Originally I put the wrong film up thinking it was my fight with spatula. It was actually the hop before. I was gonna pull it down but took a look since the fight at the end was fun and I wanted to take a peek at it anyway.
After viewing it I decided I'd leave it up since it shows some concepts I feel are important to have some awareness of as you look to grow your understanding and skill set.
I didnt edit it down so its 13 min long or so...I'll walk thru it quickly.
Beginning is my normal flight profile. I normally fly right toward what ever red I see and level in the 12-15k area. The A-20 is really an "E fighter" so less then 8k AGL is somehwat tough sledding. At the same time the A-20 doesnt really need more then that and the extra alt usually hurts me more since it helps the other guy.
Early I've got a friendly locked up in red but a lala higher as well. Seperate from the fact that the a-20 cant get down that quickly diving in to "clear" a friendly (unless its a squaddie) is only going to drag the lala down to him as well and if you blow thru he's now worse off.
By the time the lala moves on I lost the little gaggle below...
One thing on the 190 is noticing that the 1st shot gets an adjustment that sets up the kill. You dont always fire to get a shot...you fire to "force" theother guy to adjust from an "OK" situation to hopefully a worse one. Contrat that to the fight with Spatula where we both try and avoid what we can and just fly thru what we cant avoid. I think this is an offshoot of WW's "smooth is fast" axiom of air combat. Getting the other guy "off smooth" is often half the fight.
At 6:00 or so I fly over/thru a little ruckus. Note I do not "chk 6" or call out on range. This fight is already on, a chk6 or vox call is going to be more distracting then helpful here 95% of the time.
Later as I fly into the little furball you'll notice the same thing. To many times a guy chk6's or vox chks a known bad guy and the friendly is looking around for the "new" threat. However as soon as the lala goes for BB I vox chk him on the new threat...
If we go to about 10:50 the "fight" starts...I'm trying to get low and slow enough to help without giving up the ability to manuever in the semi verts. You'll see the same type of manuevers as up high with spatula....just slower. One thing to note is that I dont "bail" on my high leg when the spit pings me...again "smooth is fast" nothing I can do will avoid the shot he has and yanking the plane around prolongs it and scrubs needed E. I'm trusting the toughness of the A-20 and its weight to "zoom" me up so I can roll over on the spit.
Notice that going down however I am off the gas and get the relative speed almost mirrored. With my SA more or less gone and 1 or 2 other cons I need to hit this shot while I can...
I can hear/feel miami in the lala but have no clue where he is. Notice that I'm converting to a blind climbing "scissors" while I look. I'm flying to my planes strength while I'm looking. I get lucky and catch him under my port wing. Notice that once I see him I keep the climbing scissors going. The momentum of the A-20 keeps it going up at a slow speed and the extra power of the lala actually "forces" him out front. I'm playing to my strength even though the lala is much better in the vertical...
whats important here from my perspective as a former trainer is showing how knowing your planes strengths can give you a default game plan you can fall back on when your in a situation where you dont know the variables. By going to the climbing rolling scissors before I even found the lala I created a climbing rolling scissors fight and manufactured a good shot.
This is another important concept to grasp, you almost always have a chance if you know your ride and exploit its strengths....even if you start at a significant disadvantage vs a good stick. All to often I see guys go to the "flop" the moment someone pings em...
So at 11:55 I just miss a great "one timer"...miami makes a great adjustment and takes the high ground. This is a gray area for me (12:10-20). I never know if I'm better chasing high or not. So I go with my "default" fall back. The A-20 takes a blow very well and it counterpunchs well. If the la-7 goes high and converts to a true E fight I cant ever really convert back to offense.....
So I hang the nose and pop away...I'd rather lose a fight I have a chance to win (even if its a bad one) then fly "smart" and force the lala to do the same. I want a brass knuckles in the phonebooth fight here...
So the lala "takes the bait" and reverses...and hammers my poor a-20...and look at the resulting fight...
Almost Identical to the initial sequence setting up another shot window at 13:15 (which I pooch). Note that the lala doesnt get another hit here, my "default" game plan at work again. Even off the gas the A-20 "zooms" up in a rock solid slow scissor. Everyone views "zoom" as a high speed thing...but the 20,000lb A-20 can keep E going from 170 to 140 for along time...it's really another application of "smooth is fast". The A-20 is on rails and very efficient here....
I give up another shot before the cavalry arrives. Note that I didnt call vulcan off (and greatly appreciate his asking). Since this fight originated off a "scrum" There is no "mano a mano" here in my mind. A couple of guys were on Kappa, a couple of guys were then on Domin and Jaxxo and then a couple of guys were on BB and I....finally miami was on me and then Vulcan (the guy "locked in red at the beginning of the clip) came on in to continue the "circle of life" that is the MA.
Had the fight initiated like the one vs Spatula I'd have waved Vulcan off and let it play out how it would...
Win lose or draw the goal (hopefully) for all is to have a good time and provide (and receive) a quality fight. I'm always amazed at how often people whine about what the other guy is flying etc. The reality is that if you take the time to learn your ride and establish a good default game plan you'll make most fights good ones. After all if an a-20 can give a la-7 a good fight on the deck anything can:aok
Me and Miami
