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BFM vs ACM
I define Basic Flight Maneuvers (BFM) as the set of individual moves that a fighter pilot uses during dog fighting while Air Combat Maneuvers (ACM) are
made up of BFM and contain the additional tactical strategies employed in winning a dogfight or averting one. Said another way, BFM are the basic
elements of ACM. You cannot learn ACM until you have mastered BFM.
Basic Flight Maneuvers (BFM)
As I see it, there are 14 basic flight maneuvers that a fighter pilot has in his bag of tricks. There is a very fine line between which ones can be considered
evasive (defensive) and those used while attacking an opponent. The best fighter pilots are able to use a BFM in either a defensive or offensive situation
which helps the attacker maintain that every important element of surprise. I have grouped the BFM roughly into those typically used as evasive maneuvers
(shown in red) and the offensive ones (shown in blue) used to position the pilot for a kill. I used a number of sources to create this list of BFM in addition to
Shaw's book which include Dave "French" Chaloux's articles on basic flight maneuvers and the Warbirds Training Page.
The Break Turn
The Break Turn is a very tight turn at a high banking angle. The pilot tries to maintain his plane at corner velocity (the optimal speed producing the least
amount of time to traverse the tightest possible circle) throughout the Break Turn. The Break Turn is probably the most misused maneuver by rookie pilots
in all of BFM and should only be employed in an emergency situation to escape an attacker or to pull lead on a defender when you are certain to obtain a
kill. The Break Turn bleeds air speed badly and will leave you moving very slowly which is a dangerous posture for a fighter pilot to be in.
To accomplish a Break Turn, begin by rolling the aircraft to about 45-70 degrees while applying enough back pressure (pulling back on the stick) to keep
the nose up so that altitude is maintained. A slight amount of rudder may also be applied in the same direction as the turn to help keep the aircraft steady.
The idea is to get the aircraft around as quickly as possible, sacrificing speed in the process. The nose of the aircraft will tend to dip in a Break Turn so
you must maintain good back pressure. You should never maintain a Break Turn for more than about 3/4 of a turn. Another common mistake rookies make
is to hold a Break Turn while winding round and round trying to pull lead on a defender. This is referred to as a Lufbery and is one of the best ways to get
yourself killed.
The Barrel Roll
A Barrel Roll is taking your aircraft through a cork-screw path. Primarily used as an evasive move designed to shake an opponent from your tail, the Barrel
Roll can be exited whenever the pilot chooses or maintained through several revolutions as necessary to confuse an attacker enough to provide an escape.
Begin the Barrel Roll by banking sharply to one side while pulling gently back on the stick. While maintaining back pressure, slowly begin to apply side
pressure on the stick in the direction of the roll while giving a touch of rudder also in the direction of the roll. Once the desired arc diameter is achieved,
hold all surfaces steady throughout the duration of the maneuver. A perfectly executed Barrel Roll will maintain altitude although most pilots will lose some.
The Defensive Spiral
This maneuver is basically a Barrel Roll while heading straight down. The Defensive Spiral is employed in an extreme emergency to attempt to lose a
pursuing attacker.
Begin the Defensive Spiral by abruptly diving (try to surprise your attacker with the suddenness of this move) and then proceed in the same manner as with
the Barrel Roll except that you must back off on the throttle and maybe even apply a touch of flaps to prevent the aircraft from gaining so much speed that
your control surfaces compress (quit functioning due to the air pressure on them caused by the high air speed). Watch your opponent in your rear view
mirror and pull your aircraft out of the dive as soon as you catch your attacker out of position to follow you. Of course, you must be keenly aware of your
altitude so that you don't wait too long to begin your recovery. This is a very risky maneuver but if your taking fire or are about to it's probably worth the risk.
Since at the time you pull out of the spiral your air speed is likely to be high, try to take advantage of this and extend away from your attacker or climb
back up to gain an advantage.
