These are great practice sessions set up by Widewing For those of you who will participate, let me offer some things to think about before you get to the arena.
1. Use your lookout to spot ALL bandits in the vicinity.
a. Your most vulnerable position and likely avenue of approach is your high six. Check it first.
b. Do a couple of quick wing dips to make sure your low six is clear. Your low six is blind unless you maneuver your aircraft so you can clear it visually. It's a favorite position to sneak up on the unsuspecting wanderer.
2. Assess the relative threat from each bandit. Relative threat can, and will, change. Here's what to look for in priority order:
a. Proximity: This is the alligator closest to the boat. The guy who can get guns on you quickest. If there's a guy getting ready to gun your brains out defend against him first.
b. Advantage: This is the guy who has an e or position advantage that will allow him to set up for a kill shot. Maybe not right this minute, but just as your attention is elsewhere.
c. Aircraft: The guy with the "best" airplane is not necessarily the biggest threat. He may be too far away, have lower e or altitude, maybe he's not aggressive or unable to position for a good attack.
d. Pilot: Hummmm...what does this mean? Ultimately, you're fighting the enemy pilot, not his plane so you need to get a good feel for who's who in the zoo. As the fight progresses, you'll be able to easily figure out who's the biggest pest and who can't hit the broad side of a barn. This will take time but at the very beginning of the fight you can also make some rough guesses of pilot skill. Does a bandit just dive in trying to beat everyone else to you? If so, he probably isn't the best of the pilots. Can he not figure out how to attack you without it becoming a HO? In a many vs one there's really no reasonable justification for a bandit to SET UP HIS ATTACK as a HO although it can easily turn into one as you turn into him to neutralize the threat.
3. Prioritize. Let's say the bandits are a P51 5k above you and a Zeke co-alt. Which is the biggest threat to you? It depends. Are you faster than the Zeke? Is the Pony aggressive or just sticking his nose in occasionally to keep things interesting for you? In my case, I'll almost always go for the Zeke right away because that little bugger will follow you around till the cows come home while the Pony will probably stay fast, probably too fast, and be relatively easy to defend against.
4. Isolate the threat sector. When fighting against a more numerous threat, you want to get them together in a group. That way, you can worry less about multiple attacks from multiple directions. Extend away from the group or offset to one side. The best way to isolate the threat sector is to be above them. Let them try to come up to you and pick 'em off as they climb.
5. Get the bandits "in phase". This is a follow-on to isolating the threat sector. If you're successful in keeping the bandits together in the same piece of sky it's easier to keep track of them. If you can get them real close together so that they're attacking at the same time then a defense against one is a defense against both. A shot opportunity on one can easily become a shot opportunity on either or both.
6. Think survival and attacks of opportunity. By definition, you are defensive because you're outnumbered.
a. You have to first defend against attackers while looking for an opportunity to attack yourself. When I say "look for an opportunity" I don't mean just do break turns and hope someone flies in front of you.
b. You need to think at least two steps ahead and set up your defense so it lets you set up a good offensive opportunity. Here's where isolating the threat helps. Say you've isolated two bandits with altitude behind you. As the two bandits turn to follow you they will typically line up in trail of each other (unless they're smart and stay in combat spread). If they're in spread, make an easy turn during your extension to force them into a lead trail formation.
c. As the first bandit dives in to attack start a turn to force an overshoot but what you really need to be thinking is how is this defense going to set up an attack on the second bandit? Keep track of the trail bandit so that you can plan your turn to not only force the first bandit to overshoot but to give yourself a shot opportunity on the trailer. Worst case, you want to take the trailer 180 out and extend away again. Best case, you get a good snapshot opportunity on the trailer while turning in a direction that points you back toward the first bandit.
d. There are many variations but what I'm saying here is to think ahead, don't just react. Try to make every maneuver one that will achieve two objectives, negate or kill one bandit while setting yourself up for the second bandit.
7. Some other thoughts:
a. Treat E like breathing, you gotta have it.
b. Use the art of "just enough". Why do a six G break turn into a bandit who will overshoot if you just pull three G's? You're burning E unnecessarily.
c. Take every opportunity you can to extend away. Extending will let you regain some E and help to keep the threat isolated. If you keep your E up a many vs one will turn into a series of quick engagements with shot opportunities separated by extensions.
d. Don't worry about some banana on Ch 200 taunting you for "running". He's trying to get into your head and make you do something stupid.
e. Plan your extensions to "move the fight" toward a more advantageous environment for you. Getting away from the mountains gives you altitude to covert to speed. Getting closer to friendlies evens up the odds. Get near Ack and the bandits now have to worry about your little automatic wingmen on the ground.
f. Unless you have a significant e advantage over both/all of the bandits it's generally not a great idea to go vertical. In RL, this is known as a "bandit gathering maneuver" cause as soon as you go up they will all come after you. That's not to say you shouldn't still use the vertical, you have to, but limit yourself. Don't go pure vertical, don't let yourself get roped, don't let yourself get slow (as in less than 200-250mph). Stay with oblique maneuvers (yo-yo's, wingovers, barrel rolls, etc.)
g. Do NOT saddle up on a bandit for more than a few seconds unless you know for sure the other bandits are out of position. There are many dead guys who said "I only need a few more seconds". As soon as you lose track of one of the other bandits break off the attack and find him.
h. Practice high-deflection snap-shots. These are the shots that will help you whittle down the enemy and even the odds.
i. Try to stay unpredictable. If you've defended with a right turn followed by a barrel-role over the top maybe you should set up the next as a barrel-role underneith or just a plain break turn while he expects you to pull nose-up.
In closing, winning a 1v1 is great fun but winning or even just surviving a hard-core 1 v Many is even better.
Mace
