"I didn't turn with enemy pilots as a rule. I might

By not dying and living to fight when the situation suits them

>>30767470

He's basically saying "If the enemy is obviously baiting you, then it is better to just leave rather than try to fight a spider in its own web."

>>30767470
Because the vast majority of aerial kills are achieved by ambushing enemy planes before they even know you're there. Dogfighting is an absolute last resort because you never want to risk facing an enemy on even vaguely equal terms.

This ain't ww1, if you got radios you squadrons, and if you got squadrons you got tactics.

>>30767470
To avoid getting shot down you need to be lucky all the time

To shoot someone down you need to only be lucky once

Don't rely on luck if you want to stay alive

>>30767470
>How does anyone get a kill?
>come in
>maintain awareness
>look for nubz
>attack someone who looks like nub from behind
>maintain awareness
>nub still flying straight
>yes this is nub
>maintain awareness
>finish attack
>GTFO
>maintain awareness
>tip fedora to pros passing by

>if something is not working according to plan GTFO immediately

>>30767470
>So most of aerial combat is just people pussying out and playing it safe?
Yep. Hit them before they see you, don't get into a dogfight, where one of his friends could come up behind you while you're focused on guy number one.

>>30768506
This is about the only thing I learned from WT.

>>30767470

As a general rule US pilots used the old boom and zoom tactic or otherwise took advantage of their speed and acceleration in climbs and dives over turning ability to get kills.

>>30767470
If you're ever in a fair fight, you've done something wrong. BVR fire and forget missiles were the best thing god ever gave a fighter pilot.

>>30770159
And politician-driven eyeball confirmation ROE was the worst curse.

>>30767470
You are flying around to accomplish a mission, not paint shit on the side of your plane.

>>30770183
Unless, well, you don't have BVR missiles and you are on a fighter sweep mission (think third world countries).

>>30770174
Funny/infuriating thing there too was that, because Combat Tree was still Classified long past its replacement by newer systems post-Vietnam, nobody could actually testify about its effectiveness while Boyd, Sprey, and so on argued about BVR IFF systems "not existing."

>/k/ think air combat is just turn fighting like in hollywood movies

>>30767470
>How does anyone get a kill?
your face when the last US ace was minted in vietnam

>>30767470
US air combat tactics emphasized speedy diving and climbing tactics, attacking in the dive and then climbing away out of range of retaliation, instead of prolonged turning dogfights.

>>30771827

I think I first read about that in Revolt of the Majors. Fucking passed me off, Sprey is scum.

>>30767470
>How does anyone get a kill?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_iW1T3yg80