The Skid
A Skid (sometimes called a "slip") is a lateral slide to the left or right with very little loss of altitude or change in air speed. It is commonly used to foil the
aim of an attacker who is parked on your "six" and getting ready to fire upon you. When performed correctly, your plane will bank slightly and slip laterally
out of your attacker's line of fire giving you an opportunity to perform another evasive BFM.
Start the maneuver by dipping one wing and applying opposite rudder. The aircraft will skid in the direction of the dipped wing. The entire move should last
only about one or two seconds and should be immediately followed by another move such as a Break Turn or Barrel Roll. Like in the Defensive Spiral, the
secret to the Skid is surprise. You want to dip the wing and Skid in the flicker of an eye so the attacker is caught off guard. Take advantage of his surprise
and be out of Dodge before he can recover.
The Jink
It could be argued that the Jink is more of an ACM than a BFM because it does not introduce any new move but since it consists of a single basic
maneuver, I decided to include it here in the BFM section. Basically, a Jink is any unexpected sudden move designed to get your plane out of the line of
fire of a pursuing attacker. For example, an attacker is rapidly closing on your tail when just at the last minute you Break Turn out of his line of fire causing
him to overshoot. Frequently a defender will perform several Jinks in rapid succession. He might Break Turn suddenly, wait two seconds then jerk his stick
back to cause his plane to rare upward quickly then after another second roll 180 degrees. After each move, the defender will check the position of his
attacker to see if his Jinks are having any effect. The secret of the Jink is to be completely unpredictable. The more unpredictable the more successful is
the Jink.
The Dive (Boom)
The Dive (sometimes called the Boom) is used when attacking an opponent who is at a lower altitude. This maneuver exchanges altitude for speed and
requires precise gunnery because the attacker typically has but a second or two of firing opportunity.
The Dive is accomplished by applying forward pressure on the stick and perhaps a backing off on the throttle and/or a touch of flaps to control speed to
prevent compression. The Dive is frequently followed by a Zoom to attempt to regain some of the altitude sacrificed during the diving maneuver.
The Zoom
The Zoom is a simple maneuver in which the pilot exchanges air speed for altitude. A common mistake that rookies make is to climb at too steep of an
angle in which they burn off too much speed and fail to gain the kind of altitude they would like. The best Zoom climb rate is about 4000 feet per second.
The Zoom climb consists of gently pulling back on the stick achieving around 4000 ft/sec until just above stall speed (the stall horn begins to go off) and
then leveling off at the top of the climb. Make sure you have sufficient air speed before Zooming. Flaps are sometimes used to gain altitude faster but this
will bleed off air speed much quicker and the attained altitude will be less. The Zoom is normally performed while the opponent is still some distance away
or following a Dive maneuver.
The Coordinated Turn
The Coordinated Turn is a turn in which air speed and altitude are perfectly preserved. Unlike a Break Turn which bleeds air speed badly, the properly
executed Coordinated Turn will neither lose air speed or altitude.
The Coordinated Turn is accomplished using a careful coordination between ailerons and rudder. The pilot gently applies back and side pressure on the
stick while at the same time applying just enough rudder in the same direction as the side pressure to "balance" all the forces so that the plane gently
makes a turn without lose of air speed or altitude. The pilot who is proficient at this maneuver is one who has practiced it enough to know just how much
control needs to be applied to each of the planes control surfaces to maintain the plane's energy.
The Chandelle
The Chandelle is a Zoom climb combined with a Coordinated Turn. The idea is to trade air speed for altitude and at the same time reverse the aircraft's
heading. The properly executed Chandelle will gain the highest possible altitude in the least amount of time while at the same time reversing the heading
leaving the aircraft traveling 180 degrees from the original heading at a significantly higher altitude. The disadvantage of this maneuver is that the aircraft is
very near stall speed at the maneuver's completion.
The execution of the Chandelle consists basically of the techniques employed for the Coordinated Turn with a little more back pressure on the stick so that
the plane will be gaining altitude throughout the turn. The pilot performing the Chandelle is careful not to apply so much back pressure so as to lose too
much air speed that will cause a stall during the climb. A poorly executed Chandelle can easily result in a loss of smash without accomplishing anything
more that a heading change.
