Fighter Combat - Tactics and Maneuvering

138 ONE-VERSUS-ONE MANEUVERING, SIMILAR AIRCRAFT
limited by look-down as well as marginal with respect to min-range, and
the defender should be well positioned for a defensive maneuver. Whenever
meeting the bogey from well below, as may be the case after a
maneuver such as that just described, the defender should normally make
every effort to reduce the opponent's vertical separation just prior to the
pass. A zoom climb to within about a quarter of a turn radius of the bogey's
altitude at the pass should limit the attacker's opportunity for a lead turn
and an effective overhead attack.
Summary
In the similar-aircraft, one-versus-one environment, pilot ability is the
single most critical factor in determining success or failure. Tactics are
selected primarily on the basis of the available weapons capabilities of the
opponents, and they are designed to optimize aircraft performance to
achieve firing parameters before the adversary reaches his parameters.
Depending on the initial conditions and weapons mixes, either angles or
energy tactics may be preferable. Victory depends on having a tactical plan
prior to the engagement and executing that plan aggressively.
The aggressive spirit, the offensive, is the chief thing everywhere in war, and
the air is no exception.
Baron Manfred von Richthofen
Notes
1. Robert S. Johnson, Thunderbolt! p. 204.
2. James T. B. McCudden, Flying Fury, pp. 264, 280.