Basic fighter maneuvers

[1] BFM combines the fundamentals of aerodynamic flight and the geometry of pursuit, with the physics of managing the aircraft's energy-to-mass ratio, called its specific energy.

[3] Billy Bishop, the top Canadian ace of World War I, described a break: Watching carefully over your shoulder and judging the moment he will open fire, you turn your machine quickly so as to fly at right angles to him.

[4] During World War I, due to the low power of early aircraft, vertical movements were difficult and extended maneuvering led to a loss of energy.

[7] A simple, non-turning form of the low-Yo-Yo is depicted in John T. Godfrey's description of his first kill, flying a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt over Europe during World War II; Breathlessly I watched the 109 in between the breaks in the clouds as I dove.

[8] Much of the modern energy-management techniques, which are used in maneuvers like the Yo-Yos, were only described scientifically after John R. Boyd developed his Energy-Maneuverability theory during the Vietnam War.

[7] Even so, as quoted by the U.S Navy Air Training Command, "1) The basics of ACM have not changed since the early days of aviation, and 2) A fighter pilot must maintain constant aggressiveness for success.

Pilots must have keen knowledge of not only their own aircraft's performance characteristics, but also of the opponents, taking advantage of their own strengths while exploiting the enemy's weaknesses.

This training is valuable in that both pilots are not as aware of the performance capabilities and characteristics of the other aircraft and, therefore, must rely on the fundamental BFM principles and evaluation/decision making skills to maneuver to an advantageous position versus their opponent.

This type of training, introduced during the last stages of flight school, is more like actual combat, and is the most beneficial for aircrew once basic BFM skills are mastered.

Others, typically those with lower wing loading, may have less excess power but nevertheless be able to perform turns without losing as much energy, and are referred to as "angles fighters"[16] or "dog-fighters".

Instead of applying thrust, a pilot may use gravity to provide a sudden increase in speed, by diving, at a cost in the potential energy that was stored in the form of altitude.

At the corner speed, the fighter can attain its maximum turn-rate, flying the craft just at the edge of buffeting (the turbulence preceding a stall).

On the other hand, if the fighter is flown above its corner speed it will be able to pull higher g's, but doing so will cause it to lose airspeed from the excess drag created.

The low TCA presented during lead pursuit allows the attacker to quickly decrease the forward, lateral, and vertical separation between aircraft, simply by traveling a shorter path.

[31] Lead pursuit is used during gun attacks, because the fast motion of combat requires that the aircraft's cannons be aimed at a point in space ahead of the defender, where the enemy will be when the bullets arrive.

Unless the defender is markedly more maneuverable, and lateral separation is just right, lag pursuit can not be maintained for long, causing the AOT to decrease until a suitable firing solution is presented.

Out-of-plane maneuvers are not only used to provide a reduction in turn radius, but also causes the fighter to fly a longer path in relation to the direction of travel.

[38] An attacker following a more maneuverable opponent may become stuck in lag pursuit (outside the defender's turn radius), unable to achieve a firing solution.

[38] There are three basic situations in air combat maneuvering requiring BFM to convert to a favorable result, which are neutral, offensive, and defensive.

The pilot is able to create an energy advantage, providing the ability to swoop down on the opponent and spray the area with bullets while using the speed to climb back to a safe altitude.

[43] During a dogfight, the term "overshoot" refers to situations in which the attacker either crosses the enemy's flight path or passes the defender, ending up in front.

After a control-zone overshoot, the defender will continue turning in the same direction to retain the acquired angular advantage, trying to prevent the attacker from getting a good aim.

Sometimes called a "swoop", "boom and zoom", "hit and split", plus a variety of other names, it consists of a powered dive toward the rear quarter of a lower flying opponent.

The Immelmann is a good offensive maneuver for setting up a high-side guns pass against a lower altitude, slow moving opponent, going in an opposite direction.

The maneuver is performed by reducing the angle at which the aircraft is banking during a turn, and pulling back on the stick, bringing the fighter up into a new plane of travel.

Removing all g-force load from the aircraft causes it to accelerate at a very high rate, allowing the pilot to vastly increase range, or "extend", and possibly to escape.

Guns-D is a series of random changes in the defenders flight path, intended to spoil the attacker's aim by presenting a constantly shifting target, and, hopefully, to maneuver out of the bullet stream (hose).

However, guns-D maneuvering still leaves the defender susceptible to stray bullets and "lucky shot" hits, and does little to improve the relative positional situation.

A high g barrel roll is a last-ditch defensive maneuver, performed when the attacker has achieved a suitable guns solution, in order to cause an overshoot.

The maneuver consists of dropping the nose low during the turn and going into a spiral dive, using gravity to supply the energy needed to continue evasive action.