. Even if the bogey pulls the same loadFigure 3-5. Nose-to-Tail Turn Complications