Fighter Combat - Tactics and Maneuvering

ONE-VERSUS-ONE MANEUVERING, DISSIMILAR AIRCRAFT 155
conditions. However, the pilot of the energy fighter still may be able to
make use of this tactic under these conditions by relaxing the G after the
initial pull-up to a slightly positive load factor for the duration of the
vertical zoom maneuver.
A well-flown bogey can counter these tactics effectively in several
ways. One method is not to zoom with the energy fighter at the first pass,
but instead to counter with the maneuver described by Figure 4-4. Even
after he is committed to a zoom the bogey pilot can complicate matters if
he recognizes his situation soon enough. In this case he can break off the
zoom early, before he runs out of airspeed, by leveling-off on a heading
away from the energy fighter, regaining maneuvering speed, and then
coming back again, as in Figure 4-4, or attempting an escape. Normally in
this situation it is not advantageous for the energy fighter pilot to continue
his zoom to low airspeeds in order to maximize zoom altitude. Instead he
should roll as necessary to place the bogey on the lift line and continue to
pull over the top of the loop at sustained-G levels. This situation is
depicted in Figure 4-6.
In this example both fighters begin a zoom at the pass, as in Figure 4-5.
This time, however, the pilot of the low-T/W fighter recognizes his opponent's
great energy advantage and terminates the zoom, leveling off to
establish a sustainable climb angle at time "3." Once he reaches a vertical
zoom attitude at time "3," the energy fighter pilot sees that his opponent is
leveling off, and so he continues to pull over the top of the loop at
Figure 4-6. Energy Counter When Bogey Refuses to Zoom