Pete Bonanni - The Art of the Kill

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.

On June 2, 1972, at approximately 1330 hours, Brenda 01 (a hard-wing F-4E, tail number 68210, flown by Major Phil Handley) shot down a MiG-19 with 20mm cannon fire, approximately 30 miles northeast of Hanoi. At the time of the kill, the estimated flight parameters were: F-4 speed over Mach 1.2 (800 kts); MiG-19 speed Mach 0.77 (500 kts); altitude above terrain 500 feet; slant range 200-300 feet; and flight path crossing angle 90°. This was the only MiG-19 shot down by cannon fire during the course of the war in Southeast Asia and is believed to be the highest speed gun kill in the history of aerial combat.

Brenda, a flight of four F-4Es was on CAP north of Hanoi (axis approximately NE/SW) between the Gia Lam and Kep airfields.

CAP — Combat Air Patrol.

While doing a cross turn at the south end of the CAP orbit, Brenda turned into a fake SAM launch.

Cross turn — A 180° turn in which the two elements of the four-ship flight turned toward each other.

Fake SAM launch — A SAM operator “electronically simulated” a missile launch to force a defensive reaction by Brenda Flight.

At this time, the element Brenda 03 became separated, hit Bingo and began egress to the east.

Element — Two aircraft operating as a tactical unit within a flight of four or more aircraft.

Bingo — Pilot jargon for running low on fuel. A plane with Bingo fuel has enough to get back to base safely, but not much more.

At approximately the same time, two MiGs launched from the Gia Lam airport to intercept the Brenda 01 element and were called out to Brenda 01 by “Worm,” Brenda’s controller on the Red Crown frequency.

Controller — A ground- or ship-based controller who uses radar to keep pilots advised of the tactical situation.

Red Crown — The control agency aboard a U.S. Navy cruiser located in the Gulf of Tonkin.

Brenda 01 turned to meet them, but Brenda 02 called Bingo.

Brenda 01 and 02 then began egress on a heading of 100° at approximately 15,000 and 500 KCAS with Brenda 02 on the right side, 1,000 feet out, line abreast.

Line abreast — A tactical formation in which both planes fly even with each other.

During this egress, Brenda 01 caught a sun flash through the scattered cloud deck at approximately 10,000 feet and 3 o’clock position and erroneously called it out as a MiG-21 while crossing Brenda 02 to the left wing.

Brenda 01 continued to look in vain for several seconds with no results until a weak golf-band one-ringer at 4 o’clock on his RHAW caused Brenda 01 to scan further aft, where he saw two silver MiG-19s in sharp bearing formation, closing on him in a curve of pursuit from his 4 to 5 o’clock position.

Golf-band one-ringer — A weak radar signal (extending to only the first concentric circle of the RHAW scope) in the G-band frequency range.

RHAW — Radar Homing And Warning set.

Sharp bearing formation — The second MiG-19 is flying 30°-45° and 200-400 feet off the lead plane’s tail.

Telling Brenda 02 to continue the egress while he engaged, Brenda 01, in full afterburner, did a very high G 135° slice into the attacking element.

Brenda 01 felt the F-4 go supersonic after approximately 90° of turn.

Supersonic — Faster than the speed of sound. (In the F-4, the pilot can feel the aerodynamic shift of the center of lift on the wing as the Mach is breached.)

The MiG-19s, instead of continuing their attack to pass Brenda 01 close aboard to deny him turning room, initially turned down and left to a heading of approximately south.

At no time during the slice turn did Brenda 01 take his eyes off the MiGs.

However, by the 300° point of Brenda 01’s turn, he found himself exactly “tail on” to the tiny MiGs at a range of approximately two miles… at which point they simply disappeared before Brenda 01’s 20:10 eyes.