Loops have a tendency to take a while to complete. Time is mone...wait a minute. Let's start over...
A loop can be akin to an airline pilot trying to not make all the passengers sick by rolling hard and pulling too many G's.
The average bank angle in a passenger plane is 22.5 degrees although they can and do exceed it. Nice turn but not gonna keep the average fighter pilot alive in a dogfight. That nice turn is what we sometimes call a flat turn on the horizon. It's fairly easy to
cut inside. Let's take a look at why this may be happening.
We can begin by waiting until your wife, girl friend, mom, etc., decides to boil up some hard boiled eggs and when they are not looking grab one before the shell gets broken and peeled off. Now take that egg and sit it on it's fat end. Ever notice how it has a pointy end and a big round end? Let's call the big round end the "fat end". Alternatively, you can draw an egg on a piece of paper or even use a lil imagination and see it in your mind. Whatever, works for you is great! Personally, I like using an egg cause then I can snack on it later...
Ok, so now we have an egg sitting on its fat end. Grab a pen and start anywhere on the egg. Draw a line anywhere around the egg so that you end up back where you started. That line you drew can be described as how a plane flies through three dimensional (3D) airspace. Draw a few more lines....cool, huh?
Let's take a look at your loop. If you ease your way through the top of the egg so that the plane doesn't merely fall over (gravity assisted?) and begin going back down you are performing a loop. As you draw the line further down the shell of the egg and pull through the bottom of the loop you will notice you are down there in the fat end of the egg. So gravity and your planes engine speeds up your downhill run to the bottom of the loop which created a fairly wide base of the loop. You can pull for all your worth and may even go into black out if you pull to hard. But, the plane is going to perform that big bottom of the loop dependent on your planes speed. Other factors are involved dependent on the type of plane but for now let's just stick with the egg. If you pull for all your worth going up over the top and down through the bottom you will basically describe that same line you drew around the egg. The same plane following you may be easing his throttle back a little bit going over the top. This creates a bit more flop over on top. It also can put him diectely inside your turn. If he keeps his throttle down his turn through the bottom of the loop might be a little tighter than yours. As you both go back up he adds war ermergency power (wep) and maintains position. Repeat and each time he may further close that gap until he has you. Simple but effective use of the egg.
Let's go back to our airline pilot flying that nice flat turn designed to allow the passengers to retain their lunches. Grab your pen again. Let's say your are turning into that slower plane and you need to slow a bit to match his speed for a comfortable shot.
If he is driving around that fat part of the egg and you are speeding in a slight nose up deviation will do the same thing that your loop is doing. As you nose up the plane slows a little, you pull back in. If you are too slow you can nose down, again gravity helps along with the engine pulling you downhill and you speed up and climb back to his 6 and BANG! These two maneuvers are called a high and low yoyo. Draw them on your egg.The principle doens't change. It merely uses the vertical to help control speed. BTW, a high or low yoyo may require only a hundred feet. Maybe a little more or even less. It's sometimes hard to see a hundred feet when doing 300 mph but after a while you begin to judge speeds, angles and the vertical more effectively. Going back to the egg you can actually draw a line anywhere up or down the side of the egg from the bottom of it up to the very top. The higher you draw the line the tighter you might turn your plane. Lastly you might get behind that flat turning dude and cut your throttle a little, maybe even drop flaps if required and turn right inside him for that satisfying BANG!
Lessee, back to the loop a last time... A loop might be considered a flat turn in the vertical depending on how it's flown.
There's some much to learn...but ya gots lotsa time.
You've probably read many terms on flying. Every one has a meaning and a use in a dogfight. Putting them all together let's you begin to use tactics to control and win the fight. Terms like unloading, lift vector, zero-G dive, the 3-9 line, flying to the post (there's so much more, too) all have a place in a dogfight and the more you learn the funner it gets!!!
Spend some time with a trainer. They can help you make the funner happen sooner. BTW, if yer done writing on that egg mind if I grab it? I can use mine and make myself an egg salad sandwich.
Hope this helps.
Ren
Aces Hgih Training Corps
