Objectives
After you’ve read Chapter 4, you should be able to do the following:
► Understand the concept of the escape window
► Describe the factors that affect your decision to stay and fight or to separate
► Understand the concept of the lead turn
► Describe the options at the pass
► Identify the advantages and disadvantages of nose-low, level and vertical turns
► Understand the concept of over-the-top airspeed and how it is used to fight in the vertical
► Understand basic head-on BFM geometry
► Describe the advantages and disadvantages of a one-circle fight
► Describe the advantages and disadvantages of a two-circle fight
Lesson 4 Quiz
1. You have entered a head-on fight with a MiG-29, and after the third pass, you find yourself in a Lufbery. You are stagnated directly across a 2,000 foot circle with neither fighter able to gain on the other. Where is your escape window in this situation?
a. Your escape window is open because your angle-off is high. At any time, you can roll wings-level and accelerate out of the fight.
b. Your escape window is closed because you are at low energy. If you try to roll out and separate, the bandit will continue his turn and spank you like a baby.
c. The escape window is both open and closed. It depends on how good you are at accelerating the jet. A skillful pilot can always get out of a turning fight.
2. You have entered an offensive fight against a MiG-29 and are inside his turn circle in a perfect lag position, about to go lead for guns. Suddenly your bingo warning (low fuel) sounds and Betty (the voice warning system) reminds you that it is time to get out of Dodge. What are your options?
a. You should keep turning and kill this guy. Your escape window is shut, and the only way out of this one is through a cloud of enemy hair, teeth, and eyeballs.
b. Since you are on the offensive, your escape window is open. You are low on gas, so dive out of your escape window and separate from the fight.
c. This is a complex situation. You should stay in lag and think it over. Flying fighters is a very intellectual endeavor that, at times, requires a pause for quiet contemplation.
3. You have just come off a kill and are accelerating the jet away to distance yourself from the fireball. As you check 12 o’clock, you pick up a tally on a MiG-29 two miles off your nose, turning toward your jet. What are your options?
a. You must turn and enter a fight with this guy. Your escape window is closed because the MiG-29 has a tally.
b. You can enter a head-on BFM engagement with this guy or separate. All your options are open.
c. An immediate pull into the vertical in this situation will usually work.
4. You are committed to a head-on fight. Which statement is true concerning lead turns?
a. Lead turns should only be made in the horizontal.
b. When fighting head-on, you should always attempt to lead turn. Lead turns are the most efficient way to trade energy for position.
c. Lead turns should only be used if you have a jet that can out-turn the enemy.
5. You are approaching a head-on pass with a MiG-29 and have decided to stay and fight. Your game plan is to execute a slicing lead turn. Which statement is true when using a slicing lead turn game plan?
a. The slice should be executed at corner velocity, with your nose about 10° low.
b. The biggest advantage of the slice is that it is the best move you can make to keep a tally.
c. A slice should be made as slow as possible to shrink your turn radius.
6. You executed a slice into a MiG-29 after a head-on pass, and he rolled away from you, put his lift vector on you, and started pulling. What can you expect from this fight?
a. Since you pulled into him and he rolled away from you at pass, you have entered a two-circle fight. You may have a chance for a front aspect AIM-9M.
b. The bandit will make angles on you because turning away from the other fighter on a head-on pass is the best way to execute a lead turn.
c. You should have some angles on the bandit, since he turned away and gave you turning room. This is a one-circle fight, and you will probably be in too tight for an AIM-9M shot.
7. After passing a MiG-29 head-on, you enter a 7 G level turn into the bandit. Which statement is true concerning the level turn option at the pass?
a. You can get your nose around faster by doing a level turn than you can by using any other head-on BFM option.
b. Level turns are not very efficient BFM, but you can usually maintain a tally during a level turn and it is easy to execute a level turn. (This is important because most head-on engagements are lost and not won.)
c. One of the disadvantages of doing a level turn at the pass is that you will probably lose sight of the bandit.
8. You are about to pass head-on with a bandit but find yourself above him. As you close on the bandit, he is nose-high and you are nose-low. What will the bandit probably do, and how do you counter it?
a. The bandit is in a perfect position for a nose-high-to-nose-low lead turn. Any time you pass a bandit who is coming uphill into you at high angles, you must counter the big lead turn with a lead turn of your own.
b. The bandit’s best move is to pass you and keep climbing for an altitude advantage. To counter the bandit’s move in the vertical, extend downhill until you get to corner velocity and then zoom.
c. The bandit is in a bad position to enter a head-on fight in this situation, so turn away from him to force a one-circle fight.
9. Which statement is true about pulling up in the vertical during a head-on fight?
a. All pulls in the vertical should be done at corner velocity or above. This may require you to extend for energy after passing the bandit.
b. Always start your pull in the vertical with your lift vector oriented toward the bandit. This will normally cause you to pull up in the oblique on your initial move.
c. Normally, it is best to make your initial pull into the vertical from a wings-level position. After reaching the 90° point in your pull, roll and put your lift vector on the bandit.
10. You have merged with a MiG-29 and entered a two-circle fight. You are Winchester (out of missiles). What is your primary concern in this fight as you pull around for your second pass with the bandit?
a. Sometimes you have a chance to shoot an all-aspect heat missile in a two-circle fight. You don’t have a missile, and he does, so “Heads up.”
b. You should only think in terms of lead turning the bandit in this situation, since two-circle fights are always too tight for a missile shot.
c. Since two-circle fights are inherently tighter than one-circle fights, be prepared to enter a scissors.
| Lesson 1: Geometry | Lesson 2: Offensive | Lesson 3: Defensive | Lesson 4: Head-on |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. b | 1. b | 1. a | 1. b |
| 2. a | 2. a | 2. b | 2. a |
| 3. b | 3. b | 3. c | 3. b |
| 4. c | 4. c | 4. b | 4. b |
| 5. a | 5. b | 5. a | 5. a |
| 6. c | 6. b | 6. b | 6. c |
| 7. b | 7. c | 7. b | 7. b |
| 8. a | 8. b | 8. a | 8. a |
| 9. a | 9. b | 9. a | 9. c |
| 10. c | 10. a | 10. c | 10. a |