Common rules of fighting the Me-109 are the same for most modern fighters, primarily the La-5 and all Yak variants.
La-5 fighter has the same climb rate as the Me-109G6 under 3,500 meters. Me-109G6 has better climb rate over 3,500 meters. Therefore, it makes better sense to fight Me-109’s at lower altitudes when flying a La-5. When forced to engage at higher altitudes, always try to have altitude advantage prior to entering the fight.
La-5 is faster than the Me-109 at lower altitudes as well; it is 40 km/h faster at ground level and 20 km/h faster at 1,000 meters. Me-109G has airspeed advantage after 3,000 –3,5000 meters.
Pilots flying the La-5 should remember that open canopy slows the plan down by as much as 45 km/h and affects climb rate. Engine cowling should be closed as having them open also slows the plane down. Of course, you must make sure that your engine temperature never exceeds 240 degrees C.
In a turning fight La-5 will get on Me-109’s tail after three or four circles. However a turning fight is not recommended due to the common disadvantages of a turning fight. If an enemy fighter begins a turning fight himself, it is possible to commit to such an engagement but only there are covering friendly flights at higher altitudes. Germans will often begin a turning fight to constrain our fighters, only to have other enemy fighters engage them from above.
Supercharger on La-5 can be used freely with no constraints.
LaGG-3 fighter is a heavy and sluggish plane with poor acceleration. LaGG-3 will lose a great deal of altitude in a dive without adding significant airspeed, especially when compared to a Me-109. LaGG-3 is more maneuverable than the Me-109 in horizontal fights and it causes some pilots to commit to turning fights. LaGG-3 in a turning fight will bleed off speed very rapidly however and since it accelerates so poorly, it will have difficulty switching to vertical. It is most important to start a fight with altitude advantage in a LaGG-3 and to avoid losing it at all costs.
MiG-3 is a good high-altitude fighter. The higher is the better for a MiG-3 pilot. When fighting at middle to low altitudes it is necessary to have cover from above and use any possible chance to gain altitude.
I-16 is of course much slower than a Me-109, but it is much more maneuverable. I-16 cannot force a “messer” to commit, but it can easily dispatch of one that does. I-16 pilot can always escape an attacking Me-109 if he notices the threat in time. Altitude advantage is of the utmost importance for the I-16, like for other fighters. When attacking a Me-109 from his 10 to 2 o’clock high, German pilot is not protected by anything against I-16 armament. I-16 situated above its opponent can attack it from behind as well. It is important for a flight of I-16s to have altitude advantage; also, planes should not all be at the same altitude and at least one pair should be above the rest.
I-153 fighter should use the same tactics as the I-16. Chaika is incredibly maneuverable; a cautious pilot can be invulnerable to the clumsy Me-109. I-153 can always outturn any opponent, and meet attack from any angle with a full frontal assault. Very often an I-153 will be firing at a Me-109 which is unable to turn at it.
I-16s and I-153 have also been using the so-called “bee hive” tactic in battle. This tactic calls for all I-16 and I-153 fighters to hold in one unorganized group and maneuver in different directions all at the same time, usually horizontally. In this “mass” I-16s and I-153s are much less vulnerable to enemy attacks as any enemy attack on any one fighter will be met by strong fire from several other friendly planes. This tactic also takes any threat off the enemy and leaves initiative completely up to him. Any plane accidentally leaving the “bee formation” becomes an immediate prey of the awaiting enemy fighters. If, however, the group of planes is correctly echeloned by altitude, enemy cannot dare to attack the stragglers as they now have protection of other fighters.
KittyHawk and Aerocobra should fight using the Yak-1 and La-5 tactics, i.e. fighting vertically and striving for altitude advantage, etc.
Hurricane fighter is inferior to Me-109 both in airspeed and in rate of climb. It however has better horizontal maneuverability and superb firepower. It is extremely important for a Hurricane to have altitude advantage over a Me-109 to make up for airspeed and climb rate inferiority.
