Fighter Combat - Tactics and Maneuvering

BASIC FIGHTER MANEUVERS 77
approach situations. Such flight-path separation may be vertical, lateral, or
a combination of both (oblique). This principle is particularly important
when one fighter is diving toward a forward-quarter pass with a climbing
adversary. The initial portion of the climbing fighter's lead turn will have a
gravity assist, giving it a reduced turn radius when compared with the
diving fighter, which must oppose gravity in its pull-up. In such situations
the pilot of the diving fighter normally should attempt to pass as closely as
is feasible above his opponent to preclude an in-plane gravity-assisted lead
turn. Unless he is purely vertical; the climbing opponent met with this
tactic is forced to turn out-of-plane to receive a gravity assist, to perform a
blind lead turn downward, or to complete a purely vertical lead turn,
opposing gravity until he is in a vertical attitude.
Although of great benefit, flight-path separation is not essential for a
lead turn. A fighter can early-turn its opponent even when the two fighters
are meeting head-on on a collision course. In doing so, however, the
lead-turning fighter is actually giving its opponent flight-path separation.
If the attacker performs a lead turn at too great a range (based on relative
speeds and turn performance) the defender may use this separation to gain
advantage. Therefore, such a maneuver must be delayed, reducing separation
so that the defender will overshoot if he attempts to turn on the
attacker. A further consideration of this tactic is the possibility that the
attacker may lose sight of the defender, since this is essentially a blind lead
turn. Figure 2-10 shows the possible results of this early turn performed
properly (case 1) and started too early (case 2). Because of the risks involved,
fighters with inferior turn performance (larger radius) or greater speed
generally should not attempt this maneuver, since the advantage to be
gained seldom justifies the possible consequences. In this case the lead
turn should be delayed until the opponent's reaction time does not allow
him to counter before the pass has occurred.
Nose-to-Nose and Nose-to-Tail Turns
Nose-to-nose and nose-to-tail turns are two options of fighters meeting in
forward-quarter passes. Figure 2-11 graphically defines these maneuvers.
As can be seen from this illustration, the names are fairly descriptive. In
the first case, one fighter turns left, across the tail of its opponent, while
Figure 2-10. Lead Turns without Flight-Path Separation