Fighter Combat

160 ONE-VERSUS-ONE MANEUVERING, DISSIMILAR AIRCRAFTIf instead the pilot of the energy fighter intends to continue to work foran effective firing position, he still should employ lag pursuit, forcing thebogey to turn horizontally while the energy fighter is accelerating tovertical-maneuvering speed for another wings-level pitch-back. Figure 4-8shows this tactic. In this example the energy fighter pilot comes over thetop of the pitch-back at time "4" to find the bogey offset below, performinga climbing lead turn. Realizing that insufficient altitude advantage isavailable and too many angles have developed for an effective guns attack,the energy fighter pilot pulls vertically downward and rolls into lag pursuit,pointing the lift vector slightly behind the bogey. A rolling pull-out iscontinued until the aircraft has accelerated to vertical-maneuvering speed,and the roll is timed to place the energy fighter approximately opposite thecourse of the bogey at level-off. This technique forces the bogey to turncompletely around again to pursue, and prevents it from gaining anyappreciable energy. At time "5" the energy fighter can go immediatelyback up into a second extension and pitch-back, this time resulting ingreater altitude advantage and better attack possibilities. This process canbe repeated until an effective firing position is achieved or disengagementis desired.In the descent from times "4" to "5" in Figure 4-8, it is desirable tocomplete the pull-out above the bogey's altitude. This keeps the bogeyturning nose-high, keeps it loaded-up, and does not permit it to turn moreefficiently nose-down after a vertical overshoot. Of much greater importance,however, is the attainment of vertical-maneuvering speed beforethe energy fighter pilot begins his next pitch-back. Scooping-out slightlybelow the bogey's altitude generally does not present a problem. Largevertical separations can, however, allow the bogey pilot to perform anose-low lead turn and reach a temporary firing position during the pullout.If forced to pull out quickly to avoid this situation, the energy fighterpilot should perform an unloaded level or diving acceleration after thepull-out to gain vertical-maneuvering speed before he attempts anotherpitch-back. It may be necessary to lower one wing or turn slightly to keepsight of the bogey during this extension.One viable alternative to the climbing-extension energy tactics justdiscussed is the energy technique recommended for similar aircraft in thelast chapter, namely, the nose-to-nose turn series at near minimum vertical-maneuveringspeed, as depicted in Figure 3-4. In the case of an overlyaggressive bogey, or whenever the turn-performance advantage of theangles fighter is not overwhelming, this technique may succeed in bleedingthe bogey's airspeed sufficiently to permit the energy fighter to zoomsafely and begin high-side guns passes.One advantage of this method is that it facilitates keeping sight of asmaller opponent, since separations during the engagement are greatlyreduced. The major drawback is that it may not be effective in the case of adissimilar fighter. A low-wing-loaded fighter generally sustains its turnperformance at a slower speed than its opponent, resulting in a smallerturn radius. This smaller radius can result in angular gains against theopponent in nose-to-nose maneuvers without bleeding energy. In addition,