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71 EAGLE RAF - AIR COMBAT TACTICS PAGE 4.

AIR COMAT TIPS

Don't Climb into a Fight! If you find yourself climbing into a fight you are almost always in the process of making a mistake. The enemy is almost sure to have the advantage in energy-state, and therefore have the initiative. It is generally very unwise to "force" an engagement from an inferior energy state.

Attack from a position of advantage! Air Combat is War! Scenario Combat is not the place for genteel duelling or gentlemanly "level playing field" flying. There are plenty of "Duelling Ladders" available for those so inclined. The Arena is not the place for that kind of flying philosophy. Its about using all the advantages that God gave you to shoot down other planes without being shot down yourself. Plan your attacks carefully. Move into a favourable attack position first - don't just "jump into" that furball! Take advantage of "blind spots" and distracted opposition to score quick kills. Never give the opposition "an even break", because he certainly wouldn't cut you any slack if the position was reversed!

Attack with surprise on your side! There is no law against cunning. Look for setting up a surprise attack on a target whenever possible. Look for situations where the target may have poor SA; move into blind spots and sneak up on the target!

With a superior energy state go high

With an inferior energy state go low

If you have the better energy state you have the advantage. Stay above your opponent if at all possible. After completing a gun pass its usually a big mistake to "go low" to reengage. Going high conserves energy. Going "low" is good when on the defensive. You are in trouble, the most important factor is to keep your airspeed up. If you are in an inferior energy state and by attempting to "go high" you will be cutting your airspeed - you're a sitting duck! Keeping up your airspeed allows you to manoeuvre more crisply. And who knows - your opponent could make a mistake, which you could exploit with a bit of manoeuvrability.

When it Doubt - Go Vertical! In air combat, especially in WWII planes, it's almost always a good idea to use the vertical as much as possible. If you have the Energy level to "go high", its rarely a mistake to do so. Don't stick to "flat" turns in a dogfight! That will lead to very high insurance premiums.

Eternal Vigilance or Eternal Rest! The Most important factor in Air Combat is to see the opponent! Spot him first (and his friends!), keep him in sight at all times. Whatever system you use for views, (castle switches, keyboard etc) learn it backwards and forwards before you do anything else! Scan your views at least once every 15 seconds even in a "quiet" sky. Otherwise the first indication of danger could be bullets ripping through your plane.

Learn how to count! Don't attack outnumbered unless you have the energy advantage. The worse you are outnumbered the bigger the advantage should be. If you are badly outnumbered you only have to miscalculate the energy state of one of the enemy gaggle to end up going home via parachute.

Calculate firing lead before opening fire! Don't fire first and ask questions later! Try to gauge the "Kentucky Windage" before you pull the trigger. Otherwise you might find yourself flying around without ammunition real fast.

Short Range! Short Bursts! When shooting, leave the water hose in the Garden. If you missed the target, be a man and admit it! Don't try to "walk" the tracers into the target plane, because ammo doesn't grow on trees! Short bursts initially, then if you really have the range down, fire for effect! Generally shots over 300 yards are wastes of time against a hard manoeuvring plane. Get in close and hit hard! If the target is flying straight and level, shots to twice your convergence range are allowed. Outside of that you are most likely wasting ammo unless you are flying a plane like the P38 which has no gun convergence. Remember that Cannon will "drop" faster than machine guns at very long range.

Get "Out of Plane" when being fired on! No that doesn't mean bail out! When evading fire think aileron and rudder - not just elevator! The infamous "flat break turn" is the easiest defensive move to track with guns. That is an "in plane" manoeuvre, the easiest manoeuvre to maintain a gun solution on! Make the guy work for it. Use jinking rudder moves and aileron rolls to evade fire. If you can force the guy to pull negative G's to fire, so much the better. He will be seeing "red" real soon.

Avoid "Dead Six"! It's generally wiser to attack slightly from the side than to attack from a dead-on Six O'clock position. The targets presents a very small cross section from "Dead Six", which makes for a difficult shot except at point-blank range. At ranges over 150 yards, try to attack slightly from the side. This presents a much larger cross section and involves a minimal gun deflection angle. It also helps avoid collisions!

Think Energy - Not Stick There is an old saying "Colonels think tactics - Generals think Logistics". Well Fighter Pilots apply a similar adage. "Average Pilots think Stick - Good Pilots think Energy!" Even when in a tight furball always keep relative energy states in mind. This will allow you to evaluate what he can do, and what you can do with more accuracy. Always try to keep that last ounce of Energy in your back pocket as your "Ace in the Hole". You may need to play that card sooner than you think!

Turn into the attacker - not away! Well this one goes back to Boelke! By turning "into" the attack you are manoeuvring so as to avoid allowing the guy to get on your "six". In contrast, by turning "away" from the attack you are making it easy for the attacker to gain angle.

Lead Turns

Its not just for the vertical anymore!Many pilots know that in the eternal battle for "angle", the "lead turn" is a useful tool. But they forget that lead turning is also permitted in the horizontal, not just the vertical. That is: lateral separation can be exploited just as easily with a lead turn as vertical separation.

Remember the "Rule of 45"!When making a energy based rear quarter attack with a fair amount of closure on target, follow the target for about 45 degrees of "break". If you haven't killed him by then its time to Zoom and do another pass! Following that break turn too much will surrender your Energy advantage, and could lead to disastrous overshoots. Its generally a poor idea to follow an "out of plane" break down if you have a fair amount of closure on target. If the target breaks with a Split-S or similar manoeuvre (such as a slice-back) its usually a bad idea to follow, since your high speed will actually work against you as the target breaks low. Instead establish a lag pursuit situation or go vertical to establish a dominant altitude advantage with vertical separation. Then close in for another pass. Remember it is often takes several energy passes to "wear down" the targets energy state to the point where the kill is assured!

Lag Pursuit with superior Energy.

Lead Pursuit with equal or inferior Energy.

When attempting to gain gun angle on a target use geometry to close on target who has equal or higher energy by "cutting the corner" of his turn. That is, anticipate his flight path and "lead" it. Lag Pursuit avoids problems with gun deflection and closure. Instead of flying straight at the target and taking a high deflection shot at his turning plane with a large amount of closure, simply "lag" out side his turn. That is, often you deliberately turn outside his circle, going high. This conserves energy advantage and sets up a more promising shot when you re-engage.

Always Fly Aggressively!When in the Air, always think aggressively - even when you are on the defensive. One of the skills of all successful pilots is a basic killer instinct. Flying in a tentative or indecisive fashion will just get you killed. A good pilot will use your hesitation against you. While foolhardy recklessness is pointless, the good pilot is the master of the calculated risk. Building the judgement to know when a risk is justified is a key to success.

Know your Plane Understand the strengths of your plane, and also the planes you are flying against. Their strengths and weaknesses should be etched in your mind. A good pilot knows how to exploit the strong points of his ride, and exploit the weak points of the target plane to get the victory. Don't fly "against" your plane by asking it to something it's not capable of. You will die.

Climb into HOs Head on attacks should be avoided. When you have the altitude advantage, never engage someone in a head on pass. You should be able to manoeuvre around the other guy and get on his six. But... If he has the advantage and insists on coming straight at you, you have the advantage as long as you stay a minimum of 30% faster than stall (Vref is 30% which is 130-150 mph for prop powered fighters). You will be climbing and at a slower speed. Fine tuning your aim is easier at slow speeds. Remember to use your rudder. At high speeds, he will be making large corrections due to the speed at which the air is passing his control surfaces. Start firing at d12, he will be at d9 by the time your bullets get there. Hold the trigger and bite your tongue. Both increase your likelihood of survival.