FLAT SPIN AIR COMBAT MANEUVER SERIES

(To overshoot is to fly from an AOT ( angle-off-tail: the angle between the nose of the attacker and an imaginary extended line from the nose through the tail of the defender and extending behind it into the air) of less than 90 degrees to an AOT of greater than 90 degrees.)Īs such, an attacker who finds themselves in a flat scissors has transitioned from an offensive to a neutral engagement and has lost their offensive advantage. In fact, for many years now, fighter pilots flying aircraft with even a reasonable thrust-to-weight ratio and average wing loading are well-advised to avoid engaging in a scissors maneuver, since any turning, rolling, or slow-speed disadvantage the pilot's aircraft might have with respect to that of their opponent (or pilot skill in energy assessment and management techniques) will quickly become evident in the scissors, and lead to their defeat in short order.īasic fighter maneuvering theory recognizes two different types of scissors maneuvers the flat scissors and the rolling scissors.įlat scissors A diagram of the flat scissors.Ī flat scissors maneuver typically results when two fighters of similar capability encounter each other at similar speeds and in the same plane of motion, and the attacking fighter has failed to press an initial positional and angular advantage into a kill, and has 'overshot', or passed behind the defender. Modern aircraft also make it difficult to use this technique as they maintain energy much better than earlier designs and the maneuvering limits are often the pilot's physical limitations, not the aircraft. The introduction of high-angle missiles makes it much less effective, as the attacker can shoot even when the defender is not in front of them. It was a major technique from World War I to the Korean War, but is much less common today. The scissors is a close-maneuvering technique, and as such, is really only useful when defending against guns or low-performance missiles. Performed properly, it can cause the attacking aircraft to move far enough in front to allow the defender to turn the tables and attack.

FLAT SPIN AIR COMBAT MANEUVER SERIES

It consists of a series of short turns towards the attacking aircraft, slowing with each turn, in the hopes of forcing the attacker to overshoot. It is primarily a defensive maneuver, used by an aircraft that is under attack. The scissors is an aerial dogfighting maneuver commonly used by military fighter pilots. ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) ( September 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) There might be a discussion about this on the talk page.

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Flat spin air combat maneuver