In conclusion we must again point out that any airspeed and/or climb rate limitation can be cancelled out by altitude advantage.
Fighting in a group of mixed fighters.
Combination of different types of fighters in the same group can be a very good thing, as shortcomings of one fighter can be neutralized by other fighter’s advantages. However, fighters of different type should never fly within the same formation. For example, a flight of four planes cannot haveleaders flying Yaks and wingmen in LaGGs as pairs like that will lose each other easily. Every fighter type should be organized into it’s own part of the main battle echelon formation.
The following guidelines should be followed when distributing different types of fighter planes within one flight: faster airplanes go high, maneuverable planes go low. Lowest echelon maneuvers to bring the enemy under the highest group’s attack. If the higherst group initiates the fight, lower group climbs and meets the enemy that has already been slowed down by faster fighters.
It is usually not recommended to have more than two types of fighters working together. Of course, formations from three, four or even more types of fighters can be created, i.e. MiG-3 at 5,000-6,000 meters, Yaks at 4,000 meters, I-16 at 2,000-3,000 and I-153 and 500-1,000 meters. Such formations however can only be constructed by combining forces from several squadrons where pilots unfamiliar with each other will find it very difficult to fight together.
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12.OIAE Mess
12.OIAE Mess
Post a replyTactics
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Attacking in pair should be performed in a pair formation, with the two planes having a distance of 100 to 300 meters long with 20 to 50 meters wide. Wingman should follow the leader in his dive as otherwise he will lose sight of the lead plane. Wingman should however dive at a smaller angle to stay above the leader; both planes exit the dive simultaneously.
Both pilots must be familiar with each other to successfully attack in pairs. This can be achieved by having the same pairs of pilots grouped together at all times, especially during training. No attack should be initiated when the two planes are close by, as this way the wingman cannot attack enemy fighters that may be attacking his lead.
The most favorable position for attacking a Me-109 is 6 o’clock low or 6 o’clock level, as it places the attacker in the defender’s blind spot. The picture below shows the exact technique for boom-n-zooming the Me-109. Attacking from 6 o’clock high allows the altitude advantage to be kept, but it also leaves very little time to aim and fire and requires a great deal of deflection; all those factors cause the attacker’s fire to lose accuracy.
View Animation
Moreover, coming in from enemy’s 6 o’clock high causes your plane to approach the German from the direction he can see very well, effectively causing the element of surprise to be lost.
Attacks from 6 o’clock level do not have such disadvantages. They ensure element of surprise, give enough time to aim and do not require any deflection to speak of. Therefore, requirements for an accurate shot are lowered and the enemy is much more likely to be hit. However, attacker’s airspeed during a level attack is much lower than during boom-n-zoom. Wouldn’t it be possible to combine the advantages of the two types of attack outlined above? If attack is performed as outlined on the diagram below, the answer is yes.
View Animation
This attack is called the “Up and Under Attack”. It combines advantages of both the 6 o’clock high and 6 o’clock low attacks. Its only major disadvantage is its relative difficulty.
If a dive is started too far from the enemy, then by the time you are in the firing distance your airspeed and climb rate are greatly reduced.
View Animation
If the attack is initiated too late, then the attacker will be forced to end the firing pass before it even began, as leveling after dive too late will cause his plane to pop up right in front of the enemy.
However, you may not always be in the position where the Up and Under Attack is possible. Simple boom-n-zoom is better in this case as it doesn’t have such strict requirements. You must be able to execute both the Up and Under Attack and the Boom-n-Zoom. Both attacks, especially the Up and Under Attack require the pilot to be specially trained. Difference in altitude as well as in airspeed should be considered to determine the exact trajectory for the firing pass. Air units commanders should train their pilots on such attacks, as otherwise performing them will be useless and even dangerous.
