The Barrel Roll

[DamnedRen]

Originally posted by stantond
I find a barrel roll quite helpful after diving down and missing the dead six shot (which is most of the time) and want to slow down but still keep some altitude and an eye on the nme.  A barrell roll is just the trick while chopping the throttle.  I also use it to bleed speed before landing when coming in fast and low.  

You are performing an offensive barrel roll and you are right. It is a very effective way to maintain position on an enemy plane.

Grizzly,

I guess whenever we talk about a maneuver you must understand they can all be used either in the offense or defense and for every turn there is an opposing response to the turn. Where you begin to use the turns tactically is when you begin thinking about *pointing your nose where he`s going to be iso where is he now*. Once you start looking at him with regard to his direction of flight compared to yours it will get alot easier. Right now you either see them coming at you or somehow turning to you. If you look at it so all you need to is close with him to prevent him a shot while at the same time beginning a turn to where his turn is going to take him then you begin fight him on equal terms.

Remember its not where he is at this moment but where is he going to be in the next moment and how can you get there to meet up with him on his 6.

Hope this both makes sense and helps you.

[humble]

You actually hit alot of it in your earlier reply cobra...Grizzly I agree completely....it gets over simplified. The barrel roll is just another ACM....you can use it early (stantond) in the "defensive mid game" (Grizzly) or in a "last ditch" attempt to go offensive.

To me the primary uses are...

Offensively it allows a superior E plane to maintain an offensive position (behind the 3-9 line) without overly sacrificing angles or positional advantage....

Defensively it can be used in two primary ways...to create an overshoot...and to create angular gain thru out of plane manuevering. Intuitively most good pilots due both...by getting the other guy "out of sync" early they move him toward the 3,9 line....this is actually a major angular gain...then convert that gain to an overshoot via the barrel roll or other similiar manuever.

Wayback as a trainer I learned that most folks saw the "big move" but had a harder time grasping the fact that the "little" move 10 seconds earlier that they failed to properly counter was what killed em....

[BigMax]

My $.02...

All preceedings are good advice, but to really push your enema out in front,  I Aileron roll in one direction while applying opposite rudder - It widens your arc and helps you stay behind.

The steer behind is descriptive of how to conduct a rolling scissors...  Never pull for a questionable shot, only pull to lead when you are "saddled up".  If you do it too soon, you'll be out of position.

Ruddering "INTO" your aileron roll is more of a "snap" and less of a "barrel" - It's simply too fast.

[Grizzly]

Good stuff everyone... thanks Humble.