Fighter Combat - Tactics and Maneuvering

28 FIGHTER WEAPONS
defender's intentions after he successfully defeats the attack. A nose-high
turn usually results in a greater overshoot and may allow the defender to
gain an offensive position by reversing back toward the attacker as the
overshoot occurs. If the defender plans to disengage after defeating the
attack, a nose-low barrel roll usually places him in a better position to
begin a nose-low extension, as described earlier.
In some cases when an attacker is detected closing rapidly to guns range
from the rear, defenders prefer to delay a break turn until the last possible
instant, hoping that this break at close range will prevent the shooter from
gaining enough lead for a snapshot and possibly cause an overshoot.
Although this method can be effective, it cannot be recommended. Snapshots
at high angle-off are relatively easy to defeat with out-of-plane
"jinks." An attempt to avoid such a snapshot by delaying the break may
give the attacker an even better shot if the break is misjudged, and it
generally results in a more defensive situation for the defender after he
beats the shooter's first pass.
One problem with out-of-plane maneuvers is that they require a good
amount of angle off nose or tail to be effective. If the attacker is detected
too late to generate AOT, or if he attacks from head-on, a turn in any
direction is essentially an in-plane maneuver. When the shooter is located
well to one side of the target (i.e., has a "beam aspect"), relative target
motion and lead requirements are created by the target's speed, while
relative motion head-on or tail-on must be generated by target G. The
defender therefore must turn hard in any direction (using either positive G
or negative G) long enough to change his flight path significantly, but not
long enough to allow the shooter to correct his aim and track. If the
defender can maintain sight of the attacker, he can estimate when the
shooter has repositioned and again quickly change the plane of turn. If not,
the defender must estimate the time for each new break based on what he
knows of the attacker's sight system and maneuver capabilities. The clue
he would like to avoid is the sight of tracers ripping by the cockpit. In
either case, each jink should be made in a plane at least 90° from the
direction of the previous jink. The pattern of jink planes must not be too
predictable or the attacker, particularly if he is unseen, may position early
for the next jink and wait for the defender to fly into his sight. The
defender's roll rate and technique are of great importance in this maneuver.
If the attacker has better roll performance, he may be able to track the
defender from a stern position regardless of his evasive attempts.
When he saw me behind he began to whip back and forth, left and right, as
violently as he could. I followed, but it was hard to line him up for a shot.
Finally, as we kept whipping back and forth, right and left, I began to shoot
before he whipped and he had to fly through my fire.
Major Robert S. Johnson, USAAF
This jinking procedure should be continued until the attack is terminated,
usually either when the shooter closes to min-range or the defender
opens to outside max-range. If the attacker already has closure and cannot
be outrun, closure may be increased to hasten his passage through the