What could an enemy do to defend against such attack? In most cases, other planes from the defender’s formation will notice the attack run as they will be watching each other’s sixes. We therefore must expect to be counter-attacked by other planes. To prevent such counterattacks, the following action is recommended: parallel attack of both flanks of the formation. In such situations the following scenario will occur: left- and rightmost planes of the schwarm will both see the threat to their mate but will think that they themselves are out of danger. This will cause both pilots’ attention to temporarily shift away from their own safety, and from controlling their airplane which will make them better targets for our attack. Of course, enemy pilots can communicate the impending attack over their radios, but that will take time – and even a second can decide the outcome of a dogfight.
To make enemy counter-attack even less likely, the planes at the back of the formation should be attacked. This will leave a slight chance that, if both planes are shot down, front of the formations will continue flying straight and level unaware of being attacked. If the enemy planes are stacked up in the echelon formation, higher planes should be attacked first.
The Up and Under Attack is of course not the only offensive maneuver used by fighter pilots. All manners of attacks are possible in a dogfighter, with a wide variety of angles and distances as, for example, high deflection shots from inverted position at an enemy diving from above, etc. A fighter pilot should always be ready to attack, but the initial firing pass should be performed as described above. Of course, the above description covers nothing but the initiation of the engagement; it is futile to try to describe all possible situations from then on.
Pilot’s actions in a dogfight are dictated by his own imagination. Only common rules for air battles can be dictated here. Some of them have been mentioned above, namely the importance of having altitude advantage, and the Up and Under Attack. The only important thing to keep in mind is, to counter enemy tactic’s we must use teamwork, support each other and fully give in personal interests to the group’s success.
Fighters should at all times stay in the designated formation, not pursue single targets and stay close to their flight. Planes under enemy attack should defend so that they bring the enemy towards other friendly planes and not away from them. If for any reason a part of the flight is separated from the main group, they should do everything possible to get back in formation. Wingmen should not necessarily try to find the leader they had at take-off. They can get on any plane’s wing, as long as it’s a friendly plane and as long as the flight is together.
Plane you should choose for your attack is the one attacking your comrade. Every fighter pilot can find himself in a very advantageous position over an enemy plane, but then see a friend being attacked by an enemy plane about to open fire. What should you do in this situation? Go on with your attack, score a kill and leave your comrade in danger, of forfeit a certain victory and try to save him? A true fighter pilot should have no doubts about this: leaving everything behind to save your comrade is the only right answer.
These are the ground rules that ensure the above principle is complied with:
Enemy fighters should not only be watched by friendly fighters, but own ground troops should warn the pilots of any enemy activity. A covering flight should protect the main group from sudden enemy attack by staying above the rest of the flight. The same covering flight should also be used for attacks when friendly planes are outnumbered. Thus, the covering flight fulfills two roles, being the reserve and the escort for the main formation.
Fighter strength should be concentrated. If fighter planes fight in small groups, they should be united by flexible command, uniting the groups in common tasks. Well-organized and reliable radio communication should be ensured both between the planes and the ground.
Tactical errors are possible from both sides during battle. Sometimes an enemy will inexplicably do something to place himself right in front of your guns. Don’t be surprised and take time to wonder why; use any opportunity you have to punish the enemy for his mistakes. Younger enemy pilots will make mistakes more often; you can always tell right away if you’re dealing with an ace or a rookie.
Not only you must use enemy’s mistakes to your advantage; you should also try to make none of your own. Below is the list of things that help you with this:
You can see what great importance is placed on the flight leader. Flight leader should always be protected by other member of the flight. He himself must keep in mind that his bravery and superior flying skills are important for the whole group. He must not get tangled up in dogfights, leaving his mates to their own discretion. This is especially true for a squadron or regiment commander. His goal is to control the amassed effort of his subordinates and increase their tallies, not his personal ones.
Chasing an extra star on your fuselage and leaving your squad mates alone is the worst thing a fighter pilot could do. Of course, a squad or regiment leader should attack enemy planes, but he should only do it in such matter as to allow himself to return to controlling other planes as soon as possible.
