Fighter Combat

ONE-VERSUS-ONE MANEUVERING, DISSIMILAR AIRCRAFT 1 79these parameters but one aircraft will have a significant advantage in theother. For instance, both aircraft may have similar T/W, while one fighterhas a significant wing-loading advantage; or both may have similar wingloading, but there is T/W disparity. These are examples of "singledissimilarity"conditions.Low versus High Wing Loading with Similar T/WIn this situation the low-wing-loaded fighter should enjoy a considerableinstantaneous-turn-performance advantage, and also probably a significantsustained-turn superiority. Therefore, the pilot of such a fighterusually should base his tactics on this turn advantage and conduct anangles fight. Although T/W parity makes this an easier fight than thatpreviously described for the low-T/W aircraft, it is not without danger. Thelow-wing-loaded fighter pilot still must be conscious of energy and notattempt to grab angles faster than his turn-performance advantage willallow. More aggressiveness is allowable because of the T/W similarity, butgreed on the part of the angles fighter pilot will permit the opponent to useenergy-based countertactics effectively. A good rule of thumb for theangles fighter pilot is to maintain at least vertical-maneuvering speed ateach pass as protection against the opponent's possible zoom. Lowerspeeds are acceptable once the bogey has obviously bled its speed tothe point where it lacks any significant vertical potential. Verticalmaneuveringspeed for the low-wing-loaded fighter should be somewhatslower than for the high-wing-loaded adversary.On the other side of this coin, the pilot of the high-wing-loaded fighterhas a serious problem; namely, he has no performance advantage to exploit.In this case he usually should choose energy tactics, since there is atleast parity in that area. He should recognize, however, that the opponentpossesses the superior dogfighter and should win a one-versus-one fight,assuming the skills of the two pilots are equal. With this in mind, theenergy fighter pilot should engage with the intention of evaluating theopponent's technique quickly, and then disengaging if he proves to be theRed Baron.Because of the T/W equivalence, the climbing extension/pitch-backtactics described earlier generally are not viable. This method is based onexploiting a climb-rate superiority, which does not exist in this scenario.In order for the high-wing-loaded fighter pilot to gain an energy advantagewhere one does not exist initially, he must either increase energy fasterthan the opponent (which may be done by exploiting superior divingacceleration and high-speed energy addition rate in a diving extension), orinduce the bogey to bleed energy at a faster rate (which may be accomplishedby sustained-turn techniques). The latter method allows evaluationof the bogey's turn performance based on its known sustained capabilitiesrelative to those of the high-wing-loaded aircraft.For instance, assume that at optimum speed the high-wing-loadedfighter can sustain a 10°/sec turn rate, so that a 360° turn would requireabout 36 seconds to complete. If the bogey can sustain ll°/sec at itsoptimum speed (a 10 percent advantage, which would be considered sig-