This is one of the most important aspect of flying BFM. You must recognize when you are in the bandit's TC, and what to do once you're there if you ever hope to arrive at an end game kill. Your primary reference should be the LOS across the horizon. If you never changed your initial aim point (assuming it was a good one) then LOS across the canopy works also. But that's not what you should look for because you control that somewhat by where you point and how hard you pull, so look at the horizon. Back to LOS rate. Initially you will see the bandit move very little across the horizon but he will be rotating in space. As you approach his TC, his aspect will begin to stabilize (rotation stops) and his movement across the horizon will pick up. You have entered his TC! The Bandit will probably slide out of the HUD FOV prior to your entering the TC, but it will happen at a low LOS. For the typical set-up this will occur about 10:00 or 2:00, (sounds like 40°- 50° on the locator line) but will vary depending on how hot your entry is. Range is dependent primarily on how hard the bandit breaks and a little on aspect, but 5000' - 6000' is again typical for what we do, (normally about 6 seconds from "fights-on" with the bandit normally through 120° of turn with aspect about 70.).

Another technique for determining your position relative to the bandit's TC is to evaluate the bandit's present rate of turn. If this turn will bring you forward of the bandit's 3/9 line, then you are outside the bandit's TC. You are inside the bandit's TC when you determine that his rate of turn will not bring you forward of his 3/9 line. Use the afterburner to gain airspeed. Because you're outside the bandits TC, the time it takes for you to get there is dead time. Every second the bandit generates 15-20° more angles you'll need to solve and you can't solve any angles until you get to his TC. Therefore you'll want to get there as quick as possible. However, once there you'll need to slow back down by getting out of A/B and/or use of S/B. A good trade off is about 450 knots at the TC entry. Faster and your radius is too large and rate drops off, slower and you'll quickly have to ease off the "G" to sustain corner.

The TC entry point is a window from where he started (actually just inside) to just short of the center of his TC. Anywhere within this window is the correct solution, however, exactly where will determine the amount of vertical needed to solve the problem. The hotter the entry (i.e. the closer to the center of the TC) the more vertical required. This assumes you are fighting a bandit similar in capability to you. A good rule of thumb is to enter about 2/3 of the way out from the center. Assuming a standard set-up, at the "fights on/Fox 2" you need only to roll out and point to where the bandit was (or at the first flare) to hit this entry point. This is the conservative approach, but will enable you to see the TC entry more clearly. How about vertical? This is a wonderful concept, but too low and the bandit can keep his energy up by keeping lift vector on, too high and you delay getting to the TC. Again look for a window, within about 500' high or low is reasonable. If you go low, the bandit can create max angles with lift vector on as well as maintain energy by having his lift vector below the horizon. A level (or even a slight climb) will force the bandit to make a decision. If he keeps lift vector on he bleeds energy, if he keeps lift vector slightly below the horizon he builds you some vertical turning room. The point here is two fold; have a game plan, but realize the bandit may not be cooperative. Constant assessment of what the bandit is doing, and being able to adjust is a must.

. Finding Your Frames of Reference. The horizon line in your HUD and the Other View window help keep you oriented to where the horizon is if it is out of view...normally, this is not a problem. But what do we mean by your opponent's plane of motion? What are the visual clues for this? Here's simple rule of thumb. His plane of motion is where his lift vector is pointed. Under positive G, his lift vector comes out of the top of his aircraft...if he has a single vertical stabilizer(rudder), then you can use it to represent his lift vector. If he is bunting(negative G), then his lift vector is coming out of the bottom of his aircraft. This lift vector defines his direction of turn. Imagine his wings as representing a flat plane. His lift vector is perpendicular to this flat plane. If you match his angle of bank, your lift vector is aligned with his...you are by definition in or parallel to his plane of motion. Now, here's the goodie. If you can see the top of his wing and you are in his plane of motion, you are INSIDE his turn...if you are looking at the bottom of his wing, most likely you are OUTSIDE of his turn. In BFM, we usually want to be inside of our opponent's turn...therefore, you must be looking at the TOP of his wing. Inside his turn means closure..this is lead pursuit. Outside his turn generally means no closure..this is lag pursuit. Most of the time, you will be in lead pursuit.

b. Relative Energy States. You can use the horizon and your opponent to help control your energy. If your opponent is in a turn, his low wing represents the direction of positive energy for you relative to him. If you are trying to close on him, fly on his low wing side. His high wing represents a minus energy area..if you have too much energy relative to him, fly to his high wing side. In most of our maneuvering, we will be flying on the low side as we try to gain or maintain relative closure. Low wing + Top of the wing = closure = lead pursuit. High wing + Bottom of the wing = no closure = lag pursuit. Folks, it doesn't get any simpler than this.

