Your welcome...
There are some interesting observations to note in that data.
For example if you look at the first aircraft on the list, the Yak-3 you notice by looking at the turn rate at corner column that any use of flaps degrades the turn rate significantly, but does help to reduce the turn radius. However some aircraft benefit from the use of flaps, but only at one particular setting, for example the 109K4 with one notch of flaps suffers a big drop in rate, but at 5 notches it turns almost as well as it does without flaps and its turn radius in that configuration is smaller than many of its late war adversaries. This makes it a very dangerous aircraft to fight at very low speed, where it excels in maneuvers such as the flat scissors and with its very powerful engine it dominates in the rolling scissors.
Each item of that data has profound implications for each dissimilar aircraft match up, that I could discuss for weeks, but probably the biggest thing to take away is that now you know the corner velocity for each aircraft, I'm going to point out that there is another far more valuable data point.
Compare the F4U4, F4U1 and F4U1A, the best instantaneous turn rate is achieved by the F4U1 at 36.1 degrees per second at 3 notches of flaps. However both of the other F4U's will out turn it with ease in a protracted engagement, and that is key to understanding how to read this data.
What I'm about to tell you is that the corner velocity, and more importantly the instantaneous turn rate at corner, is not what you should focus on, there is something much more important to take away.
The problem is that the turn rate you get at corner (instantaneous turn rate) is only fleeting. It just doesn't last long. Many good F4U pilots know that and they enter an engagement with the intention of using that very high rate to get an early guns opportunity for a quick kill. That also depends on knowing how to exploit that initial high rate with proper BFM, but that's it. After the first few seconds of the fight the high turn rate at corner is no longer of benefit.
When I enter an engagement against one of the F4Us I know that I just need to survive the first turn without giving away a snap shot. After that you need to look to the sustained turn rate column. Here you notice that the F4U1 has a best sustained turn rate of 19.6dps at 3 notches of flaps and below. The F4U1A beats that with 20.3dps at 2 notches, which is better but not a decisive advantage, while the F4U4 achieves 21.9dps at 2 notches which is a 2.3dps sustained turn rate advantage which is decisive. For real fighter pilots anything over a 2dps advantage is considered decisive.
The point is that a study of sustained turn rates and associated flap settings is more important for victory in a prolonged engagement. The instantaneous values are more important for brief turning engagements, and both are irrelevant for high speed attacks where you hardly turn at all.
Some of the questions I ask myself when I start an engagement is something like this.
- Do I have a sustained turning advantage?
- If so, can I survive my opponents instantaneous turn and force him to get slow where I can win?
- Do I have a radius advantage so I can go one circle or do I need to stay two circle?
- If I don't have a sustained advantage do I have an instantaneous advantage to try for a quick kill?
- If I don't have a sustained or instantaneous advantage do I have an energy advantage to avoid turning and get some free gun passes?
- If none of those options look favorable, have I had any clues about my opponents ability? If his actions suggest knowledge or skill, I consider exit options such as top speed, location of friendlies and ack etc. If his actions suggest otherwise, fight anyway because most of this is only critical against good pilots.
Of course you don't actually think of each item, when you have been doing it long enough you just know which one is best right away. That's why real pilots train, so they don't have to waste time thinking at critical moments.
However, the key takeaway is that it all begins with questions about the aircraft performance, the sustained and instantaneous values. Real pilots have to learn that stuff in ground school and will know their adversary as well as enemy intelligence permits. If you want to do well in AH, you will be well rewarded by a careful study of the performance data.
An important caveat is that all of the data only applies to the aircraft configurations listed. You might think you have an advantage, but if you are heavy with fuel and your opponent is light, it may well be reversed. That's why for things like scenarios where you often need to engage heavy, I obtain further flight test data.
Hopefully that will help you use the information to best advantage.
Any questions?
Badboy
