Going to share some of my thoughts on Situational Awareness (SA) which seems to be a very lacking part of a lot of fighter pilots in this game.
Let's start with the basics. How do you build good SA? Well it's actually quite easy. Simply always be looking around. You have to have an internal alarm clock that goes off, kind of like a sixth senses, that tell you something dangerous is approaching. If you don't have this sense then have no fear! This skill can be acquired through time and practice! When you get into enemy territory (near enemy bases or a sector with a red dar bar) then set an internal alarm clock to go off every 5-10 seconds. Have a look around to you left, right, above, below, behind, and in front. Make sure there are no enemy aircraft around. After you have made certain there are no enemy aircraft around set an internal alarm to go off in the next 5-10 seconds. After that 5-10 seconds you might notice that you have started to tunnel vision a little. The alarm is now ringing telling you to check your surroundings! Look left, look right, above, below, behind, and in front. You'd be surprised how many times you'll noticed a red plane coming at you from a location that was previously cleared of enemy planes! When you're in a fight, set the alarm for 1-4 seconds. After that time have a quick look around and see if there are any other enemy planes targeting you. You can take your eyes off the enemy plane(s) as long as you make a mental note of which way they are flying, what their E state is, and where they are most likely to be in the next 2 seconds while you take a quick look around. An aircraft pulling a turn off your 12 o'clock can not physically change position and direction in the next 2 seconds and suddenly appear on your 6. The laws of physics proves this! Setting this internal alarm and reacting to it at first may be a bit difficult or even overwhelming with other things going on, but with enough time and practice it will become second nature to you and you'll be checking your surrounding and gaining a "sixth sense" without even realizing it!
Now, how do we determine which targets are the most immediate threats in a multi-con engagement?
Let's start with what I'm going to call "Immediate SA". What is "Immediate SA" ? It is the situation in the most immediate moment. When you have a quick look around take a quick note of all the enemy planes, and friendly planes if they're around. Which direction are they flying? Are they flying towards you, or away from you? Do the ones flying towards you look like they're targeting you? Or do they just happen to the flying that way while they fight an ally of yours? What is the E state of all these planes? If you have someone flying towards you and clearly targeting you then he is the most immediate threat and you must deal with him first. The other enemy planes are all busy fighting your allies and are not immediate threats to you. What if you have two or more enemy planes targeting you? Well now we have to take into consideration the planes abilities, E states, and positioning. Sounds like a lot to be handling all at once but just like before with enough time and practice this will become second nature to you. Let's take this as an example. You are flying a 109G2 at 8K and 300mph. As you check the situation of the furball you notice a Ki-84 at 8K targeting you and a P-47 at 5K targeting you. After a brief moment judging their E states we can see the Ki-84 has some decent speed behind him while the P-47 appears to be very slow and climbing to us. We know from the plane performance that the Ki-84 can be trouble for us in a vertical fight, but a P-47 can not really match our climbing performance. Even better is the P-47 is below us with low speed and struggling to climb to us. Perfect! He will not be an immediate threat to us for at least the next few seconds while he struggles to climb to our altitude and then regain some speed to fight with. The immediate threat here is the Ki-84 who is co-alt with us, has decent speed, and has the performance to climb with us. While we fight the Ki-84 1v1 we should keep that internal alarm clock going and keeping an eye on that P-47 who is trying to climb to us and be looking out for any other enemy planes that may try to target us.
Now let's talk about what I'll call "No Look SA". Maybe you think that you have to constantly be watching your opponent to know what he's doing, but that is tunnel visioning and is going to get you killed. You don't always have to be looking at your opponent to know what he's doing. You can predict what he's going to do based upon his position, E state, and the plane he's flying against your plane, E state, and positioning. This is the truth behind that saying about how a veteran you can fight with ease since you know what he will do, but a rookie is more dangerous since he doesn't know what he's doing and you can never predict what he'll do. Anyways, you can predict what your opponent is going to do and this means you can take that time to quickly look around and keep your SA up. Example, you are flat turning a spitfire in your spitfire and he is behind your 3-9 line. You know for a fact that he is going to continue this turn because he is behind you and is trying to get a shot. Keep up your turn that denies him his shot for a moment longer and have a quick look around to make sure there are no other enemies targeting you. Once you have confirmed that you are alone with the spit, or confirmed that there is a second enemy diving on you, take the appropriate maneuver to reverse the fight. Another example, let's say you are in a 109K4 and you're chasing a Ki-61. The Ki-61 starts a climb. You know for a fact that your K4 can out climb a Ki-61. One of two things is happening here. Either this is a new pilot who isn't sure what to do (reinforcing the statement that a rookie is more dangerous than a veteran as you never know what they're going to do), or he is setting you up for that other enemy that you have not seen coming in from your 6. More often than not it's the latter of the two. Always assume the worst case scenario. Check your 6 and make sure that there is no other enemy coming up your 6. That Ki-61 is going nowhere for the next second or two so make sure he's not setting you up for someone else.
Wording is fine and all, but pictures (or even better - video) can really show exactly how all of this comes together. So check out this video of mine that I think demonstrates SA perfectly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4vngMd2XCUTake note of how I am ALWAYS looking around and checking up on all of the enemy aircraft. Notice how I always target the highest plane first? The planes below me have to bleed speed climbing to me and are not an immediate threats. The higher planes are already co-alt or higher than me and have speed. They are the immediate threats. So, even though I'm out numbered nearly 6 to 1, I'm only fighting 2-3 of them at once. I want to point that out that I am fighting ONLY 2-3 (50% of their force or less) at once. There may have been 6 planes targeting me at once at one point, but I was only fighting 2-3 of them at a time while the others were no threat climbing up to me and bleeding speed. Notice how after I shoot down the spit I'm looking around and checking up on all the other enemies while I'm climbing? I went into the dive to kill the spit knowing I would be able to out climb anyone else and gain the altitude advantage again. I'm looking around to make sure there isn't a new enemy showing up and to pick out the next highest threat.
Some tips for fighting multiple cons:
-ALWAYS try to target the highest con first. He has the altitude advantage so he dictates the fight.
-HOWEVER, don't go for the highest con if someone else has targeted you. Deal with the most immediate threat first.
-Try to drag your immediate threat to an area where you can deal with him 1 on 1. Things become more complicated when more enemies engage you so keep things simple.
Hope this helps you build up some better SA. SA is the most important thing in staying alive in a fight. Building up good SA can have you surviving and even winning in the worst situations. Now go kill all those red planes!
