Pilot ‘B’ slows down to 225 IAS and increases his G-loading to 4 Gs. This changes his turn numbers and he is now in a circle with a radius of 845 feet with a rate of 22.4 degrees per second, completing a circle in 16 seconds.
If pilot ‘A’ had not made any changes, then this would let pilot ‘B’ catch up to him in 1 and a half circles.
Pilot ‘B’ now has another problem - can he sustain the G-load and speed for the time needed to catch his opponent.
This is where the Energy properties of those aircraft become extremely important.
Granted, the previous example was a very ideal one, but it serves to show the relationship of speed and turn rates.
How do you modify a turn without using speed or G-load?
One is offsetting the center of your turn from the center of the bandit’s turn.
Put a penny on top of a quarter. The rim of the quarter is your turn circle and the bandit’s is the rim of the penny. If the penny is centered over the quarter, you both are turning around the same axis, you will never be able to catch the bandit.
If you slide the penny to the side so the rim of the penny touches the rim of the quarter, then for one very brief point your turn will match the bandit’s.
The downside of this is it is much easier for the bandit to adjust his turn center to get himself out of danger.
Another method is to tilt your turn so it is not in the same plane of motion as the bandit’s. Using the quarter analogy again, tilt it at a 30 degree angle and hold the penny flat.
Gravity will change the shape of your turn from a pure circle to an egg shaped oval. The fat part of the oval is on the lower side where you change your dive to a climb.
This will also pull in the sides of your turn.
These changes may be enough for you to match the bandit’s flat turn at a couple of points. This is NOT a stable configuration and will change as energy is lost and one pilot reacts to the other.
The last way to modify your turn is by your bank angle. If you are banked less than 90 degree, relative to the plane of the circle, then you can increase the G-load used in the turn.
If the bandit is banked at 30 degrees and you can fly with a larger bank angle of 60 degrees, you can effectively pull more Gs in the turn. You will suffer a lose in altitude as less of the G-load is used to provide lift.
The absolute guaranteed way to win a turn fight is not to get in one.
sorry, I think I killed the system with my first try.
theis is a sample from "Check Six" without the 'tables'