Naturally, you must also consider the enemy commander’s importance. He will most often fly the lead of the lowest of covering schwarm. All efforts must be taken to attack his airplane; sometimes it’s a good idea to designate a specific group tasked with his destruction or at least preventing him from commanding other planes.
Where do you turn during the battle? Obviously, you cannot fight in one vertical pane and you must turn when you fight. Picking the right direction is extremely important.
The diagram below displays several real life situations illustrating the “turn into the enemy” rule. This rule dictates that you turn into the enemy to create an opportunity for yourself to fire, or at least make his attack more difficult by making it shorter, or increasing the deflection needed.
Secondly, other fighters of your flight should be considered when picking the direction of your turn. When being attacked, it is best to place the attacker under your mates’ fire; you must try however to fly towards friendly planes at higher altitudes that are not themselves engaged in battle.
Position of the sun should also be considered. A split-S should ideally be performed towards the sun, for example.
You should at all times also try to turn towards friendly territory. Consider friendly and enemy anti-aircraft position. Try to lead the engagement towards areas covered by strong friendly ground fire.
More often than not the conditions listed above will conflict with each other when you are picking a direction for the turn. It is impossible to say in advance which one is the most important. One of the most important qualities of a good fighter pilot is being able to consider all variables in the situation and make the right decision in a matter of moments.
Young fighter pilots often wonder what they should do if they ever have an enemy plane on their six, and the attacker is firing. This, of course, is a very dangerous scenario and authors of this book would not wish for any of their readers to appear in it. You must always watch the skies around you and try to notice any enemy attack while you still have time to maneuver away. If you detect the attack early enough you may even be able to place yourself in a position to attack.
Unfortunately, there are often cases of a fighter pilot becoming careless for a second, only to find enemy tracers going past his cockpit. It’s a tough situation, but not everything is lost yet. You must immediately escape enemy fire by a snap turn or other quick maneuver. There have been occasions of a pilot going into a barrel roll from this situation and literally “hanging” his airplane in the air by cutting the throttle or even extending landing gear. That would sometimes even result in a kill for the defender, as surprised attacker would fly ahead of him and become a target himself. This maneuver is very risky, but it’s better than nothing in such a dangerous situation.
Enemy fighters can sometimes employ something called “defensive circle”, i.e. a formation when fighters are in a continues turn after one another. Supposedly, each plane covers the others and this formation is attributed magical invulnerability.
Defensive circle has several distinct disadvantages, and it’s advantages are mostly a myth. Of course, no formation is invulnerable; all the planes in a defensive circle are very vulnerable to attack from above. There are no defensive maneuvers for the planes in the circle that wouldn’t cause them to break it. The are also incapable of shooting down attackers from the circle. A fighter plane that cannot shoot enemy fighters is nothing but a target. The only invisible fighter is the one that destroys all enemies, not the one setting himself up for an attack by entering the circle.
If our fighters find themselves attacked by superior numbers of enemy planes, they must act as the figure below shows, trying to shoot down enemies off each other’s tails. This method should not turn into simple scissors, as it’ll cause your airspeed to drop and set you up to be attacked by other enemy fighters that have the energy advantage. Maneuver should consist of flying in a straight line for a short period of time followed by sharp turns. You should try to gain altitude during this maneuver and simultaneously pull the enemy towards friendly AAA. Also, use your radio to call for support. This maneuver requires a lot of practice and precise radio guidance from the fighter leader.
Flying a plane in a dogfight has its specifics. Rapid changes of airspeed, direction and sudden maneuvers can cause a lot of strain on your body. You will often struggle to keep your plane from stalling. All of the above requires the pilot to know his plane’s capabilities very well, and be able to push it to its limits. It is most important for the pilot to master rapid climbs, snap turns and yo-yos at different speeds and in minimal time.
