AAA
Anti-Aircraft Artillery.
Acceleration Maneuver
An offensive or defensive maneuver which is designed to convert
potential energy into kinetic energy either for offensive or defensive
maneuvering. A low Yo-Yo is an acceleration maneuver designed
to decrease the separation between an aggressor and his target.
A Split-S is an acceleration maneuver designed to increase the
separation between a defensive fighter and the aggressor.
ACM
Air Combat Maneuvering. Any series of individual maneuvers designed
to gain a tactical advantage or escape an untenable situation.
Adverse Yaw
When an aircraft applies aileron at high angles of attack, there
will be a tendency to yaw away from the applied direction initially
until the aerodynamic forces overcome inertia. This effect is
known as Adverse Yaw.
Aircraft Axis
Picture three perpendicular lines joining in the exact center
of the aircraft, the balance point if you will. The line which
extends along the fuselage from nose to tail is the longitudinal
axis. Rotation around this axis is expressed as roll or bank.
How quickly an aircraft can achieve a given degree of roll or
bank is known as the roll rate. The second axis extends through
the center of the aircraft parallel to the wings. Rotation around
this axis is known as pitch. When you pull back on the stick to
raise the nose of the aircraft, for example, you are "pitching
up." The final axis extends straight up and down through
the aerodynamic center of the aircraft. Rotation around this axis
draws the aircraft's nose to the left or right of the direction
of travel. This is known as Yaw.
Angle Off
The angle between the longitudinal axis of your aircraft extended
along the fuselage in the direction of travel and the axis of
the defender's 6 o'clock position. This angle, which is also called
track crossing angle, helps you to determine the proper deflection
of a gunnery tracking solution.
Angle of Attack (AOA)
The Angle of the wing relative to the forward flight path of the
airplane. If you exceed the AOA limitations of the wing design,
the aircraft will stall. Stalling involves the interruption of
the production of lift, not necessarily stopping the forward momentum
of the aircraft.
Angles
Gaining angles is the attempt to set up a gunnery solution based
on the turn performance of an aircraft. Energy fighters with good
roll rate can also use this to obtain the angle for a gunnery
attack, but the emphasis of this term is based gaining as close
to the classic stern attack position as possible.
Aspect Angle
When your nose is pointed at the bogey, the aspect angle of the
target is the reciprocal of the angle off as measured from your
aircraft. For example, if your angle off is 30 degrees, his aspect
angle is 210 degrees. All angles are measured relative to the
nose of the objective aircraft. Angle off is measured from the
nose of the aggressor. Aspect angle is measured from the nose
of the defender.
BDA
Bomb Damage Assessment. Summary of the effectiveness of a Strike
mission in damaging or destroying the objective area based on
visual observation or photo-reconnaissance.
BFM
Basic fighter maneuvers. These are the building block maneuvers
which comprise ACM, from barrel rolls and Chandelle turns to the
classic Split-S. Think of BFM as textbook maneuvers. Learning
about them gives pilots an appreciation for position and energy
transference in a tactical environment, but most ACM engagements
do not play out as cleanly as a series of BFMs would imply. Nevertheless,
they are a good foundation for further tactical refinement.
Bandit
Any aerial contact which has been positively identified as hostile.
Barrel Roll
To complete a barrel roll, simply push your stick fully to one
side or the other without applying forward or aft pressure. You
will corkscrew in the applied direction, clockwise or counter-clockwise,
generally losing some altitude as you do so. The most common tactical
application of a barrel roll is to avoid overshooting a jinking
target while attempting to gain angle on it for a subsequent gunnery
solution. Don't hold the maneuver too long however or you will
bleed off too much energy and increase your nose to tail separation,
thereby affording the enemy an escape or reversal opportunity.
Bogey
Any aerial contact which remains unidentified as friendly or hostile.
Bounce
To attack another aircraft with the element of Surprise. During
WWII, it is estimated that 80% or more of confirmed air victories
resulted from a successful bounce.
