Flight Procedures
Air Combat Maneuvering
Maintain sight of the bandit throughout the maneuver. If the bandits flight path during his high yo-yo
(Figure 22) takes him significantly outside of your flight path, reverse to keep the bandit in sight and
continue to unload. Your goal here is to gain enough separation so that you can disengage or have
enough room to execute a pitchback.
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2
2
2
3
1
3
1
Defender
1
3
3
Attacker
2
Figure 22: DEFENSIVE COUNTER TO THE HIGH YO-YO
For distances of 1-1/4 nm or greater with lateral separation and the bandit on or below the horizon,
execute a lateral pitchback by using a nose-low hard turn with your lift vector on or slightly below the
bandit. For distances less than 1 mile or if the bandit is high and/or at your dead six, execute a vertical
pitchback by pulling vertically 60 degrees nose-high at 17 units AOA. Continue pulling back stick while
applying aileron and rudder in an attempt to meet the bandit head-on with minimum lateral separation.
If the bandit continues to press and you cannot execute a pitchback, continue your hard turn to force
an in-close overshoot, in which case you would execute a nose-high reversal. If the bandit does not
overshoot and executes another high yo-yo, continue your counters in an attempt to force any type of
overshoot. In any case, remember there are four basic defensive rules: 1) oppose the nose, 2) keep
your lift vector on the bandit, 3) take out the lateral separation, and 4) remain unpredictable.
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