As we’ve stated many times before, altitude advantage has the utmost importance in a dogfight. How do you gain such advantage? The seemingly right answer is to fly as high as possible. However, it is not correct in many cases. When your plane is too high above you can easily miss low flying enemy planes.
Based on our experience, a formation that makes the most sense is a stacked up echelon. Squadron can fly in such formation with up to three groups of fighters in different altitudes. Upper echelon should fly higher than any enemy fighters expected in the area. Enemy fighters will be threatened by attack from the higher echelon, whereas our fighters from the lower altitudes will be covered by their higher squad mates.
Fast, reliable radio link between the echelons is of foremost importance when flying in such formation. It is also best when all levels of the formations can see each other.
In summary, the first thing that is needed to guarantee altitude advantage is a correctly stacked up echelon formation.
Second thing needed to keep altitude is making sure maneuvers during the dogfight keep you higher. No maneuvers should be used that cause drastic loss of altitude, like sharp turns, barrel rolls, etc. Every second should be spent trying to gain altitude.
Airspeed should also not be forgotten, as it is basically a reserved altitude. Airspeed is the third component of altitude advantage.
Fighter pilots often wonder about the correct airspeed during offensive patrols. If airspeed is high, fuel is used up quickly and fighters don’t stay up in the air as long as they could. If airspeed is lower to preserve fuel, edge is lost in a dogfight. Airspeed during a fighter sweep should be determined based on several factors. Airspeed should be higher if high flying enemy fighters are likely to appear. If, however, our fighters are at altitude above any expected enemy planes, or our fighters can have an advance warning from outside their formation of the enemy approaching, then there is no need to keep the airspeed high. Also, high airspeed is not necessary when flying directly under cloud cover.
Battalion and division COs should make a concentrated effort to ensure that our planes always outnumber the enemy. Large formations are not the answer to this; rather, well orchestrated small groups communicating with each other and the ground. Commanders of large groups of fighters should always have a group of reserve fighters on the ground ready to take off within two minutes of receiving an order. Battalion and Division headquarters should always be precisely aware of the location and situation of all their fighters. Headquarters should also have good communications with other airfields in the area to support, if needed, each other’s planes in the air.
It should also be pointed out that the outcome of a battle is not dictated by the numerical superiority. It is rather a combination of the following elements: element of surprise, pilot training, formations and many other factors. Fighters, more so than any other military arm, fit the old Russian proverb that battles are won “with skill, not numbers”
Both pilots must be familiar with each other to successfully attack in pairs. This can be achieved by having the same pairs of pilots grouped together at all times, especially during training. No attack should be initiated when the two planes are close by, as this way the wingman cannot attack enemy fighters that may be attacking his lead.
The most favorable position for attacking a Me-109 is 6 o’clock low or 6 o’clock level, as it places the attacker in the defender’s blind spot. The picture below shows the exact technique for boom-n-zooming the Me-109. Attacking from 6 o’clock high allows the altitude advantage to be kept, but it also leaves very little time to aim and fire and requires a great deal of deflection; all those factors cause the attacker’s fire to lose accuracy.
View Animation
Moreover, coming in from enemy’s 6 o’clock high causes your plane to approach the German from the direction he can see very well, effectively causing the element of surprise to be lost.
Attacks from 6 o’clock level do not have such disadvantages. They ensure element of surprise, give enough time to aim and do not require any deflection to speak of. Therefore, requirements for an accurate shot are lowered and the enemy is much more likely to be hit. However, attacker’s airspeed during a level attack is much lower than during boom-n-zoom. Wouldn’t it be possible to combine the advantages of the two types of attack outlined above? If attack is performed as outlined on the diagram below, the answer is yes.
View Animation
This attack is called the “Up and Under Attack”. It combines advantages of both the 6 o’clock high and 6 o’clock low attacks. Its only major disadvantage is its relative difficulty.
If a dive is started too far from the enemy, then by the time you are in the firing distance your airspeed and climb rate are greatly reduced.
