Pop-up Pattern
Weapons
POP-UP ATTACKS
There are times in combat when you will arc around the attack cone prior to rolling in, usually while
providing cover to your wingman while he is attacking. Most times, however, you will intercept the attack
cone from an ingress heading and just pass briefly through it. Your first look at this will come in the pop-
up pattern, where we practice ingressing from low altitude and popping up to the attack cone .
POP-UP PATTERN
Unlike the standard weapons pattern, the pop-up pattern is a long racetrack pattern (Figure 22). The
pattern is 1,000 AGL. When initially entering the pattern, wingmen will perform a level break at a
15-second interval to provide extra spacing in the pattern. The abeam position will be slightly wider than
the standard 2 miles. At the beam, track outbound on the reciprocal of the run-in heading for
35-40 seconds. Perform a level 90-degree turn towards the run-in line and roll out. Approaching the run-
in line, add power to MRT and execute a 15-17 unit level turn inbound to arrive over the run-in line with
the target approximately 4 miles off the nose. Adjust altitude to ingress toward the target at 700-
1,000 AGL. Do not arm the Master Arm switch until your nose is pointed at the target!
"In Hot"
"In The Pop"
"Off Safe"
Run-in Line
15-17 Unit
Turn-in
Approaching
MRT
2 - 3 "G" Turn
Crosswind
To Abeam
Turning In
Prior
Past
Downwind
Abeam
Figure 22: POP-UP PATTERN
THE POP
The pop is designed to quickly elevate you from ingress altitude to roll-in altitude. The pop is offset to
one side so that you can keep the target in sight while climbing. To perform the pop, ingress to the target
level at 700-1,000 AGL. At approximately 2.5 nm, the target will be about 5 degrees down in your HUD.
With the power still at MRT, roll 30 AOB away from the pattern and pull the nose 30 degrees up using a
17-unit pull. This will generate approximately 30 degrees of heading change. Reaching 30 degrees
nose up, roll wings level in the climb and quickly reacquire the target. Passing 2,000 AGL, roll to put your
lift vector on the target and pull down to establish the aircraft in a 10-degree dive. The amount of time
between rolling wings level in the climb and initiating your pull down into the target is only a few seconds.
This maneuver should put you in a standard 10-degree dive toward the target over the run-in line.
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