User Guide

By definition, all gun shots are taken from the
lead pursuit attitude. This means the nose of
your aircraft is pointing at the future position of
the target. In lag pursuit, on the other hand,
your nose is pointing behind the current
position of the target, ensuring that a gun shot
will not hit its target. If your current maneuver
depends upon holding lag pursuit, don’t use the
gun. Conversely, if you’re the one being fired
upon, it might be time to pull a hard break
away from the enemy to give him a high
deflection shot and spoil his aim.
Required deflection angle is calculated automatically by the radar driven predictor gunsight on the
F-16, but you need to be aware of the pursuit angle changes the sight will impose when you use it.
DOGFIGHT MANEUVERS
You must enter every dogfight with the confidence that you will survive it. Your primary objective is
to position your plane directly behind your opponent and stay there long enough to blow him away.
Get to know these basic maneuvers and corresponding counter-maneuvers so well they are second
nature. Be in tune with your opponent to the extent that you can accurately guess his future
position. Choose a maneuver but be flexible, ready to modify it as your opponent tries to foil your
setup. Remember, the enemy is reacting to your moves with the same focus and skill that you are
reacting to his.
If you have trouble executing any of the dogfight maneuvers, switch to External Camera view (6 )
as you do them and practice making them look similar to the diagrams.
Break
A break is a bank away from another plane’s bank (see diagram, p. 43). If an opponent follows you
into a rolling chase, wait until his plane is rolled opposite yours and pull for all you’re worth. Now
do it again in the opposite direction as you see him follow you into the first bank. With any luck,
you can put enough distance between your aircraft and his that you can continue the last break
into a full turn and use the F-16’s superb turning characteristics to get out of his sights and onto
his tail. Just remember: Speed is life! If you have to pull more than one or two high-G breaks to get
the guy off your tail, you’ve probably used up all your speed advantage doing so. An opposition
break occurs when two planes break across each other’s courses simultaneously in order to
separate quickly.
One of the best responses to an opponent’s break is the lag roll. Alternatively, follow the break
around and set up lag pursuit. Try for a missile or gun snapshot.
Loop
The loop is a good basic maneuver to master,
because it tends to be a part of more
complicated maneuvers. It is a climb or dive
held until you circle back to where you started.
An inside loop keeps the canopy of the aircraft
on the inside of the loop, and an outside loop
puts it on the outside. Since vertical loops cost
so much speed, they are rare in dogfights.
However, many maneuvers begin with partial
loops. If nothing else, mastering the loop
prepares a pilot for the disorientation and big
G forces of inverted flight at high speed.
Countering the loop is easy. Bank hard around and try for a high deflection shot as the other plane
dives for the deck. Your enemy might try to turn the loop into an Immelmann, but if he does he’ll be
going so slow at the top that he’ll be an easy kill.
45
Target Aspect
Angle
Deflection
Loop