View Animation
If the attack is initiated too late, then the attacker will be forced to end the firing pass before it even began, as leveling after dive too late will cause his plane to pop up right in front of the enemy.
However, you may not always be in the position where the Up and Under Attack is possible. Simple boom-n-zoom is better in this case as it doesn’t have such strict requirements. You must be able to execute both the Up and Under Attack and the Boom-n-Zoom. Both attacks, especially the Up and Under Attack require the pilot to be specially trained. Difference in altitude as well as in airspeed should be considered to determine the exact trajectory for the firing pass. Air units commanders should train their pilots on such attacks, as otherwise performing them will be useless and even dangerous.
What could an enemy do to defend against such attack? In most cases, other planes from the defender’s formation will notice the attack run as they will be watching each other’s sixes. We therefore must expect to be counter-attacked by other planes. To prevent such counterattacks, the following action is recommended: parallel attack of both flanks of the formation. In such situations the following scenario will occur: left- and rightmost planes of the schwarm will both see the threat to their mate but will think that they themselves are out of danger. This will cause both pilots’ attention to temporarily shift away from their own safety, and from controlling their airplane which will make them better targets for our attack. Of course, enemy pilots can communicate the impending attack over their radios, but that will take time – and even a second can decide the outcome of a dogfight.
To make enemy counter-attack even less likely, the planes at the back of the formation should be attacked. This will leave a slight chance that, if both planes are shot down, front of the formations will continue flying straight and level unaware of being attacked. If the enemy planes are stacked up in the echelon formation, higher planes should be attacked first.
The Up and Under Attack is of course not the only offensive maneuver used by fighter pilots. All manners of attacks are possible in a dogfighter, with a wide variety of angles and distances as, for example, high deflection shots from inverted position at an enemy diving from above, etc. A fighter pilot should always be ready to attack, but the initial firing pass should be performed as described above. Of course, the above description covers nothing but the initiation of the engagement; it is futile to try to describe all possible situations from then on.
Pilot’s actions in a dogfight are dictated by his own imagination. Only common rules for air battles can be dictated here. Some of them have been mentioned above, namely the importance of having altitude advantage, and the Up and Under Attack. The only important thing to keep in mind is, to counter enemy tactic’s we must use teamwork, support each other and fully give in personal interests to the group’s success.
Fighters should at all times stay in the designated formation, not pursue single targets and stay close to their flight. Planes under enemy attack should defend so that they bring the enemy towards other friendly planes and not away from them. If for any reason a part of the flight is separated from the main group, they should do everything possible to get back in formation. Wingmen should not necessarily try to find the leader they had at take-off. They can get on any plane’s wing, as long as it’s a friendly plane and as long as the flight is together.
Plane you should choose for your attack is the one attacking your comrade. Every fighter pilot can find himself in a very advantageous position over an enemy plane, but then see a friend being attacked by an enemy plane about to open fire. What should you do in this situation? Go on with your attack, score a kill and leave your comrade in danger, of forfeit a certain victory and try to save him? A true fighter pilot should have no doubts about this: leaving everything behind to save your comrade is the only right answer.
These are the ground rules that ensure the above principle is complied with:
- Situational awareness at all times. Even during a firing pass you should know what’s going on around you, and not just fixate on the enemy fighter.
- Stay with your flight. Only engage far away enemy fighters when directed by the flight leader.
- Maintain radio discipline. All planes should have working radios, and all communications should be brief and clear.
- Flight leader takes care of others. His primary role is to direct the group. He should point out threats to others and manage counterattacks with organized forces of his own and other planes. Flight leader does not get involved in long dogfights, but only makes brief boom-and-zoom attacks.
Enemy fighters should not only be watched by friendly fighters, but own ground troops should warn the pilots of any enemy activity. A covering flight should protect the main group from sudden enemy attack by staying above the rest of the flight. The same covering flight should also be used for attacks when friendly planes are outnumbered. Thus, the covering flight fulfills two roles, being the reserve and the escort for the main formation.
