a. Lag pursuit.
b. Pure pursuit.
c. Lead pursuit.
2. During an out-of-plane pull away from the bandit, which attack pursuit course are you are flying?
a. Lag pursuit.
b. Pure pursuit.
c. Lead pursuit.
3. If you place your HUD flight path marker directly on the bandit, which attack pursuit course are you flying?
a. Lag pursuit.
b. Pure pursuit.
c. Lead pursuit.
4. You are entering gun parameters. Which attack pursuit course is necessary for a gun shot?
a. Lag pursuit.
b. Pure pursuit.
c. Lead pursuit.
5. If you drive in on the bandit and he is able to out-turn you as you get in closer, which attack pursuit course will you more than likely get stuck in?
a. Lag pursuit.
b. Pure pursuit.
c. Lead pursuit.
6. In question 5, the bandit is out-turning you. If this happens, where would your HUD flight path marker end up?
a. Out in front of the bandit.
b. Directly on the bandit’s jet.
c. Behind the bandit.
7. Which positional geometry parameter do you get when you take the velocity vectors of two aircraft and measure the angle between them?
a. Aspect angle.
b. Angle-off.
c. Collision antenna train angle.
8. Which positional geometry parameter do you get when you take a measure in degrees from the tail of the target to your aircraft?
a. Aspect angle.
b. Angle-off.
c. Collision antenna train angle.
9. You are at 6 o’clock on a bandit, and he turns at high G into you. How will this hard turn by the bandit affect your missile shot?
a. Rmax (maximum range) will move out from the aircraft, and so will Rmin (minimum range). Rmin moving out may jam your missile shot.
b. Rmin will move in, and so will Rmax. Rmin moving in will give you more time to take your shot.
c. The weapons envelope is unaffected by target G.
10. What is the effect of target G on the Rmin for a gun shot?
a. Moves Rmin out.
b. Moves Rmax in.
c. The gun is an all-aspect weapon that has no minimum range.
Lesson 2: Offensive BFM
Lesson 2 is designed to teach you the fundamentals of modern air combat offensive BFM. Offensive BFM is used by fighter pilots to stay behind a turning bandit and employ weapons. At first glance, this seems like a rather simple objective to accomplish. Starting behind a bandit should be easier than starting with the bandit behind you. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Offensive BFM is more complex than defensive BFM, and proficiency in offensive BFM is more difficult to achieve than any other phase of 1V1 maneuvering. The good news is that once you understand maneuvering from the offensive position, you will have solved a big piece of the air combat puzzle.
Objectives
After you’ve read Chapter 2, you should be able to do the following:
► Describe the mechanics of BFM
► Understand turn rate and radius
► Understand vertical turns
► Describe the concept of turning room
► Define the turn circle
► Describe lateral or horizontal turning room
► Describe vertical turning room
► Describe how to solve offensive BFM problems
► Determine whether a fighter is inside or outside a bandit’s turn circle
► Identify the offensive BFM entry window
► Describe the procedures for getting to the elbow (also called the “control position")
► Describe the procedures for taking a gun shot
Lesson 2 Quiz
1. What is the effect of airspeed on turn radius at a constant G?
a. The faster the airspeed, the smaller the turn radius.
b. The faster the airspeed, the larger the turn radius.
c. You can’t tell because it depends on the aircraft type.
2. What is the effect of being either below or above corner velocity on turn rate?
a. Turn rate will go down.
b. Turn rate will go down until you get to corner velocity, and then it will stay the same.
c. Again, it just depends on what kind of jet you are flying.
3. You have entered a turning fight with a MiG-29 and are pulling 9 Gs in a level turn. You suddenly notice that your nose is not moving at the rate that it should be for this G load. What should you do?
a. Speed up, you are too slow.
b. Slow down, you are too fast.
c. You are probably experiencing a failure in the pitch axis of the flight control computer. Eject and sort out the problem on the ground.
4. You have just jumped a bandit, and the range in your HUD shows 1 nm. You fire an AIM-9M, but it is a shark killer and dives for the water below. The bandit, a MiG-29, gets a tally on you and takes this attack personally. In response, he pulls max Gs to jam your next missile shot. What should you do in this situation?
a. Start an immediate climb to get turning room.
b. Drive all the way into the bandit in pure pursuit to intimidate him.
c. Drive to the position in the sky where the bandit started his turn. This will put you in the entry window.
5. In the situation in question 4, what is the best way to get turning room against this high G bandit?
a. In the vertical. You can never go wrong climbing above a hard turning bandit.
b. Drive to where the fight started, and you will gain horizontal turning room inside the bandit’s turn. In a 1 nm setup, the bandit will not usually be able to take away or use your horizontal turning room inside his turn.
c. Turning room is not important in this situation because you are at 1 mile. Almost anything you do will work.
6. Which statement about vertical turns is correct?
a. When you pull your nose towards the ground, turn rate and radius increase.
b. When you pull your nose towards the ground, turn rate increases and radius decreases.
c. Gravity’s effect on the turn rate and radius of high G aircraft is negligible.
7. You roll out of a tactical intercept at 2 nm behind a MiG-29. He sees you immediately and dispenses flares, while breaking into you at 8 Gs at corner velocity. Which of the following statements is true?
a. Since an immediate climb will always work, start a pull up in the vertical.
b. A high speed wiffer-shnauntz can be used to decrease aspect and angle-off in this situation.
c. You are outside the bandit’s turn circle. Prepare to fly a head-on BFM fight. Any big moves for turning room may cost you.
8. You are feeling kind of stupid, so you point your nose toward a multi-bogey fight and notice that a MiG-29 has spit out of the fight. As you approach the spitter, he sees you and starts dropping flares while turning into you. You are at 2 nm and notice that he is not generating very many angles on you. What should you do?
a. Do the same thing that you did in the question 7. A MiG-29 at 2 nm is a MiG-29 at 2 nm, so the same thing should work.
b. Fight what you see. The MiG probably got slow in the “food fight.” You are inside his turn circle. Drive for the entry window.