Fighter Combat - Tactics and Maneuvering

164 ONE-VERSUS-ONE MANEUVERING, DISSIMILAR AIRCRAFT
engagements, as more than one pilot has extended himself right into the
ground while looking back over his shoulder. A second crew member is
very useful for these tactics, since workload can be divided between watching
the bogey and monitoring aircraft performance.
Aircraft design is another factor which must be considered. Poor rearward
visibility, very high vertical-maneuvering speed (i.e., well above best
climb speed), poor slow-speed control qualities, or low-G power plant
limitations can make these tactics impractical. Even a cloud layer can
prevent offensive use of the pitch-back.
Another consideration is the possibility of other hostile fighters in the
area, or even a surface-to-air missile threat. The energy fighter is exceedingly
vulnerable to such threats while at slow speed near the top of a
pitch-back. Also, since pilots tend to concentrate their lookout along the
horizon, the pilot of an aircraft maneuvering vertically almost assures he
will be seen by nearby fighters in a wide altitude band, making attack by an
unseen enemy even more likely.
All these practical considerations present severe limitations to the use
of energy tactics and make their employment even in sterile situations
very difficult; they require much training for proficiency. The alternatives
when a pilot is armed with an aircraft having inferior turn capabilities
include "hit-and-run" tactics. These usually involve stalking an unsuspecting
bogey, pouncing on it in one high-speed gun attack, and exiting the
area. Unlike the low-T/W angles fighter, the high-speed energy fighter
usually has the option of engaging and disengaging at will, especially in the
guns-only environment. Another possibility is to "gang-up" on the betterturning
bogey using multiple-aircraft tactics, which is the subject of later
discussions.
There is a big difference if you are in actual war or if you are playing war.
Colonel Erich "Bubi" Hartmann, GAP
The Angles Fight: Rear-Quarter Missiles Only
The pilot of a low-wing-loaded fighter equipped only with RQ weapons can
employ essentially the same tactics as for the guns-only scenario. As a
matter of fact, it may be necessary for this fighter to pass through the
gun-firing envelope in order to reach missile parameters, which demonstrates
the value of a gun even for a missile fighter. Because of the envelope-rotation
effect, as explained in the last chapter, and the superior
speed of the high-T/W bogey, the angles fighter generally is unable to drive
directly toward the RQ missile envelope of its opponent. As long as the
bogey is faster, the angles fighter pilot must employ lead or pure pursuit in
order to close the range, but both these options lead to increasing AOT
against a defensively maneuvering target. Once the high-wing-loaded
bogey has been bled down in energy to the point where the angles fighter is
actually as fast or faster, then lag pursuit can be used to reach the missile
envelope.
The angles tactics already described are designed to make use of the
low-wing-loaded fighter's turn-performance superiority to gain an angular