Fighter strength should be concentrated. If fighter planes fight in small groups, they should be united by flexible command, uniting the groups in common tasks. Well-organized and reliable radio communication should be ensured both between the planes and the ground.
Tactical errors are possible from both sides during battle. Sometimes an enemy will inexplicably do something to place himself right in front of your guns. Don’t be surprised and take time to wonder why; use any opportunity you have to punish the enemy for his mistakes. Younger enemy pilots will make mistakes more often; you can always tell right away if you’re dealing with an ace or a rookie.
Not only you must use enemy’s mistakes to your advantage; you should also try to make none of your own. Below is the list of things that help you with this:
- Good tactical training. Reading about it won’t do much. Spend time discussing past engagements. Replay all events and think about different actions you might take in situations your comrades encountered.
- Situational awareness. Do not rely on your own eyes; looking for enemy fighters should be a well organized effort, practiced by the whole flight.
- Good command. Flight leader must be able to manage the engagement for his flight’s advantage, not his own.
You can see what great importance is placed on the flight leader. Flight leader should always be protected by other member of the flight. He himself must keep in mind that his bravery and superior flying skills are important for the whole group. He must not get tangled up in dogfights, leaving his mates to their own discretion. This is especially true for a squadron or regiment commander. His goal is to control the amassed effort of his subordinates and increase their tallies, not his personal ones.
Chasing an extra star on your fuselage and leaving your squad mates alone is the worst thing a fighter pilot could do. Of course, a squad or regiment leader should attack enemy planes, but he should only do it in such matter as to allow himself to return to controlling other planes as soon as possible.
Naturally, you must also consider the enemy commander’s importance. He will most often fly the lead of the lowest of covering schwarm. All efforts must be taken to attack his airplane; sometimes it’s a good idea to designate a specific group tasked with his destruction or at least preventing him from commanding other planes.
Where do you turn during the battle? Obviously, you cannot fight in one vertical pane and you must turn when you fight. Picking the right direction is extremely important.
The diagram below displays several real life situations illustrating the “turn into the enemy” rule. This rule dictates that you turn into the enemy to create an opportunity for yourself to fire, or at least make his attack more difficult by making it shorter, or increasing the deflection needed.
Secondly, other fighters of your flight should be considered when picking the direction of your turn. When being attacked, it is best to place the attacker under your mates’ fire; you must try however to fly towards friendly planes at higher altitudes that are not themselves engaged in battle.
Position of the sun should also be considered. A split-S should ideally be performed towards the sun, for example.
You should at all times also try to turn towards friendly territory. Consider friendly and enemy anti-aircraft position. Try to lead the engagement towards areas covered by strong friendly ground fire.
More often than not the conditions listed above will conflict with each other when you are picking a direction for the turn. It is impossible to say in advance which one is the most important. One of the most important qualities of a good fighter pilot is being able to consider all variables in the situation and make the right decision in a matter of moments.
Young fighter pilots often wonder what they should do if they ever have an enemy plane on their six, and the attacker is firing. This, of course, is a very dangerous scenario and authors of this book would not wish for any of their readers to appear in it. You must always watch the skies around you and try to notice any enemy attack while you still have time to maneuver away. If you detect the attack early enough you may even be able to place yourself in a position to attack.
Unfortunately, there are often cases of a fighter pilot becoming careless for a second, only to find enemy tracers going past his cockpit. It’s a tough situation, but not everything is lost yet. You must immediately escape enemy fire by a snap turn or other quick maneuver. There have been occasions of a pilot going into a barrel roll from this situation and literally “hanging” his airplane in the air by cutting the throttle or even extending landing gear. That would sometimes even result in a kill for the defender, as surprised attacker would fly ahead of him and become a target himself. This maneuver is very risky, but it’s better than nothing in such a dangerous situation.
Enemy fighters can sometimes employ something called “defensive circle”, i.e. a formation when fighters are in a continues turn after one another. Supposedly, each plane covers the others and this formation is attributed magical invulnerability.