The Immelmann
Sometimes called a Half Loop, the Immelmann, named after the WW1 German ace Max Immelmann, consists of a Zoom climb followed by a half Barrel
Roll at the top of the loop. It's purpose is to gain maximum altitude and at the same time reverse heading. This maneuver is commonly mistaken for a
defensive maneuver to evade an enemy from attacking the six position. This is very dangerous because any upward movement with an attacker behind will
move the defender's aircraft right through the attacker's forward quarter presenting an excellent deflection shot opportunity. Any maneuver which involves
upward movement should rarely be considered a defensive move
Begin this maneuver with plenty of initial velocity. Pull back on the stick and proceed to climb just like a Zoom except don't level off, just keep on coming
over the top. At the top of the loop, your aircraft, should be completely inverted. Apply side pressure to the stick and roll the aircraft over till it is fully
upright. At the completion of the maneuver the aircraft should be back in level flight at a higher altitude and 180 degrees from its original heading. The
Immelmann is commonly used for setting up an attack.
The Split-S
The Split-S is the exact inverse of the Immelmann in that the half loop is down rather than up. This maneuver combines a half-roll and dive to increase
speed. It is commonly used for quickly reversing direction and increasing speed. The cost paid for such a move is a dramatic lose in altitude. Due to the
nature of the diving maneuver, make sure you have enough altitude to spare prior to performing this move.
Start this maneuver by rolling your aircraft to one side till you are inverted. While reducing throttle, pull back on the stick and enter into an inverted dive.
Continue to apply back pressure on your stick until you are back in level flight. As soon you are back on level flight, increase throttle again. Because the
Split-S gains speed very quickly, take care not to increase velocity too fast or you may end up compressing. This maneuver is also commonly mistaken for
a defensive maneuver. This is only partly true. If performed with an enemy behind you, who is low on energy, following you through the maneuver just solved
his problem for him. This can be especially deadly with an enemy that can turn tighter than you. The Split-S maneuver is more commonly used for setting
up an attack on an enemy that is low and traveling in the opposite direction. If performed correctly, it can set you up on your opponent's tail very quickly.
The High Yo-Yo
The High Yo-Yo (first perfected by the well-know Chinese fighter pilot Yo-Yo Noritake) is a maneuver designed to prevent overshoots and to gain a lead on a
tighter turning defender. Basically the High Yo-Yo employs the vertical dimension to cut down the turn radius so as to effectively perform a tighter turn than
could be performed with a simple Break Turn.
An attacker will use the High Yo-Yo when pursuing a defender who has entered into a hard Break Turn and is pulling out of the attacker's forward quarter
causing the attacker to overshoot and ultimately end up on the defensive. As soon as the attacker realizes he is not going to be able to pull lead he quickly
levels out and pulls his plane up into the vertical. He continues to apply back pressure on the stick until the aircraft begins to "fall over backwards" and into
the path of the defender. During this climb, the attacker will fix his lift vector (an imaginary line shooting straight out the top of the pilot's helmet) right on
and eventually just ahead of the defender. As gravity pulls his plane over into the flight path of the defender, the attacker will gently roll his aircraft over and
fall in behind the defender for a tracking shot opportunity.
The Low Yo-Yo
The Low Yo-Yo is used by an attacker at co-altitude with a faster moving defender and when the attacker's air speed is too low to pull up into a climb. In
this case, the attacker will combine the Break Turn with a Dive to increase air speed and allow the attacker to effectively cut across the arc path of the
defender allowing him to come up under the defender for a deflection shot opportunity. This is a risky maneuver in that if the attacker misses the
opportunity for a good shot he is left with a very low air speed and is at a lower altitude than his opponent.
The attacker usually begins the Low Yo-Yo out of a Break Turn. Side pressure is applied to the stick to cause the aircraft to enter a slight dive while still
maintaining the Break Turn. As the plane continues to fall it will begin to level out and "short cut" the arc of the path of the defender. With precise timing,
the attacker will have enough energy to pull back up and meet the defender coming around the arc and gain a deflection shot opportunity. The attacker will
most likely need to employ some flaps to make up for the loss of altitude and to allow him to climb back up to his former altitude. The attacker will be
moving very slowly at the end of this maneuver making him extremely vulnerable to attack from other opponents or the defender if the shot is missed.
