Fighter Combat - Tactics and Maneuvering

20 FIGHTER WEAPONS
We were both flying in a tight circle. Just a little more and I'll have him.
Pressing the tit I waited expectantly for the 109 to explode. I've hit his wing.
A section two-feet long broke loose from the right wing as the machine guns
cut like a machete through it. Too low, a little more rudder and the bullets
will find his cockpit. I could see occasional strikes further up the wing, but it
was too late. The 109, sensing that I was inside him on the turn, slunk into a
nearby cloud. Straightening my plane I climbed over the top of the bank and
poised on the other side, waiting for him to appear. But the 109 did not appear,
and not wishing to tempt the gods of fate further, I pushed the stick forward,
entered the protective cover of the clouds myself, and headed home. 1
Snapshots. Although tracking shots may provide the highest probability
of kill, they may not be tactically advisable, or even possible, in a given
situation. Depending on the initial geometry, relative aircraft performance,
and pilot ability, tracking may be impossible within the effective
range of the gun system. A snapshot, however, may still be available and
lethal.
Snapshots may be categorized by the shooter's G level during firing,
ranging from zero to maximum load factor. For a low-G snapshot, the
attacker first projects the target's flight path, and then he positions his
pipper well in front along this path. The amount of lead taken depends on
the target's maneuver, LOS rate, and time remaining before reaching firing
range. Ideally the shooter positions the pipper and then flies a straight line
while waiting for the target to fly through the aim point at firing range. As a
practical matter some small corrections nearly always will be necessary as
the firing point is approached. This technique usually results in very short
firing times and is not highly effective except with very lethal gun systems
or at relatively close range.
I opened fire only when the whole windshield was black with the enemy... at
minimum range ... it doesn't matter what your angle is to him or whether
you are in a turn or any other maneuver.
Colonel Erich "Bubi" Hartmann, GAP
The high-G snapshot is "almost a tracking shot," and the same procedures
generally apply, with the exception that somewhat more initial lead
is usually taken than for the tracking shot. The shooter normally attempts
to get into the target's plane of maneuver, as in tracking, but this is not a
requirement, although it does make the task of bringing pipper and target
together in firing range much simpler. The dynamics of this shot may be
such that the shooter is never quite able to saddle up by stopping the
apparent motion of the target relative to the pipper; but G is applied,
possibly up to the shooter's maximum capability, to slow the relative
motion to a minimum during the actual firing period. The slower this
relative motion, the greater the exposure time to the bullet stream. A
further advantage of being in the target's maneuver plane at firing time is
the greater lethality that usually results. The most vulnerable area of an
aircraft is usually the fuselage, and since a fuselage is generally longer than
it is wide, maximum exposure time results if the pipper slides the length of
the fuselage from nose to tail, rather than diagonally, as it does when the
shooter is out of plane.