Fighter Combat - Tactics and Maneuvering

ONE-VERSUS-ONE MANEUVERING, DISSIMILAR AIRCRAFT 141
wise stated, to have an equal or better sustained turn rate and a tighter
sustained turn radius than its high-wing-loaded opponent.
Energy performance reflects a fighter's Ps under specified flight conditions.
PS at a given airspeed is a function of the ratio of excess thrust to
aircraft weight, as shown by Equation 4 in the Appendix, and is a measure
of the aircraft's ability to climb or accelerate under those conditions. A
fighter's T/W is a fairly good indicator of its energy performance. This ratio
is usually stated in terms of static sea-level thrust and a representative
combat weight. For piston-engine aircraft a parameter known as "power
loading," the ratio of aircraft weight to brake horsepower (normally maximum
sea-level power), is used rather than T/W. Both these measures may
be misleading, however, since operating conditions of altitude and airspeed
can affect two fighters in different ways. For example, a fighter with a
relatively powerful normally aspirated piston engine may have lower
power loading and better performance than a turbocharged fighter at low
altitudes; but the turbocharged fighter would retain its power better at
altitude and could have superior energy performance at higher levels.
Likewise with jet engines, performance can vary greatly with inlet design,
therefore a fighter may have higher T/W and better performance at slow
speeds but be inferior at faster speeds.
A fighter's aerodynamic efficiency, in particular its lift-to-drag ratio, is
also vitally important to energy performance, especially at high G or high
speed. In order to simplify this discussion, however, the term high T/W
infers greater climb rate, faster acceleration, and higher maximum speed
capability relative to the opponent.
Obviously fighter performance can be a complex subject, and the numbers
alone don't always tell the whole story. Development of effective
tactics against dissimilar aircraft is, however, highly dependent on intimate
knowledge of all aspects of relative fighter performance and design,
as well as total familiarity by the pilot with his own aircraft and weapons
system. Comparison testing, in which enemy aircraft are flown against
friendly fighters, is undeniably the best method of gathering this crucial
information.
One of our achievements at this period was the "Rosarius Traveling Circus."
This was a flight comprised of all air-worthy captured planes we could find.
They traveled through the West from unit to unit in order to familiarize our
pilots with enemy technique. The leaders could fly these enemy types themselves.
In this way we found out that we had usually overrated their performance.
The circus proved a great success.
Lt. General Adolph Galland, Luftwaffe
Low Wing Loading versus High Thrust-to-Weight
Encounters between a low-wing-loaded fighter and an enemy fighter with
greater T/W are quite common. In this case each fighter has performance
advantages and disadvantages relative to its opponent. The engagement
strategy is for the pilot to exploit the opponent's most serious weaknesses
while taking full advantage of his own fighter's greatest strengths.
The low-wing-loaded fighter's greatest performance advantages are