Fighter Combat - Tactics and Maneuvering

FIGHTER WEAPONS 29
firing zone by retarding power (or applying reverse thrust) and increasing
drag (speedbrakes, etc.) while jinking. Once the attack has been defeated, a
clean-up and max-power are normally in order for either reengagement or
disengagement.
If little or no closure exists and the defender has the capability of
outrunning the attacker, a slightly modified jinking procedure may be
useful. Each jink can be continued until the defender has adequate rearward
vision of the shooter, and might be followed by an unloaded acceleration
until the shooter repositions for another shot. Another quick jink and
straight-line acceleration should follow, with the periods of acceleration
providing the defender with a quicker opening rate until he reaches maxrange.
Once again, the defender must have a roll-performance advantage if
he is to have the luxury of any straight-line time. A detailed discussion of
roll and acceleration techniques can be found in the Appendix.
The jink is also useful against a head-on shooter, but one or two jinks are
usually sufficient to spoil this attack. Figure 1-4 shows that the effective
head-on envelope is very narrow (if it exists at all), and high closure
decreases firing time to only a flash. Of course, the best defense against
head-on guns may be to fire first and let the other guy worry about defense.
It is very difficult to aim while dodging tracers. Such a game of "chicken,"
however, is probably not advisable if the opponent has a more lethal gun
system or a less vulnerable aircraft.
About 3,000 yds. directly ahead of me, and at the same level, a [Me 109] was
just completing a turn preparatory to reentering the fray. He saw me almost
immediately and rolled out of his turn towards me so that a head-on attack
became inevitable. Using both hands on the control column to steady the
aircraft and thus keep my aim steady, I peered through the reflector sight at
the rapidly closing enemy aircraft. We opened fire together, and immediately
a hail of lead thudded into my Spitfire. One moment the Messerschmitt was a
clearly denned shape, its wingspan nicely enclosed within the circle of my
reflector sight, and the next it was on top of me, a terrifying blur which
blotted out the sky ahead. Then we hit. 4
Group Captain Alan C. Deere, RAF
22.5 Victories, WW-II
Another effective tactic against a radar gunsight is chaff, the results of
which are discussed later in this chapter. Briefly, chaff denies the shooter's
gunsight accurate radar-range information, seriously degrading its performance.
Chaff is particularly effective against range-only radars in the
rear quarter, as well as against many tracking radars in beam aspects.
Automatic electronic-countermeasures "black boxes" may also degrade
sight performance. Another trick is to release something from the aircraft,
such as drop tanks, bombs, or flares, which will tend to break the shooter's
concentration and may require him to make an evasive maneuver to avoid
collision.
[The Japanese] are excellent stick-and-rudder men, but their weakness is that
all their maneuvers are evenly co-ordinated. They make use of sharp turns