Defensive circle has several distinct disadvantages, and it’s advantages are mostly a myth. Of course, no formation is invulnerable; all the planes in a defensive circle are very vulnerable to attack from above. There are no defensive maneuvers for the planes in the circle that wouldn’t cause them to break it. The are also incapable of shooting down attackers from the circle. A fighter plane that cannot shoot enemy fighters is nothing but a target. The only invisible fighter is the one that destroys all enemies, not the one setting himself up for an attack by entering the circle.
If our fighters find themselves attacked by superior numbers of enemy planes, they must act as the figure below shows, trying to shoot down enemies off each other’s tails. This method should not turn into simple scissors, as it’ll cause your airspeed to drop and set you up to be attacked by other enemy fighters that have the energy advantage. Maneuver should consist of flying in a straight line for a short period of time followed by sharp turns. You should try to gain altitude during this maneuver and simultaneously pull the enemy towards friendly AAA. Also, use your radio to call for support. This maneuver requires a lot of practice and precise radio guidance from the fighter leader.
Flying a plane in a dogfight has its specifics. Rapid changes of airspeed, direction and sudden maneuvers can cause a lot of strain on your body. You will often struggle to keep your plane from stalling. All of the above requires the pilot to know his plane’s capabilities very well, and be able to push it to its limits. It is most important for the pilot to master rapid climbs, snap turns and yo-yos at different speeds and in minimal time.
As we’ve stated many times before, altitude advantage has the utmost importance in a dogfight. How do you gain such advantage? The seemingly right answer is to fly as high as possible. However, it is not correct in many cases. When your plane is too high above you can easily miss low flying enemy planes.
Based on our experience, a formation that makes the most sense is a stacked up echelon. Squadron can fly in such formation with up to three groups of fighters in different altitudes. Upper echelon should fly higher than any enemy fighters expected in the area. Enemy fighters will be threatened by attack from the higher echelon, whereas our fighters from the lower altitudes will be covered by their higher squad mates.
Fast, reliable radio link between the echelons is of foremost importance when flying in such formation. It is also best when all levels of the formations can see each other.
In summary, the first thing that is needed to guarantee altitude advantage is a correctly stacked up echelon formation.
Second thing needed to keep altitude is making sure maneuvers during the dogfight keep you higher. No maneuvers should be used that cause drastic loss of altitude, like sharp turns, barrel rolls, etc. Every second should be spent trying to gain altitude.
Airspeed should also not be forgotten, as it is basically a reserved altitude. Airspeed is the third component of altitude advantage.
Fighter pilots often wonder about the correct airspeed during offensive patrols. If airspeed is high, fuel is used up quickly and fighters don’t stay up in the air as long as they could. If airspeed is lower to preserve fuel, edge is lost in a dogfight. Airspeed during a fighter sweep should be determined based on several factors. Airspeed should be higher if high flying enemy fighters are likely to appear. If, however, our fighters are at altitude above any expected enemy planes, or our fighters can have an advance warning from outside their formation of the enemy approaching, then there is no need to keep the airspeed high. Also, high airspeed is not necessary when flying directly under cloud cover.
Battalion and division COs should make a concentrated effort to ensure that our planes always outnumber the enemy. Large formations are not the answer to this; rather, well orchestrated small groups communicating with each other and the ground. Commanders of large groups of fighters should always have a group of reserve fighters on the ground ready to take off within two minutes of receiving an order. Battalion and Division headquarters should always be precisely aware of the location and situation of all their fighters. Headquarters should also have good communications with other airfields in the area to support, if needed, each other’s planes in the air.
It should also be pointed out that the outcome of a battle is not dictated by the numerical superiority. It is rather a combination of the following elements: element of surprise, pilot training, formations and many other factors. Fighters, more so than any other military arm, fit the old Russian proverb that battles are won “with skill, not numbers”