Fighter Combat - Tactics and Maneuvering

FIGHTER WEAPONS 19
Guns are like alcohol: valuable, useful, popular, and fun—but, without
discretion, self-destructive to the user.
Unknown
In making his guns approach, the shooter must also plan for the possibility
of a missed shot. Approaching with high closure is conducive to overshooting
the target, which may give the opponent an opportunity to
reverse his turn and assume an offensive position. The shooter should also
break off a gun attack whenever he is unable to maintain proper lead for the
shot. Further turning in the target's plane of maneuver usually results in
excessive loss of speed and often leads to an overshoot. Instead, the shooter
can reposition for a second attack or disengage.
Suddenly you go into a steep turn. Your Mach drops off. The MiG turns with
you, and you let him gradually creep up and outturn you. At the critical
moment you reverse your turn. The hydraulic controls [F-86] work beautifully.
The MiG [-15] cannot turn as readily as you and is slung out to the
side. When you pop your speed brakes, the MiG flashes by you. Quickly
closing the brakes, you slide onto his tail and hammer him with your "50's."
Colonel Harrison R. "Harry" Thyng, USAF
10 Victories, WW-II and Korean Conflict
Another typical error is not allowing sufficient excess lead in the saddle
position. At long range, target LOS rate is relatively slow, making it easy to
maintain excess lead. As the range closes, however, AOT, LOS rate, and
required shooter G build steadily. In a rear-quarter attack on a turning
target, AOT will usually increase to a maximum, stabilize, and then
decrease again as minimum range is approached. Maximum G required by
the shooter generally occurs soon after AOT begins to decrease. This
maximum G is often greater than that of the target, particularly when the
shooter has the usual speed advantage, and easily can exceed the shooter's
turn-performance capabilities before he reaches minimum firing range. It
is much more effective to allow, by stabilizing or slowing the rate of G
increase, the target to fly up to the pipper as firing range is approached; this
allows the target motion to take out the excess lead and is preferable to
trying to "pull" the pipper up to the target from behind. Also, the excess G
required to pull the pipper to the proper aim point can exceed the shooter's
capabilities. Shooter G, particularly with a real-time gunsight, should be
stable or constantly increasing during the attack for best pipper control.
Pulling up into his blind spot I watched his plane grow larger and larger in my
ring sight. But this German pilot was not content to fly straight and level.
Before I could open fire, his plane slewed to the right, and seeing me on his tail
he jerked back on the stick into the only defensive maneuver his plane could
make. I banked my 47 over to the right and pulled back on the stick, striving
to get him once more into my ring sight. This violent maneuver applied
terrific G's to my body, and I started to black out as the blood rushed from my
head. Fighting every second to overcome this blackness about me, I pulled
back the stick, further and further, so that the enemy plane would just show
at the bottom of my ring sight to allow for the correct deflection.