The Wing Over
The Wing Over is used mostly when attacking ground targets or very slow moving targets. Originally named the Immelmann Maneuver (during WW1, the
modern day Immelmann was called simply a "Half Loop"), the Wing Over consists of a Zoom climb and a flat 180 degree turn at the top of the climb so that
the aircraft will dive back down much like a pendulum.
The Wing Over is accomplished by first entering into a Zoom climb and just before stall, full rudder is applied to yaw the aircraft around 180 degrees where
it will slowly begin to pick up speed again and head back in the direction from which it came. No aileron is used at all to accomplish the turn at the top of
the climb making it a very tricky maneuver and one that must be practiced repetitively to master.
Air Combat Maneuvers (ACM)
Beginner's Guide to Air Combat Tactics
In this section, I have compiled a list of guidelines designed to help the beginning fighter pilot learn the basics of dog fighting. It is by no means an
exhaustive list but rather a good starting point.
Learn to fly while looking at other views. For example, when you Immelman (straight over the top loop with a half roll at the top) start climbing while looking
over your shoulder. Then as you begin to loop around, go to "back and up", then straight "up", then "front and up" and do your roll to level out. The idea is
to constantly watch the target that you are ultimately heading for. Check your heading and try to end up 180 degrees from where you started. Practice this
till you can do it smoothly and staying level throughout. A good pilot can perform a maneuver while never taking his eyes off his target.
When dog fighting, try to maintain visual on your opponent at all times. When beginning an attack, Place your lift vector (an imaginary line shooting straight
out the top of the pilot's helmet) on your opponent and begin to collapse that vector toward your forward quarter changing your view to "forward and up" then
"forward" as you slip onto his six. This is called getting into the saddle. Your eyes should remain fixed on your target so that you can more quickly react to
any sudden movement he may make. If you lose site of your target (very dangerous) and have no idea where he is then try to do something to help improve
your situation like pulling into a climb to gain more smash or leveling out and raising flaps to gain air speed while at the same time continuing to scan the
skies for your opponent. Check behind you first, that's probably where he is.
Think energy (E or "smash"). Energy is a product of altitude and air speed. You can easily trade altitude for speed or speed for altitude. You must try very
hard to never lose both; you're dead if you do. It's nice to have both but you must always have one of these components. Some planes are better than
others at recovering smash if you lose it. The Mustang and Spit14 are very good at recovering smash.
Avoid the Break Turn unless you absolutely need it to get an opponent off your six or to finish off a kill. This is by far the most common mistake made by
rookie pilots! This one plagues me to this day. Another common newbie mistake is to Break Turn following a head on in effort to get on the opponent's six.
This accomplishes little more than losing smash and giving your opponent the energy advantage. Far better to Immelmann or Chandelle around gradually.
Be patient! Don't try to make something out of nothing. Keep your energy up and set up for the good shot.
Never dive unless you are in trouble (someone is on your six) or you are certain you are in the final stages of a kill situation. If you see me dive, you should
climb unless you see clearly that you can get in the saddle and line up a good shot. Most beginners will dive needlessly and lose their smash.
Work on your situational awareness, SA. Learn to watch your opponent and the attitude of his plane so that you can predict where his plane is going to be
in the next few seconds so you have time to prepare. If I look up and see the top of your plane rather than the bottom then I know you are likely to dive and
so I'll begin a climb causing me to end up higher than you and thus have an E advantage over you. It takes a while to begin to really see this but after a
while you begin to develop an "eye" for situational awareness. The key, as mentioned earlier, is to fix your eyes on your opponent and never lose sight of
him. Watch very carefully the movement of his plane and if your close enough to see detail, look at his control surfaces to help you get an idea of what his
plane is about to do.