Offensive BFM is necessary because a bandit in fear of dying will turn his jet at high Gs. To solve the BFM problems created by this turn, you must execute a turn of your own with the objective of flying your jet to the elbow. The key to offensive BFM is knowing when and how to execute this turn. If you are behind a bandit, remember the objective is to kill him and not put on an airshow at his 6o' clock. The first action to take when you have a bad guy in or near your HUD is to shoot something at him. If you can't shoot because the bandit starts a hard turn into you, then you must execute the following steps to get control of him and start shooting again.

1. Use the HUD, the Radar Scope, and the Threat Indicator to observe the bandit. If you cannot determine the bandit's turn direction by looking out of the HUD, look at your Threat Indicator. There you will see the bandit moving around the circle, either right or left.

2. When you observe the direction of turn for the Bandit, predict his movement across the sky and start a turn in the same direction. For example if the bandit moves to the left in your HUD or on your Threat Indicator, you turn left.

3. When you see the bandit turning out in front of you, ask yourself this question: "If the bandit keeps turning at his present rate, will his nose come around to point at me before I can close with him?" If the answer is yes, you are outside the bandit's turn circle and you are not flying offensive BFM - you are flying head-on BFM. You cannot solve aspect, angle-off and range problems when you are outside the bandit's turn circle. The reason is simple: no matter what you do, if you are outside his turn circle, he can always point at you and force a head-on pass. The illustration above shows a Falcon both inside and outside the turn circle. For now, assume you are inside the bandit's turn circle /the bandit's present turn rate will not bring his nose around to point at your jet/.

4. From inside the turn circle, maneuver to place the Flight Path Maker out in front of the bandit /lead pursuit/, start pulling 5-7Gs, and adjust the airspeed to gain 50 knots of closure.

5. Now, you must observe the movement of the bandit in your HUD to determine how to react. The bandit will do one of three things in relation to your FPM.

* If the bandit stays in the same spot in the HUD, you are matching his turn rate and will close the range and fly to the elbow. Just keep doing what you're doing and prepare to strike a blow.

* If you pull the FPM to lead and the bandit moves rapidly across your HUD and back under your nose, ease off the G and let him fly back into view. In this case, you are pulling too much lead for the bandit's present turn rate. Once you regain a "tally ho" /visual sighting/, put the FPM behind the bandit in lag pursuit. When the range closes, the bandit will start moving away from you in the direction of the turn. When this occurs, pull the your nose back to lead pursuit and again get ready for a gun shot. In both of the above cases you may pass through Sidewinder parameters.

* If the bandit moves through the FPM and you go from lead to lag pursuit, you are not matching the bandit's turn rate and you will overshoot. An overshoot is when you fly past the bandit and are in danger of going out in front of him. The picture above shows a bird's eye view of an overshoot situation. The solution to this problem is to turn the Falcon as hard as possible and check your airspeed. If you are over 450 knots, you will overshoot the bandit every time - remember that velocity is squared in the rate and radius equations. If you do

overshoot, don't worry; keep turning in the direction of the bandit and you will get behind him.

You've arrived at his TC but now you need to solve the other problems that have been created, such as angles and range; realize that the bandit will not be in your HUD at this point. If you see greater than 500 pull power to min AB, or fan the boards, you will slow down during your initial turn. Less than 450, leave power set in full AB. As the bandit's airspeed decreases, so does his TC size. When you enter his TC your turn circle will be a bit larger than his initially. Your initial move should be to make a loaded roll to set your lift vector on or slightly above the bandit, and pull. This is initially a limiter pull while you assess range and closure.

During the maneuver, you need to asses what the bandit is doing, along with your range, closure, and heading crossing angle (HCA). This initial turn will take you through about 120° of turn. It is critical to keep your nose in check with the horizon as well as the bandit, + 15°. (Slightly more may be required if you chose to make your entry hotter due to higher aspect angles) Done correctly your flight path will take you slightly outside his, and you will always be looking at the top of his aircraft. What you do from here depends on what type of defense the bandit is doing. For this discussion two will be addressed: check and extend & continuous turn.

There are a number of different which cues the bandit is doing this (Figure 4.28). Probably the first is the ability to pull the bandit to your nose with relative ease. Next is a rapid change in aspect. During your initial turn you were continually looking at the top of his aircraft. As the bandit extends, the burner can becomes the focus of your attention. Another cue is LOS. When you entered his TC you saw rapid LOS across the horizon. As the bandit extends his LOS across the horizon stops. The last cue is range. During your initial you closed rapidly, but the extension will again increase range. When you see this the bandit is trying to get something you are trying to deny, energy and range. Your reaction should be to stay on the limiter and point at him as quickly as possible to threaten him. This should bring him back into a turn, if not shoot him with a missile. the bandit's extension has opened up the range enough to place you outside his turn circle, so think about getting there again. Your move should be another TC entry the same as before, but it will quicker, and both the bandit's energy and your energy are diminished. Resist the urge to point directly at him. This typically happens with new BFMers, and though it can be a quick kill option, it's best left to be learned as experience increases.

