FLIGHT TRAINING INSTRUCTION T-45 WEAPONS/STRIKE - Cnatra

T-45 WEAPONS/STRIKE CHAPTER THREE
With a tailwind component, the aircraft will crab vertically (down) into the wind, creating
slightly more of a steep dive than what the Velocity Vector is indicating.
Figure 3-7 Tailwind Component
This is one reason why a headwind causes a shallow and a tailwind causes a steep. The pipper
seeks the Offset Aim Point in all cases.
Yaw
A skid or sideslip can also affect the trajectory of the weapon by causing a false sight picture.
Unless the ball is centered (balanced flight), the aircraft will not be moving in the direction the
pipper is looking. So, if the ball is out to the right (the aircraft yawing to the left) when you
release a bomb with the pipper on the target, your hit will be to the right of the target.
Remember, when we release the bomb from our aircraft, we are imparting the Velocity Vector to
the bomb. Minus some negligible winds between release altitude and the target, the bomb will
travel where the Velocity Vector is pointed, just that it falls below it due to drag/gravity (i.e.
trajectory drop). In contrast to bombs, which depend on the aircraft for their velocity, forwardfiring
ordnance tends to travel initially in the direction it was fired, even in unbalanced flight.
How this principle can be applied for correction with rockets will be discussed later in this
section.
WEAPONS DELIVERY THEORY AND PRINCIPLES 3-7