Fighter Combat

182 ONE-VERSUS-ONE MANEUVERING, DISSIMILAR AIRCRAFTFirst we circled twenty times to the left, and then thirty times to the right.Each tried to get behind and above the other.Soon I discovered that I was not meeting a beginner. He had not theslightest intention to break off the fight. He was travelling in a box whichturned beautifully. However, my packing case was better at climbing thanhis. But I succeeded at last in getting above and beyond my English waltzingpartner.When we had got down to about 6,000 feet without having achievedanything particular, my opponent ought to have discovered that it was timefor him to take his leave. The wind was favourable to me, for it drove us moreand more towards the German position. At last we were above Bapaume,about half a mile behind the German front. The gallant fellow was full ofpluck, and when we had got down to about 3,000 feet he merrily waved to meas if he would say, Well, how do you do?The circles which we made around one another were so narrow that theirdiameter was probably no more than 250 or 300 feet. I had time to take a goodlook at my opponent. I looked down into his carriage and could see everymovement of his head. If he had not had his cap on I would have noticed whatkind of a face he was making.My Englishman was a good sportsman, but by and by the thing became alittle too hot for him. He had to decide whether he would land on Germanground or whether he would fly back to the English lines. Of course he triedthe latter, after having endeavoured in vain to escape me by loopings and suchtricks. At that time his first bullets were flying around me, for so far neither ofus had been able to do any shooting.When he had come down to about 300 feet he tried to escape by flying in azig-zag course, which makes it difficult for an observer on the ground toshoot. That was my most favourable moment. I followed him at an altitude offrom 250 feet to 150 feet, firing all the time. The Englishman could not helpfalling. But the jamming of my gun nearly robbed me of my success. 3The pilot of a low-T/W fighter in such a scenario has definitely got hishands full, since he really has no performance advantage to exploit. He willhave a very difficult time winning an energy fight against a pilot of similarability, and an angles fight will be no picnic, either. However, his turnperformanceequivalence (in instantaneous turns) favors angles tactics.This needs to be a fairly patient angles fight, using nose-to-nose turns andworking below the bogey, as explained previously. If the opponent is ableto gain too great an altitude advantage in a zoom to be threatened, theangles fighter pilot can attempt to gain separation by diving away and thencoming back hard to meet the bogey nearly head-on to begin the fightanew. Escape is generally not available to the pilot of the slower fighter,unless he can cause his opponent to lose sight. Probably the most usefulpiece of equipment the low-T/W fighter pilot can have in such an engagementis a radio with which to call for help.Double-Superior and Double-Inferior ConditionsThe quality of the box matters little. Success depends upon the man who sitsin it.Baron Manfred von Richthofen