Break Turn
A very basic evasive maneuver designed to maximize the deflection
of the gunnery solution of an enemy who has just bounced you.
Basically, you roll your aircraft anywhere from 45-90 degrees
toward the aggressor (if he is on dead six, direction doesn't
matter), then pull back hard on the stick to decrease your turn
radius. The advantage of a break turn is that it can be executed
very quickly to minimize the reaction time and probability of
success of an aggressor's first pass. The disadvantage is that
it bleeds energy rapidly. Executing too many consecutive break
turns without energy gaining maneuvers between them can leave
your aircraft so depleted of residual maneuver capability as to
be virtually a sitting duck.
Bugout
To disengage from combat and extend for home base, either due
to fuel constraints, completion of the mission or loss of the
tactical advantage.
Chandelle Turn
To execute a Chandelle Turn, roll your aircraft to between 15
and 30 degrees in either direction and pull back gently on the
stick. This is not a defensive maneuver like the break turn. It
is a very energy efficient way to gain altitude (potential energy)
while reversing direction. You can use this to follow up on a
high energy pass against a low energy target to convert for a
follow up attack, just be careful not to allow to much horizontal
and vertical separation when you do so or you might give the target
an escape opportunity.
Clock Code
Positional reference reporting structure relative to the nose
of the reporting aircraft in a formation. The nose is 12 o'clock,
and reports of contacts sighted in relation to that point usually
also include the altitude band they are operating in, high, medium
or low.
Closing
Reducing the separation between a target and yourself through
cut off tactics and energy conversion.
Closure
Measures the relative speed between two aircraft. In a tail chase,
if the defender is flying at 400 mph. and the aggressor is overtaking
him at 450 mph., the closure rate would be the difference between
the two: 50 mph. If the same two contacts were merging head to
head, the closure rate would be the sum of the two speeds, 850
mph.
Combat Spread
See Line Abreast below.
Compressibility
Problem caused by
the air around the plane being compressed as the plane approaches
the speed of sound. It is often encountered during high speed
and high altitude flight, typically around Mach 0.6, or 60% of
the speed of sound. Once the compressibility is encountered, the
plane would start to vibrate violently, control would be lost,
and the plane would often "tuck under" and nose down
steeply into a dive.
Corner Velocity
The slowest airspeed at which the maximum allowable aircraft G
and minimum turning radius can be generated.
Counteroffensive Maneuvering
Defensive maneuvers which are designed to turn the tables in an
engagement and gain the offensive. Rolling Scissors, reversals
and defensive spirals are examples of counteroffensive maneuvers.
Cross Turn
When two aircraft in a Section have sufficient lateral separation,
they can turn into each other, going nose to nose, prior to steadying
on the reciprocal of their previous heading. Cross turns are applicable
when an enemy aircraft or Section has been detected astern, but
they are not in engagement range yet, and you want to immediately
convert the tactical situation to a meeting/merge engagement.
Cutoff Tactics
Pursuit curves and maneuvers designed to reduce the nose to tail
separation between an attacker and defender.
Defensive Maneuvering
Maneuvers designed to preclude an accurate gunnery solution. Jinking
and Break turns are defensive maneuvers.
Defensive Spiral
A steep dive combined with a barrel roll to grossly complicate
a gun targeting solution and either force an overshoot by the
attacker if he has a higher energy advantage at the beginning
of the maneuver or gain lateral separation from the pursuer if
you begin at an equal or relatively equal energy state (to account
for the time lag of his reaction to the maneuver).
Deflection
The combination of lead angle, lateral separation and relative
speed. The higher the deflection of a gun shot, the more difficult
it is to perform.
Disengage
Break off the current attack either to extend for home (a permanent
disengagement) or to re-position for a better tactical advantage
for subsequent re-engagement.
Echelon (Right/Left)
A tactical formation where the wingman is displaced approximately
45 degrees astern from the flight leader at a pre-determined distance.
This position is also known as trail, and it can be established
at the same altitude as the flight leader, or displaced slightly
above or below at the discretion of the Section.
