Small problem when dogfighting

[jolly22]

I hit the ground.... A LOT. I do anything i can to avoid it, but it just happens.

Any suggestions on ho to avoid the dreaded ground?

[Blooz]

Put more blue and less green in the window.

Altitude = Life

Start your attack from above and behind and keep it that way.

[MachFly]

Could you explain more (perhaps post a video). Do you stall out in a tight turn and fail to recover, do you just get target fixated on your enemy and hit a tree, or do you not have enough altitude to pull out and hit the ground?


What plane do you fly?

[moot]

Practice flying near it in various ways.  Slow enough you're slaloming trees, fast enough you're compressed when you buzz 5' AGL, tight enough that you're almost blacking out, etc...  Same deal over water, which I personally find more difficult than land.  Soon enough it'll become second nature and you'll gain that much more "brain time" to focus on the fight itself.

[Pigslilspaz]

Same here, I swear to god, those trees weren't there a second ago.

[MachFly]

Same here, I swear to god, those trees weren't there a second ago.

Your moving fast, milliseconds count 

[jolly22]

Could you explain more (perhaps post a video). Do you stall out in a tight turn and fail to recover, do you just get target fixated on your enemy and hit a tree, or do you not have enough altitude to pull out and hit the ground?


What plane do you fly?

When i fly, i use flaps. In a P51 fight for example. The other P51 goes up i follow him, and come back dwn safely and go back ino a tight turn. Then out of no where, i lose it all and just hit the ground.

[Ack-Ack]

When i fly, i use flaps. In a P51 fight for example. The other P51 goes up i follow him, and come back dwn safely and go back ino a tight turn. Then out of no where, i lose it all and just hit the ground.

You're pulling too tight in a turn while your flaps are out and most likely just stalling in.

ack-ack

[SPKmes]

sounds like you are slower than you think...try not to pull around so hard...keep you opponent in your fwd up view and just slowly increase you turn as your speed returns...feel/listen for the stall and ease up as it nears the shakes...use wep and lose some flap..I find after  couple of notches...slow speed and a hard turn the 51 just falls...rudder helps keep the nose level to up now too...

this is all I can offer..I don't have the terminology that many have but I hope it makes sense

[DaCoon]

I mostly fly the P-51 and do from time to time wind up in a turn fight. Usually if I hit the ground at low alt, it's because someone I didn't see shot something off the plane. ( my elevators, my wing, the whole tail....)    and good luck.

[MORAY37]

I hit the ground.... A LOT. I do anything i can to avoid it, but it just happens.

Any suggestions on ho to avoid the dreaded ground?

Better SA and being more aware of what your aircraft is capable of at every energy state.

I know the SA thing is overplayed sometimes, but knowing exactly how far you are from the ground is always the most important thing in the fight, anyway.  Seriously.  What the con is doing is always secondary to what your aircraft is capable of, and if you don't know how much air you have to work with, you're not maximizing your airframe.

That con may or may not kill you with guns, but the ground will positively kill you every time, so knowing where it is the most important.  I find it extremely rewarding to take some of the better sticks into areas that are not conducive to strict air to air dogfights.  It is truly amazing how many you can get to auger in canyons.   

[MORAY37]

I hit the ground.... A LOT. I do anything i can to avoid it, but it just happens.

Any suggestions on ho to avoid the dreaded ground?

Better SA and being more aware of what your aircraft is capable of at every energy state.

I know the SA thing is overplayed sometimes, but knowing exactly how far you are from the ground is always the most important thing in the fight, anyway.  Seriously.  What the con is doing is always secondary to what your aircraft is capable of, and if you don't know how much air you have to work with, you're not maximizing your airframe.

That con may or may not kill you with guns, but the ground will positively kill you every time, so knowing where it is the most important.  I find it extremely rewarding to take some of the better sticks into areas that are not conducive to strict air to air dogfights.  It is truly amazing how many you can get to auger in canyons.   

[kvuo75]

climb to 6k, fly thru a hangar at 350mph, do a loop, and go thru the same hangar. repeat as your airspeed decays.

that is a good exercise, IMO.

[grizz441]

Wear a shock collar and every time you crash shock yourself.  You're bound to condition yourself to avoid it. 

[MarineUS]

"Keep thy airspeed up, lest the ground come from below and smite thee."