The cues you have that this (Figure 4.29) is the bandit's game plan are opposite of the check & extend. You may be able to pull him to your nose, but it will unnecessarily deplete energy require all you've got and is not the appropriate move. Your first cue should be the continuous LOS across the horizon. Also, you'll continue to see the top of his aircraft. Finally, the range between you and the bandit does not open up by virtue of the bandit's maneuvers. Depending on how well he flies this defense will determine how fast you beat him down on energy and kill him. He is presenting angle problems, and trying to force an error out of you (most notably bleed down your energy). Your BFM should not let this happen. You will need to threaten him to get him to bleed energy, but if you try to make it happen in one fell swoop you'll lose. When you detect this is his game plan, ease off of the turn to preserve range, position and energy. This will solve your angular problem by itself.

As a target, try to close no closer than about 3000' initially and maintain about 350 kts (300 as an absolute min). The 3000' is an approximation of his turn radius. As long as you are outside this, and you make a slight flight path overshoot (which will happen), he can't do anything about it. This also happens to be an approximation of your turn radius, and you will need turning room to threaten/prosecute. Preservation of range is critical here and the greater your HCA the more you'll need. As long as your HCA is within about 30° as you slide outside of his flight path this range is sufficient. If the HCA is greater than that you'll need more range, so shoot for about 4000' - 5000'. Maintaining 350 KTS will optimize your turn radius and your turn rate. The closer your nose is to the bandit the more threatened the bandit will feel, and force him to turn harder and deplete energy. Using a series of small high and low yo-yo's will eventually bring your nose into lead thus forcing the bandit to do something. Do not get your nose too low, you'll be fighting God's G and the bandit, and you'll lose. Along with the yo-yo's, your turn circles will be slightly offset, so even if the bandit has equal energy initially, your nose will arrive in lead.

The concepts for a vertical fight (Figure 4.30) are similar to other BFM skills. Look for TC cues, cross check over the top airspeed, and prosecute the attack. When you follow the bandit up, it's not a limiter pull into the vertical. Perform a loop, except at the top you can pull harder to threaten the bandit. If your airspeed is significantly greater than his, you may be able to use that to prosecute across the top, but you may not have a free overshoot. Keys here are: cross check closure, and ensure his nose is committed down before you go for the kill. The biggest error made happens at the onset. If the bandit goes up and you immediately follow. Essentially you're cutting across the center of his TC, and creating problems talked about earlier. Remember to point to where he was and make a good TC entry.

This section applies not only to perch sets, but also when you transition from the long range offensive sets and decide it's time to give the bandit a shower of 20mm (Figure 4.31) from the control position. If the bandit has 300 kts, he can generate tremendous problems and you probably won't maintain the control position. Normally don't try to gun him until he is 250 or less (there are a number ways to tell his airspeed: closure combined with aspect, and looking in the MFD). There are two options you have as the attacker at the "fight's on". The first is pull lead and gun him now, The second is to bid to lag and beat his energy down.

If you elect to pull lead and gun him from the start, prepare for the possible outcomes. If he's a duck and simply puts lift vector on and pulls, he dies, fight's over in 3 seconds provided your pipper control is on the mark. If not, or he jinks, you now have a closure problem and angle problem which you may not be able to solve very quickly especially if you continue to press the attack and follow his jink. The way to keep out of trouble here is to pull lead, if he even hints at a jink it's time to reposition while your still outside 2500'. If you decide to shoot, do so with a lethal burst, then reposition immediately. If the shot is good, call him dead. If it's not, you're already solving the closure problem before it gets out of control. The other option is to make a bid to lag (Figure 4.32) to beat the bandit's energy down before you gun him. This option is highly recommended for the less experienced, and should be your primary game plan until your proficiency increases. The bid to lag can be accomplished in a variety of ways. The simplest is to ease off of your turn to float back to the bandit's elbow. This will keep energy up so you can pull your nose to lead at your discretion. Power can stay in mil. It also keeps your nose in a threatening position to the bandit and prevents him from selecting AB (If he does shoot him with the missile). You may also elect to reposition using a slight out of plane maneuver, This is acceptable and does kill closure rapidly, but may also send a non-threatening message to the bandit by going out of plane while his energy is still up. Executed correctly this technique is fine, but make it quick, small, and crisp. Remember this is two handed BFM, AB may be required but not usually on the first move.