Use engine boost (nitrous oxide, etc.) on so equipped planes as soon as you engage an opponent. I run boost pretty much constantly. It gives you a little
more speed and every little bit helps.
Don't take long shots! Don't begin firing until the target fills up about half of the piper. You will waste ammo if you try to fire much beyond this range. Learn
to think of your fire spray like water coming out of a garden hose; i.e., learn to lead your fire to compensate for the arc of the stream much like when your
watering a flower from some distance away. Practicing against artificial targets is a real good way to learn how to lead your shots. Fire off a few short
bursts, watch your tracers and see if any hits register. Keep adjusting till you score hits then open up. Continue to practice until you have a natural "feel"
for how to lead your shots. I prefer not to use devices like LCOS (Lead Computing Optical Sites) to help me with lead, I'd rather learn to adjust my own lead
from feel.
Always try to get to a higher altitude than your opponent. This is just more E stuff. E advantage is everything. Remember that just because you are higher
does not necessarily give you an E advantage. Air speed is the other energy factor that you must consider as well. If you are at 8k and 150ias and I am at
7k and 300ias, I have the E advantage even though you are higher because I can quickly decide to climb and because I have the speed I can get to 10k
and still have a speed equal or greater than you.
Pick an easy plane or one that seems to suit you and stick with it till you learn its characteristics. The best beginner planes are the Spit14 (the best), F6,
and the Zeros. I would avoid the Mustang, FW190, all the 109s and the F4 until you are feeling more comfortable. Those are very difficult planes to master.
When you get to the point that you can keep the stall horn from blaring constantly than you've made progress. During combat, I stay right on the edge of
the stall horn; i.e. the horn is constantly beeping on and off but it is right on the threshold. This give me maximum performance of the plane.
Another real rookie mistake and habit (one that was very hard for me to break) is the Lufbery. A Lufbery is when you try to get on someone's six and you
start turning hard to the left or right and just continue to turn hoping to gain lead. Theoretically, you will continue to go round and round. Your smash will
drop doing this at a tremendous rate. Meanwhile, a good opponent will High Yo-Yo on you and you'll be tasting salt water very quickly. Learn to disengage
and build back speed if it's clear that you will not get lead. Never follow an opponent into a Break Turn for more than about 3/4 of a turn. In those kinds of
situations be thinking High or Low Yo-Yo's or just extending away to build back some smash.
Finally, about flaps. Only use flaps when you need a little extra assistance in a turn or loop. Disengage them just as soon as you can. Flying with them on
will burn smash very quickly and you'll forever be a dweeb. I use them to assist me getting over the top of an Immelman because my airspeed was a little
lower than it should have been for that maneuver. Also, I will use flaps to help me pull lead when I'm collapsing my lift vector.
Energy Management
While dog fighting, energy (smash) is everything! During an engagement, you must constantly be evaluating your own smash while at the same time
observing the smash of your opponent. Every move you make must be an effort to gain an energy advantage. Knowledge of your own aircraft as well as that
of your opponent's is of the utmost importance. During a fight, both opponents will trade airspeed for altitude or altitude for airspeed potentially many times
in an effort to gain an energy advantage. The good pilot will choose maneuvers that will complement the aircraft he is flying while trying to force his
opponent to revert to a maneuver that depletes his smash resulting in a disadvantage for him. Upon engagement, make every effort to gain an energy
advantage over your opponent. Once this is achieved, go on the offensive and stay on the offensive! Many pilots will make a quick move which will give
them a distinct smash advantage. But then, while basking in their pride and not continuing to press the offensive, they lose that advantage as quickly as
they obtained it. The lesson here is to realize things happen at lightening speed and once an advantage is gained, it must be maintained by continuing to
agressively pursue the bogey. You must become familiar enough with your aircraft that you can perform 5-8 successive split second maneuvers which play
to your aircraft's strengths while forcing your opponent to make moves that play to his weaknesses. All this needs to be so second nature that you are
thinking about the next set of maneuvers or even the set after that.
