Fighter Combat

380 TACTICAL INTERCEPTSLikely threat sectors should be limited when practical, possibly by flyingvery high or low, or by offsetting the threat sector to one side, and the mostthreatening area should receive the most attention. No sector, however,should be completely ignored for extended periods. Flying in pairs allowseach pilot to concentrate his search toward his wingman, and multi-crewfighters can divide visual search areas of responsibility for maximumefficiency.What you find with your eyes is the movement, because the country is quiet.Then, all at once you see—movement; an aircraft.Colonel Erich "Bubi" Hartmann, GAPAnother useful technique is to move the head forward and back, andfrom side to side during the scan process. This helps clear areas hiddenbehind canopy rails, etc., and also aids in reducing the distraction ofcanopy scratches, bugs, and spots. Anything on a canopy will appear tomove opposite to the direction of head movement, and the brain can usethis motion to "filter out" these objects from external targets, which donot react to pilot head movement. There are two categories of fighterpilots: those who have performed, and those who someday will perform, amagnificent defensive break turn toward a bug on the canopy.Although use of peripheral vision as the primary scanning mode doesnot generally result in tallyhos as distant as those provided by the sectorsearchmethod, the chances of seeing the bogey at all are greatly enhanced,and defensively this is the more important objective.CamouflageThe value of camouflage as a means of hiding a military target is wellrecognized. Fighters, however, have a particular problem when camouflageis considered. Their mission makes it likely that they will be viewedfrom any direction: from above with a surface background, or from belowwith a blue-sky background. Additionally, since the range of aircraft is sogreat, surface coloration is likely to vary widely on each mission. Themaneuvering requirements for fighters add to the problem, since from anydirection the enemy might just as easily be presented with top, side, orbottom views of the aircraft as it rolls and turns in different planes.Lighting conditions have a dramatic effect on the appearance of anaircraft. In front-lighted situations (viewed object fully illuminated) theactual shade and color of the aircraft are apparent, but when it is backlighted (viewed object in shadow) the presented surface appears to be ashade of gray and darker than its actual color. Since airplanes are generallyvery angular machines, the many appendages cast shadows on variousparts of the aircraft, and these shadows move around as the fighter banksand turns. Regardless of whether an aircraft is up-sun or down-sun fromthe viewer, large portions of its body may appear to be in shadow, dependingon its heading or pitch and bank attitudes. The greatest portions of theaircraft will be in shadow, and therefore will appear darker than theyactually are, whenever the viewer and the sun are on opposite sides of theaircraft's nose (vertically or horizontally) or the plane of its wings. In