Overall, knowing what your plane can do, what the enemy can do, and his options, allowing you to think like a chessgame and start countering his next move before he even thinks of doing it, and you will have a much better chance of winning the fight.
I find this list more like a checklist rather than a mindset. If I may, I will give more details concerning your last line because this is the most important part of dogfighting.
All points are in logical order but they don't tell what the
"knowing" part is. For starters, all of it seems obvious but when it comes to do it in combat, they have no idea how apply them instinctively. I understand it is good to separate a dogfight in multiple segments you can practice on and manage priorities, but they are useless if you think of them separately in action.
Let me explain.
Position, throttle control, flaps, gunnery; all of which are dependent of one another and cannot be effective if they are not used together with equal measure. For example, if you can't coordinate
flaps and
throttle control at the same time to allow yourself to be in a perfect
position for a comfortable gun solution (
gunnery), you will have trouble winning the fight. Actually, the 4 priorities are fine, but they can be used in different combinations depending on the situation; preferably a situation you integrated in the fight yourself rather than your opponent.
In order to do that, you need to think in advance not only with one plan(A) -slow-, but with two plans(A+B) -slow+fast-. The first plan(A) consists of making the same move that your opponent does to make him co-E to you. The problem with this plan is that you have 1/2 chance of it failing because you have to make that move first and without hesitation
at all (ex: burn E very quickly (full flaps, throttle down, pull max Gs)... or extend for an E fight). It takes 2 to 3 seconds to know if your plan will fail or not(the sooner the better), but you need eyes on your opponent at this point (even if you are blacking out). If you chose Plan A (burn E) and he extends in a 2/5 loop (in standard merge), immediately give up Plan A and start Plan B, otherwise its like giving up your queen too early in a chess game. Plan B consist of countering your opponent defensive move as fast as possible (scissors gets crushed by rock). Start Plan B: bring flaps up, stop pulling Gs, full WEP and extend until he can reverse. Try to match E as fast as possible and turn back slowly and think of starting plan A again.
To force him to go Plan A (slow turnfight) too late with you, set yourself up as a target he need to pull hard Gs to hit. Since you started Plan B early, you have enough speed to do a simple gun defence when he makes a pass on you (the fact he concentrates on aiming at you gives up his positional awareness). Basically, its a trap. If the trap doesn't work (he still does not want to turn with you), revert back to Plan B again. A smart E Fighting opponent will keep his E up if you have been slow
only once after the merge. But, eventually, you will reach the deck and passes on you will be harder to be effective without augering. Hence, he will be forced to slow down(no alt left) and you will be forced to be faster(gun defence), slowly having both plans (A+B) merge together. This is where it become dangerous for you if you chose to start with plan A (slow merge) because there is a slightly unavoidable SLOW speed transition between both aircrafts once on the deck VS a smart one. It is this slow transition that kills you since you are slowly becoming Co-E. Only way to counter this is to skillfully (<--this is the hard part) grab E when you can (use as less flaps as possible and use WEP if you have some left) and surprise your opponent when he tries to rope you.
As soon as he tries to turn with you, you win because he will overshoot and you are still dictating the fight, even though in your opponent view, it doesn't look like it. Setting yourself up as a target makes the other think you are weak and is now more prone to make mistakes as he is more confident he will kill you.
The same way of thinking works if you start with Plan B(fast merge), but remember if you want to slow down and switch to Plan A (if your opponent is smart and plays co-e in an E fight), do it with 99% certitude you won't have overshot when you reach minimum stall speed with him (you can't slow down more, he can't slow down more, but he has you in his gunsight... you are ded
).
When the 4 priorities you mentioned become second nature and you don't even think about it, its all about choosing which plan to start with and which chess piece to give up first to gain the decisional advantage. You gain the upper hand by being
really faster, or
really slower, but not in between (your are a sitting target that doesn't
"know" what to do and only reacts defensively). Of course you need to be a good shot, manage throttle/flaps, and have a good starting position, but they are part of a larger entity.
Its all about what happens in your head, not what ACM book your read (to a certain extent). That's what I like about dogfighting - or any competition for that matter.
I'm sorry if i'm am not very clear, it is the first time I post something with as much certitude as this and I'm afraid there are a lot of people here that know much more than I do. So, correct me if I'm wrong.
Ok, I'm done...