Let's assume we are cruising along at 250 KIAS at 7000' in our P47 Thunderbolt and we catch a glimpse of a M6A5 Zero diving out of the sun toward our
three o'clock position. OK, first we access the situation. Of course, in reality this assessment must take place before even a single tick of the second
hand or you're flying career will end in just a couple more ticks. At this instant our opponent has the smash advantage and is on the offensive. Our first
maneuver must be one that complements the strengths of our aircraft and at the same time causes our opponent to do something his aircraft is not very
good at. One of the P47's greatest strengths is its dive speed. This characteristic is also a weakness for the Zero. In addition to that, the Zero is seriously
under armored as compared to the Jug. We also know that because the Zero has a significantly lesser wing loading than does the Jug, he will want to
engage us in a turning battle. We must not try to turn with him! Since he is coming out of the sun, if we could counter in such a way as to get him to turn
into the sun we could gain the sun advantage. After this quick assessment, we roll right into a vertical dive. This accomplishes four important things. First,
it puts some separation between us and the bandit. Second, since he is attacking our three o'clock position, a roll to the right will shorten his window of
opportunity and hopefully will cause him to over fly us. Third, this right roll gets us moving in the opposite direction he is flying in which will cause him to
make a hard turn costing him air speed. Since we have entered into a dive, we are trading altitude for airspeed and this is what the Jug does best. Finally,
we will be moving in a direction that will cause our bandit to have to turn into the general direction of the sun. Assuming the Zero turns and dives with us,
he will slowly but surely begin to lose the advantage because the Jug will very quickly gain airspeed at a much greater rate than the Zero does resulting in
a significant separation. At this point, the Jug gains a slight advantage and more importantly has bought us some options. If the Zero reacted quickly and
turned without losing much airspeed (therefore the separation is minimal) our best option might be to continue to dive and finally extend away and avoid the
battle altogether. If our maneuver sufficiently surprised our opponent, we may find that we now have good separation and significantly greater airspeed thus
significant smash advantage. If this is the case, we are now ready to take the offensive. We might execute one or two sudden rolling jinks. If this causes
our bandit to react and make a turn, we could then pull up hard (watch those G's) into the sun and trade all our airspeed for altitude. Since our airspeed is
much greater than our opponent's combined with the reaction turn our opponent has made, we find ourselves above him with the sun at our back. We now
have a new scenario featuring us with an altitude advantage, the sun at our back and the opportunity to boom our opponent before he is able to regain his
smash. If he does recover and turns on you, don't turn with him or you will surely lose. Simply keep on diving extending away and Immelmann or Chandelle
back up to altitude to start a new scenario. An important thing to keep in mind is not to try to make something out of nothing. If you don't have a distinct
advantage, keep maneuvering until you do or extend away and escape.
Situational Awareness
Simply stated, situational awareness is knowing exactly where you are with respect to (a) geography, (b) altitude, (c) other friendly and bandit aircraft, (d)
attack or escape strategies in addition to understanding your own energy situation as well as the energy situation of all other aircraft in your vicinity. The
tricky part about SA is that it is constantly changing. The good pilot is forever evaluating the situation looking for escape routes, where his friendlies are
and most importantly where his enemies are. He knows at all times who has the energy advantage and who does not. Good SA is developed by (a) the
discipline of constantly scanning every angle of the sky (especially your six) so that you know exactly where other aircraft are and where they are heading,
(b) good communication with other friendly aircraft so that all friendlies function in close teamwork, (c) a "second nature" understanding of energy
management so that you know immediately who has the advantage, and (d) enough practice and experience so that you move instinctively without
hesitation. As stated in the Energy Management section, you should always be thinking several situations ahead so that you know what is going to
happen before it happens. This kind of awareness comes only from practice and experience.
Turn & Burn (Angles) vs Boom & Zoom (Energy) Fighting
A dog fighting tactic can be roughly divided into two basic types. Turn & Burn (known as Angles) fighting is a tactic in which a fighter tries to gain a
position advantage on his enemy by out turning him. Energy is always an important consideration in any fight but the T&B fighter relies more on his ability
to turn than he does on his smash. A Boom & Zoom (or Energy) fighter on the other hand is constantly building an energy advantage (zoom) and then
converting that energy to a snapshot (boom) opportunity.
