Air Combat Maneuvering
Flight Procedures
DEFENSIVE COUNTERS TO HIGH/LOW YO-YO’S
To counter high and low yo-yo’s from an attacking bogey, maintain an out-of-phase state with the bogey’s
maneuvers to deny the bogey a firing solution. Remember, that both high and low yo-yo maneuvers
present the attacker with many opportunities to make mistakes. Recognize—or better yet anticipate—
these mistakes and exploit the negative aspects of each maneuver, turning them to your advantage.
2
2
1
3
3
2
1
1
Attacker
1
3
Defender
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Figure 19: DEFENSIVE COUNTER TO THE LOW YO-YO
On your defensive flights, you set up as the defensive aircraft either with the bogey on a low angle-off
perch or following the break turn exercise. At the bogey’s low reversal or the Fox-2 call in the break turn
exercise, execute a hard or break turn by placing your lift vector on (or slightly below) the bogey (Figure
19), increasing AOT and closure rate. Deciding whether to execute a hard or a break turn depends on
how close the bogey is to a firing solution. Save the break turn for when he is about to bring his nose to
bear. To get your lift vector on or slightly below the bogey with an initial nose-low move, overbank slightly
while maintaining g to redirect the lift vector down. Maintain the nose-low hard turn until the bogey’s nose
is committed into the vertical. Once the bogey’s nose is committed up, unload the aircraft to 5-10 units
AOA to optimize acceleration and separation. Continue unloading until the bogey commits nose-low, but
prior to his nose becoming a threat. Any increased separation allows you more room for turning, creating
additional angles to force an overshoot. If you execute a break turn and if you have any hope of regaining
energy, you will have to lower your nose significantly and lose a significant amount of altitude.
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T-45C Revision 1
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