Element
A formation of two aircraft, also known as a Section.
Engagement
Tactical maneuvering designed to defeat an enemy aircraft or Section.
An engagement involves both offensive and defensive maneuvering
by opposing aircraft and continues until one side is either destroyed
or disengages.
Envelope
The flight parameters of an aircraft as expressed over the entire
altitude band. For example, the turning radius of a given aircraft
varies based on speed, but it also varies based on altitude due
to differences in atmospheric pressure. Although this data can
be displayed graphically, good pilots understand the flight performance
envelope of their aircraft as readily as they do their own names,
and the best one's continually push the envelopes of their airframe
to gain tactical advantage.
Extend
To use an acceleration maneuver to increase the separation between
your aircraft and any pursuing aircraft. Extensions are used to
disengage, even if only temporarily.
Fangs Out
Slang term for when a pilot is spoiling for a fight. Sometimes
it also includes "with his hair on fire." Aggression
is a good trait, but most pilots are wary of those who fly with
"fangs out" because they tend to forget their other
responsibilities to the Section or Flight.
Flight
A formation involving four aircraft, two Sections of two aircraft.
Fur ball
Slang for an engagement involving many aircraft performing angles
combat in a small piece of the sky.
G-force
A measure of the multiples of gravity a pilot and airframe is
subjected to when maneuvering. One-G equals normal gravity. A
three G turn would exert three times the normal force of gravity
on the fighter. These would be positive G's and each aircraft
has a maximum limit it can withstand before structural damage
occurs. Well before that, however, a pilot can black out because
the centrifugal force causes their blood to flow toward their
feet. When you pull negative g's, such as in an outside loop,
blood rushes to your head and you can suffer red out.
Hard
Using back pressure on the stick to increase your turn rate and
pull more g's in the process.
High Yo-Yo
To complete this maneuver, stay wings level and pull back on the
stick to pitch your nose up slightly. After a few seconds, push
forward on the stick so your plane pitches back nose down to complete
the parabolic arc. High Yo-Yo's can be used offensively when you
want to slow the closure rate between you and a target in your
forward hemisphere (assuming a nose to tail aspect) and counter-offensively
to quickly convert on a bandit attacking astern with high closure
rate. You will likely only get a snapshot out of the latter maneuver
before he moves out of range, but it also gives you a chance to
subsequently reverse and extend.
Immelmann Turn
To complete an Immelmann Turn, keep your wings level pull back
on your stick sharply to enter into a vertical loop. At the top
of the loop, roll from an inverted position to wings level. You
are now on the reciprocal of your previous heading at a higher
altitude. This is best used as an offensive maneuver to gain energy
state and position prior to an attack run. An alternative to the
basic Immelmann is the oblique variant of the same maneuver. Instead
of staying wings level at the beginning of the vertical portion,
roll from 15-30 degrees then pull back on the stick. This is like
a Chandelle turn in the first half of the maneuver but instead
of following through the turn, you will again roll out on top
to retain the altitude gained. Oblique Immelmanns are useful when
you want to increase or decrease the horizontal separation between
your aircraft and the target prior to subsequent maneuvering.
Jink
A series of quick aileron, rudder and stick movements in an unpredictable
manner designed to complicate a tracking gunnery solution by an
opponent in firing position astern.
Lag Pursuit
A pursuit curve designed to cause the attacker to fly behind the
target into gunnery range at low or relatively low closure rate.
If your nose is kept pointed at a spot that intersects his longitudinal
axis somewhere behind his aircraft, you are in a lag pursuit.
By contrast, a pure pursuit curve would be one in which you continually
point the nose of your aircraft directly at his aircraft, regardless
of aspect.
Lead Pursuit
A pursuit curve where the nose of your aircraft is continually
pointed ahead of the enemy in his direction of travel. Lead pursuit
curves are adopted to maximize the rate of closure on a hard maneuvering
bandit to obtain the angle for a gunnery solution. They are also
known as cut off tactics. You would not maintain a lead pursuit
curve to its ultimate conclusion because if you did, you would
actually end up in front of the bandit. Instead, when you achieve
gunnery range, you roll your aircraft in behind the enemy in a
saddle trail to take the shot.
