bogies on my 6

[mikev]

well after careful consideration i have come down to this. i lose about 80% of my fights due to not making the right choices on what maneuver to make or poor execution of the maneuver . this has been by far the most frustrating part. I hear alot of remarks about sa which i will say i lose about 15% of my fights to.
  the thing is i see most of the time what they are doing but i make the wrong choice on what i should do. i got tired of watching my old videos and trying to relate to the remarks pertaining to them  so now  im starting over .
 what most of you dont realize is, it seems no matter what i do, you or the other guy is always 1 step ahead of me from the start.

[SNO]

what most of you dont realize is, it seems no matter what i do, you or the other guy is always 1 step ahead of me from the start.

Exactly was my problem, it is still a form of SA that is holding you from more kills. I found that I needed to have the advantage from the start of the fight so I was 1 step ahead of the other guy, not the other way around. If you get so you aren't owning the fight go up and out of the fight as has been mentioned several times before in this thread and start over. I think you will like the results.

[HL117]

Ahhh don't let it get to you Mike, quite a few here have seen many moons, although some may be like rocks (this includes me) when it come to learning something, if you do something enough, it will start to sink in, you cannot help it, it just does.

Give it some time and you will not only learn what move to make without thinking you will start getting bore with the [trying to always have the avantage] and will put youself into positions of disavantage just to see if you can climb out of the hole you just dug for yourself.

[FLS]

well after careful consideration i have come down to this. i lose about 80% of my fights due to not making the right choices on what maneuver to make or poor execution of the maneuver . this has been by far the most frustrating part. I hear alot of remarks about sa which i will say i lose about 15% of my fights to.
  the thing is i see most of the time what they are doing but i make the wrong choice on what i should do. i got tired of watching my old videos and trying to relate to the remarks pertaining to them  so now  im starting over .
 what most of you dont realize is, it seems no matter what i do, you or the other guy is always 1 step ahead of me from the start.

If you want to make good choices you need a way to analyze the situation. That starts with visualizing the best possible turn circle of the bandit and aligning your own current best turn circle, current since it varies with speed, with either an intercept snap shot  or an in-plane tracking shot from the high 6 control position. One of the things you learn practicing 1v1 is estimating if you are going to be inside the bandit's turn and safe or outside and a target.

You don't have to invent air combat, you just need to absorb the basics so you don't have to think about things like nose over the horizon means slowing down and less available g.

[The Fugitive]

well after careful consideration i have come down to this. i lose about 80% of my fights due to not making the right choices on what maneuver to make or poor execution of the maneuver . this has been by far the most frustrating part. I hear alot of remarks about sa which i will say i lose about 15% of my fights to.
  the thing is i see most of the time what they are doing but i make the wrong choice on what i should do. i got tired of watching my old videos and trying to relate to the remarks pertaining to them  so now  im starting over .
 what most of you dont realize is, it seems no matter what i do, you or the other guy is always 1 step ahead of me from the start.

Post your films here..... not the theatrical youtube ones, but the raw AH films. People will be able to point out all kinds of things that you may be missing when you watch them. As they point them out they will give you info on what they would have done and WHY. It is hard to spot your own mistakes, but other will find them with ease.

Don't get discouraged. I know, easy to say but tough to do. Trust me, we have ALL been there, some of us longer than we liked I can tell you! Don't go into fights with your hair on fire, and learn from your mistakes. It will take time, especially against these young whipper snappers with lightning like reflexes, but flying smart will win as many fights as quick reflexes, you just have to get there.

[Randy1]

. . . I hear alot of remarks about sa which i will say i lose about 15% of my fights to. . . .
 

SA is not just seeing a red coming in to make that sortie suck.  Its gathering as much information as you can . . . always then using it.  That is not easy.   In a way, I lose most of my fights due to failed SA.

What is your preferred fighter?

[Puma44]

well after careful consideration i have come down to this. i lose about 80% of my fights due to not making the right choices on what maneuver to make or poor execution of the maneuver . this has been by far the most frustrating part. I hear alot of remarks about sa which i will say i lose about 15% of my fights to.
  the thing is i see most of the time what they are doing but i make the wrong choice on what i should do. i got tired of watching my old videos and trying to relate to the remarks pertaining to them  so now  im starting over .
 what most of you dont realize is, it seems no matter what i do, you or the other guy is always 1 step ahead of me from the start.

SA is a critical part of any fight and it will get better with continual practice.  As stated before, getting the fundamentals of BFM down pat is essential.  The best way to do that is a lot of time in the TA with someone who knows the fundamentals and can accurately analyze your performance.  It's also helpful to fight against the same aircraft in these training sessions.  It gives you a better learning platform about the specific aircraft performance and somewhat equalizes the opponent.  There's a saying out in the real world of fighters, "Hamburger is still hamburger, no matter what you wrap it in".  So, the point being, if you have the fundamentals down and go up against a better performing aircraft with a pilot that doesn't know the fundamentals of BFM, use of lift vector, energy management, etc., there's a very real chance of defeating him.

[mikev]

 well for planes  my bread and butter has been the spits but im starting to use the dora la7 and working the 109 group. i like the dora for speed at least i can run away lol , but nobody want to see that. i did some B&Z with it the other night and if my aim and timing were better i would probably had a few kills . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhhpNzQrwpk
what really gets me frustrated though is on the merge i am always on the defensive. i do not know what i am doing wrong to always end up in the defensive posture .even  if i have all the advantages speed, alt you name it i can never get the angle that would put me on the offensive .

[FLS]

what really gets me frustrated though is on the merge i am always on the defensive. i do not know what i am doing wrong to always end up in the defensive posture .even  if i have all the advantages speed, alt you name it i can never get the angle that would put me on the offensive .

If you want to make good choices you need a way to analyze the situation. That starts with visualizing the best possible turn circle of the bandit and aligning your own current best turn circle, current since it varies with speed, with either an intercept snap shot  or an in-plane tracking shot from the high 6 control position. One of the things you learn practicing 1v1 is estimating if you are going to be inside the bandit's turn and safe or outside and a target.

To get the angle you align the turn circles either in plane of maneuver or out of plane. You can see that when you turn on trails in AH film.

[Puma44]

what really gets me frustrated though is on the merge i am always on the defensive. i do not know what i am doing wrong to always end up in the defensive posture .even  if i have all the advantages speed, alt you name it i can never get the angle that would put me on the offensive .

Well then, you need to master the art of the lead turn.   If you are always defensive, there's a problem with timing and energy management that needs to be tweaked a bit.  Also, never lose sight of the bandit.  "Lose sight, lose fight".

[HL117]

Mike,

   If you ever see me on give me a yell and we can go to the TA/DA and do [ one on one ] till your arm or/mine gets tired, no worries it will be fun, and I would like to think mutually beneficial.

Usually fly rooks but change when furballs isolate to bish knights sides.