Fighter Combat - Tactics and Maneuvering

ONE-VERSUS-ONE MANEUVERING, DISSIMILAR AIRCRAFT 153
bogey visually. Once he reaches a vertical attitude, the pilot of the high-
T/W fighter can roll slightly one way or the other if necessary to align his
aircraft's wings perpendicular to the bogey's position, then pull slightly
past the vertical toward the bogey. During the remainder of the zoom
toward time "3," the energy fighter pilot should ease to a zero-G or slightly
negative-G condition in order to achieve the highest possible zoom altitude.
Simultaneously, he should begin to drift toward a position almost
directly above the bogey. Care should be taken, however, not to position
directly above and in front of the opponent too early. If altitude separation
at time "3" does not exceed the bogey's effective guns range the opponent
may squirt out some lead at this point, force a defensive maneuver, and
seize the offensive. When its maneuver is timed properly, the energy
fighter will drift over the bogey near the top of the zoom, with maximum
vertical separation, just as the bogey pilot is becoming more concerned
with controlling his aircraft at slow airspeed and less concerned with
aiming his guns.
After establishing the proper zoom attitude and beginning the drift
toward the bogey, the energy fighter pilot may choose to roll his aircraft in
the unloaded condition to point either wingtip at the bogey. This tactic,
known as "profiling," reduces the presented area of the energy fighter as
viewed by the bogey pilot, making it more likely that the enemy will lose
sight. It also may facilitate the task of the energy fighter pilot in watching
the bogey, and reduce the possibility of his flying out in front of the
opponent's guns.
At time "3" the bogey runs out of airspeed and its nose begins to fall
toward the horizon. Allowing the bogey to begin its pull-up first also
ensures that it will top out first. Once he reaches a slightly nose-down
attitude, the bogey pilot rolls upright to regain sight of the energy fighter
above, and begins a nose-low, unloaded acceleration. On seeing the bogey's
nose start to fall through, the pilot of the energy fighter needs to assess
whether sufficient vertical separation exists for a successful gun attack. If
not, the zoom can be continued until the required separation is available.
Once this separation has been created, the energy fighter pilot should get
his nose pointed down at the bogey very quickly to cut his opponent's
acceleration time to a minimum. This may be accomplished by configuring
for greatest lift (flaps, slats, etc.) and using maximum available G to
drop down into the bogey's rear hemisphere for a diving gun attack.
When flying at very slow airspeeds the energy fighter pilot may choose
instead to push over the top or to employ a "rudder reversal" at the peak of
his zoom. Also sometimes called a "hammerhead turn," the latter maneuver
causes the aircraft to rotate about its vertical axis, pivoting sideways
from a nose-high to a nose-low attitude. In most aircraft the rudder
reversal is performed in an unloaded condition by applying full rudder in
the direction the pilot wishes the nose to fall.
This technique apparently was first used in combat by Max Immelmann,
a World War I German flyer who was one of the world's first fighter
aces. (He won his fifth victory within a few days of Oswald Boelcke's,
another great German air fighter and tactician.) One of Immelmann's