Line Abreast
A tactical formation for a Section or Flight where the aircraft
are aligned side by side, instead of at an angle like in Echelon,
at a pre-determined separation. Two aircraft in a Line Abreast
at a separation of one turn radius is also known as a Combat Spread.
Line Astern
A tactical formation for a Section or Flight where the aircraft
are aligned nose to tail in the same axis at a predetermined horizontal
separation. This is also known as being in "Trail."
Line-of-Sight
As it sounds, this is the bearing of the target relative to your
aircraft from your perspective.
Loading/Unloading
Refers to wing loading. Increasing the angle of attack (AOA) increases
the number of G's exerted on the airframe. Decreasing the AOA
"unloads" the number of G's.
Longitudinal Axis
See Axis above.
Loop
Generally a maneuver better exhibited at air shows than in combat,
the loop involves pulling back on the stick while wings level
and holding it throughout an entire 360 degrees of travel, such
that you end up traveling on the same course as before. The energy
transference during the maneuver isn't one for one, so you generally
come out of a loop at a slightly lower altitude than where you
started the maneuver.
Losing the Bubble
Slang for overloaded situational awareness. When pilots get caught
up in a furball, for example, it is impossible for them to keep
track of all the tactical factors simultaneously. This is called
losing the bubble and the only way to compensate for this reduced
SA is to narrow your focus to the nearest threats until you can
extricate yourself from the situation.
Low Yo-Yo
This is the reverse of the High Yo-Yo (see above). Instead of
pitching back first, you pitch forward first then back. The Low
Yo-Yo is an offensive maneuver designed to close the lateral separation
between an aggressor and his target.
Lufberry
Any engagement which has stagnated into a pure angles duel with
neither fighter having a tactical advantage. When you are assessing
threat priorities, Lufberries can be discounted. Also, if you
are disengaged, enemy fighters caught in a Lufberry are prime
targets because most of their maneuvering energy has already been
depleted.
Maneuverability
An aircraft at rest is not maneuverable. Therefore, maneuverability
is a factor both of the performance characteristics of the aircraft
and its energy state, both speed and altitude. Remember, maneuvering
characteristics change with altitude (See also Envelope).
Merge
When two opposing aircraft complete a meeting engagement in the
forward hemisphere. This may or may not be in a classic head to
head pass.
Mutual Support
Coordination and cooperation between two or more aircraft or Sections
to enhance both offensive and defensive capabilities.
Offensive Maneuvering
Maneuvers, either energy or angle dependent, designed to achieve
a gunnery opportunity against a target.
Overshoot
A condition where the attacker fails to curtail his closure rate
before completing a gunnery solution on the intended victim and
flies out of the engagement zone. In the worst case scenario,
the attacker's momentum carries them into the defender's engagement
zone and the roles are reversed.
Pass
The closest point of approach between two opposing fighters. After
range begins opening between the two, a "pass" has been
completed. Many pilots also think in terms of an opportunity for
a gun solution. A missed guns opportunity is also a missed pass.
Popeye
Flying in and out of clouds to track an enemy formation while
minimizing your own chance of counter-detection to hopefully maintain
the element of Surprise for a subsequent attack. This is also
known as "Porpoising."
Post Hole
Slang for the defensive spiral maneuver. He was "digging
a post hole."
Primary Force
The group of aircraft to which fighter escort is being provided.
These forces are mission critical and defending them is your primary
responsibility.
Pure Pursuit
Keeping your nose pointed at the objective aircraft while turning
to close your range to that aircraft (See also Lag Pursuit and
Lead Pursuit).
Rate of Turn
How rapidly an aircraft can change course. Rate of Turn is measured
in degrees per second.