T&B Fighting
The tactic a fighter chooses depends to a large degree on the type of aircraft the pilot is flying and the type of aircraft of his enemy. The classic T&B
aircraft is one with a light wing loading and a less than superior dive capability. Relatively low powered aircraft often find an advantage by employing a T&B
style of dog fighting. Otherwise outdated fighters have been able to extend their effective life spans by utilizing this particular tactic. Biplanes such as those
from WWI are primary examples of T&B fighters. The WWII Zero and Spitfire are also aircraft which exhibit superior turning capability because of their
relative light wing loading. None of these aircraft however are particularly known for their diving speed. The T&B pilot will rely heavily on his aircraft's ability
to turn inside his enemy so as to slip onto his six to obtain a good close-in opportunity. The pilot of a good T&B fighter will try to lure his higher wing
loaded counterpart into a turn fight. If his opponent complies, the T&B pilot will allow his enemy to chase him into a turn until he eventually is able to turn
inside the less capable aircraft and setup for a high percentage kill. During the early stages of the war in the Pacific, the Zero enjoyed an almost mythical
reputation against the heavily armored and very high wing loaded U.S. warbirds because of its incredible turning capability. In fact, U.S. pilots were
forbidden from turning with the Zero as it always resulted in disaster for the Zero's opponent. That superior turning of the Zero however did not come without
cost. The Zero was virtually unprotected against even the lightest of armament. Once this weakness was realized, Allied forces begin to enjoy a higher
degree of success. A bad habit many B&Z pilots develop is their tendency to rely entirely on the B&Z tactic and forget about energy management. To
illustrate, two similar aircraft utilizing B&Z tactics to an extreme could result in both aircraft attempting to turn inside one another and continuing to chase
one another around in a circle. Such a stalemate has been called a "Lufbery" named after the WWI American ace, Raoul Lufbery who was believed to
employ such a tactic. The Lufbery is not considered to be a very effective tactic. In fact, many inexperienced fighters tend to fall into the Lufbery habit
which more often than not results in loss of their life.
B&Z Fighting
The B&Z fighter relies primarily on gaining an energy advantage over his enemy. Beginning from a higher altitude than the bogey, the B&Z fighter will enter
into a dive developing maximum airspeed. He will then use this excess airspeed to attack (boom) the bogey and obtain a snapshot opportunity. Before the
enemy can retaliate, the attacker will pull hard into a climb (zoom) and convert his airspeed back into altitude thus maintaining his energy advantage. A
good B&Z pilot must be more patient than the T&B fighter. The T&B attacker will work his way into a position where he can slide "into the saddle" and line
up for a sustained firing opportunity on his enemy's six o'clock position. The B&Z attacker will typically only possess a second or two to get off a shot
before he must zoom out. Good marksmanship and lethal gunnery combine with a high powered aircraft capable of developing good diving speed and the
power to climb out make up the ingredients of a classic B&Z aircraft. WWII examples of primarily B&Z aircraft are the P47 Thunderbolt, P38 Lightening,
and FW 190. These aircraft possess excellent diving speed, tremendous horse power, and deadly fire power. Just as with the T&B fighter, the B&Z pilot
must not rely entirely on the energy tactic. This is especially important when you have inflicted a significant hit on your bogey. Rather than continuing to
boom and zoom, it may be that your opponent's capability to turn has been seriously lessened so that you can maneuver into position for a typical T&B
kill. As with any kind of warfare, aggressiveness is the key to B&Z fighting and the tactician must always seek to take the offensive. Depending on the type
of aircraft and the situation, a combination of T&B and B&Z tactics can give a fighter a significant advantage. Knowledge of the characteristics of his own
aircraft and the other aircraft around him provide the pilot with proper style of fighting he should employ.
Hier kwam 't dus vandaan.
http://www.ipass.net/~mhf/tactics.htm