Pete Bonanni - The Art of the Kill

c. Speed up. Your turn radius is too tight.

5. In the situation in question 4, what will normally happen when you execute the correct defensive turn into a bandit at 2 nm?

a. You will the drive the bandit forward toward your 3/9 line.

b. Anything can happen in an air-to-air engagement. You just don’t know what to expect.

c. The bandit will be forced into a vertical move to maintain his position.

6. You have gotten slow gunning a MiG-29, and as you come off the kill, you see another MiG-29 closing from 6 o’clock at 2 nm. You have only 300 knots. What should you do?

a. Unload the jet and accelerate to corner velocity as quickly as possible. After reaching corner, break into the MiG.

b. Turn with all you’ve got before the MiG gets to your turn circle. This will give him the most BFM problems.

c. Pray for divine intervention. It is the only thing that can work in this situation.

7. A MiG-29 rolls out at your 6 o’clock at 1 nm. You put your best defensive turn on him, and he immediately pulls up into the vertical. What should you do?

a. Quake with fear. This is the dreaded high yo-yo maneuver. You are in for a real tussle.

b. You are in luck. The bandit has just given you turning room you can use. Rotate your lift vector up into the bandit and make him pay for this buffoonery.

c. Slice for the deck to keep his nose out of phase. This is the only counter to a vertical move by the bandit.

8. This situation is the same as in question 7, but this time, the MiG keeps his nose on you all the way in. No missiles are fired. What does this pure pursuit course tell you about the bandit?

a. He is flying HUD BFM. He will arrive close to your jet with no turning room and will overshoot.

b. He is doing perfect BFM. Get ready for the bandit to saddle up on you for a stabilized tracking gun shot.

c. The nose position of an attacking bandit is irrelevant. You can never really tell what people are going to do, especially in high pressure situations like this one.

9. A MiG-29 rolls out behind you at 1 nm, and as you break into him, he puts his nose in lead pursuit and closes the range. At 3,000 feet, you see that he will overshoot with his nose in lead. What should you do?

a. The MiG is probably lining up for a snapshot. Break immediately out of plane to trash his shot.

b. Keep your lift vector on the MiG and keep pulling.

c. Ease off to 1 G to force a larger overshoot.

10. A MiG-29 is camped at your 6 o’clock, inside gun range, with his overtake and angle-off under control. What should you do?

a. Break straight into the bandit with your lift vector right on him to create BFM problems for him.

b. Turn into him while simultaneously dropping the gear and opening the speed brakes. This move, made famous in the movies, will always cause the bandit to overshoot.

c. Execute your planned guns jink immediately. You must start by moving out of the bandit’s plane of motion. Don’t expect miracles. Just keep jinking to stay alive.

There is no such thing as a neutral fight. Unless you are righting your clone in the same type of jet, the fight is not neutral. This lesson will teach you the fundamentals of fighting head-on, or high-aspect, BFM. As you approach a bandit head-on, you are certain of one thing — a great deal of maneuvering is required in order to turn this high aspect pass into a kill. Maneuvering requires energy, so in most fights that start head-on, you will normally get lower and slower as the fight progresses. This lesson will teach you how to spend your energy smartly so that you can efficiently maneuver for a kill once you enter a head-on fight.

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

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.