Reversal
Inverting the roll of your aircraft 180 degrees suddenly to change
the direction of your turn. This is a counter-offensive rolling
maneuver generally designed to gain angle on a aggressor that
has overshot, but it can also be used in Section tactics like
Bracketing and Half Splits.
Rolling Scissors
A series of vertical rolling maneuvers which usually result from
a high speed overshoot where the defender tries to go vertical
as well. Each aircraft is barrel rolling in the vertical plane
to try and gain a stern attack position. Generally, the fighter
which bleeds off energy the fastest is the most vulnerable in
this situation, either when he hits the apex of the climb if he
is in front, or when the higher energy fighter turns and descends
on him if he is behind.
Rotte
See Section below.
SA
The common abbreviation for Situational Awareness. Piloting an
aircraft can be task intensive, even when you are not in combat.
Good SA skills means that a pilot keeps track of all the instrumentation
he needs to monitor, always knows his position relative to friendly
and enemy aircraft, and is thinking tactically to gain a position
of advantage.
Sandwiched
Slang for getting caught between a target and his wingman, or
other enemy aircraft such that you are simultaneously in an offensive
and defensive maneuvering condition.
Scissors
A series of reversals designed to cause an attacking aircraft
to overshoot and become the defender. The better turning aircraft
usually wins the flat scissors (See also Rolling Scissors).
Section
Two aircraft operating in mutual support as a tactical unit.
Sequential Attack
Multiple aircraft attacking the same target in succession. A Section
engaging enemy bombers would be likely to use a Sequential attack
to increase their chances of severely damaging or downing the
targeted bomber on one pass.
Skid
If you dip a wing then apply opposite rudder, your aircraft will
skid and pivot around the lowered wing. You use a skid at the
top of a Wing Over maneuver (see below) but you can also use one
to complicate an enemy's gun tracking solution.
Slice/Sliceback
An oblique Split-S is also known as a Slice.
Snapshot
A high deflection gunshot (see above) with a low probability of
success. Snapshots are tactically important, even if they don't
find their mark, because often they will have psychological impact
on the one being shot at, making them a little less aggressive
subsequently.
Split-S
A Split-S is exactly the inverse of an Immelmann. You begin by
rolling inverted then pull back on the stick. At the completion
of the maneuver, you will be heading in the opposite direction
at a much higher rate of speed and at an lower altitude. The Split-S
was the classic escape maneuver for Bf-109's that had been bounced
by a Spitfire because the latter could not fly inverted because
it did not have a fuel injected carburetor.
Stack
Two or more aircraft or Sections operating in mutual support but
separated vertically.
Tracking (Guns Tracking
Solution)
A very low deflection gunshot from a classic attack position astern
of the target with minimal relative motion.
Trail
See also Line Astern. The aircraft farthest back in a formation
is known as the "Trailer."
Vertical Axis
See Axis above.
Vic
A formation for three aircraft which originated in the First World
War. There is a lead aircraft followed by two trailers in triangular
formation. The Luftwaffe only used the Vic during the Spanish
war, although the British continued to employ it early in WWII
as well until the pre-dominance of Section and Flight tactics
were established.
Weave
When members of a formation cross each other's flight paths in
a regular pattern. An offensive example of this tactic is the
Thatch Weave.
Wingman
The second pilot in a Section, usually but not always the junior
man of the two pilots. The Wingman has primary responsibility
as defensive lookout for the Section, freeing the Section Leader
to concentrate on offensive responsibilities. If subsequent tactical
maneuvers place the Wingman in better position to prosecute an
attack, the Leader temporarily assumes the duties of wingman for
that pilot until the attack is over or the formation disengages.
Wing Over
A Wing Over is performed by applying elevator at the top of a
climb to kick the tail of the aircraft around the yaw axis and
reverse direction back into a dive. To be done correctly, the
aircraft should be at or near stall speed when you begin the turn.
Do not do a Wing Over with an attacker in close quarters climbing
after you as it makes you an easy shot. The most common tactical
application of this maneuver is to set up a follow up pass after
a prior diving attack. Wing Over's are energy-based maneuvers.