The bandit has a couple of options to try and force an error. If he continues his turn, think offset turn circles, and small yo-yo's. He's on the down side of the Ps curves, so you're controlling the fight from the start. One of mistake is to bleed your energy before him. Ride the smoke trail, and monitor his airspeed. When he's down to about 200 kts you own him. Avoid being low and not in lead, you'll scrape off on the floor first. As long as you're slightly high, the bandit will have to flatten his turn to avoid the floor. When he does you can trade your altitude for turn rate and gun him. If the bandit reverses (Figure 4.33) in a nose counter or roll underneath, he's trying to cause several problems. First is to get your nose out of sync with his, and make you fly a shorter string causing a closure problem. You can control this with an appropriate reposition to his six. Idle / speedbrakes may also help. Either a yo-yo type maneuver out of plane or a lag roll will work, but be extremely careful not to bury your nose or it may stagnate the fight. The idea is to stop your forward movement to preserve range. If you keep a constant cross check of range and closure, and solve it early, you'll stay behind him all day. If you delay, you're sure to find yourself in a stack or defensive. As a rule of thumb at 2000' if you see 100 knots of closure, reposition, At 1500' if you see 50 knots, reposition. This is two handed BFM, using small crisp maneuvers. When in doubt, reposition! It can't hurt, and you'll preserve your offensive position.

A flat scissors is the result of an in-plane overshoot. Given an energy advantage, exclusive use of the vertical may exist. If so, reposition high and loop the bandit. Be patient and drive to his six o'clock position prior to committing the nose back down. Without exclusive use of the vertical, a determination must be made in relation to the bandit's turn circle. At slow speed, turn circles may be very small (1200' radius or so). If outside his turn circle, pull with lift vector on and attempt a snap shot. If the snap shot is denied/defeated, attempt a lead turn to gain 3/9 line advantage. If the lead turn is denied or the scissors starts from inside the bandit's turn circle, forward velocity relative to him must be stopped to gain 3/9 line advantage. To do so, align fuselages and set the wings relative to the horizon to stop forward motion. Power/drag can be used to slow forward velocity followed by max AB to maintain pitch attitude. When the bandit begins to move forward on the canopy, pull to his six o'clock to establish a 3/9 line advantage. If both of you are pulling for a high six o'clock position and neither establishes a 3/9 line advantage, a rolling scissors will result.

In a rolling scissors, the pilot that can point, intimidate, and cause the other pilot to stop pulling should have the advantage. If unable to point and intimidate, then stop the rolling when the nose is above the horizon and the bandit's nose is below the horizon. By rolling out with the nose above the horizon, forward velocity is slowed. Because the bandit's nose is below the horizon, he should have a greater forward velocity. This should result in a 3/9 line advantage for you (Figure 4.34). If a rolling scissors continues, then both aircraft's airspeed will decrease so that the scissors transitions to a vertical rolling scissors. In a vertical rolling scissors, the opportunity to stop the nose above the horizon may not occur. Therefore, attempt to pirouette in the vertical and point to intimidate the bandit. A vertical rolling scissors fight will lose altitude rapidly, maintain SA on altitude lost and terrain clearance. When a rolling scissors transitions to a horizontal fight (neither pilot having a 3/9 line advantage), the fight may result in a high/low stack.

A high/low stack can result from an overshoot in the vertical or stopping a rolling scissors. If the high man, use power to gain turning room above the bandit. Keep sight by weaving slightly during the climb. Be sure to keep the nose above the horizon to prevent an increase in forward velocity. Attempt to get his nose out of synchronization (sync) to gain lateral as well as vertical turning room. At approximately 3000' of turning room (adversary outside the turn circle), maneuver to gain 3/9 line advantage. While the high man has a slightly higher potential energy, the low man has the advantage of an easy tally. Try to mirror everything the bandit does to force his loss of sight, but not to the point of losing lift. This will deny him lateral and vertical turning room, forcing the bandit to roll to regain sight. If he rolls excessively, his nose will drop increasing his forward velocity. Once the 3/9 line advantage is gained, maneuver to the bandit's six o'clock and attempt a gun shot.

Cockpit	Basic Flight	BFM	Formation	M-Tactics	Building Campaings
HUD	Character	Basic ACM	Combat	W-Tactics	Building Missions
MDI/UFC	Disruption	Off-BFM	DO-BFM	SAMS
AA-Radar	Takeoff/Land	Def-BFM	DD-BFM	M-Builder
AA-Combat	Refueling	HO-BFM	Hi Aspect BFM	B-Areobatics
AG-Radar	Navigation	BVR	Prin-BFM	A-Areobatics
AG-Combat	Miscellaneous	ACM	Co-ACM	Weapons