terracota
Good question. The secret to any guns defense is to maneuver your plane so that the attacker cannot keep his gun pointed at (or in front of) you.
A 'gun jink' is a specific type of defensive maneuver. This is how you do it. Select your rear view. Now roll your plane so that the attacker's wings are pointed straight up and down in your monitor screen. Next, add full power and make a hard (~5G) pull on your flight stick. Hold this pull for only 1-2 seconds...then relax your pull to 1 G and check the bandit's position.
He may be trying to correct his aim. If he is banked away from the vertical attitude I just described, then roll to put his wings back up and down on your screen. Repeat your hard pull.
What is the point of this? By rolling to put the attacker's wings vertical in your screen, you are moving your lift vector 90 degrees away from his gun line. His bullet stream will lie in a plane that goes thru his rudder (just like his lift vector). By pulling to his wingtip, you are moving away from this gun line as best as possible.
Once you have stopped the short, hard pull, be sure to relax your stick pressure to about 1 G or less...this will allow you to accelerate.
This maneuver when repeated looks like a short pull in one direction...then a unload to gain speed...then a roll to another bank angle, followed by another short hard pull. The 'jerkiness' of this maneuver is why it is called a 'jink'...a 'jink' being a series of random, quick changes in heading. It is not a smooth maneuver..do the gun jink with aggressive hard pulls.
Now for the HO defense. One of the more popular here in AH is a rolling maneuver done in the general direction of the attacker (although it would be effective regardless of the attacker's direction).
Here's how you do it. Add full power. Turn in the direction of the attacker if possible...this increases his closure and gives him less time to correct his aim. Try to keep the attacker within about 30 degrees of the nose if he is level with you (30 degrees is about the edge of the canopy bow/front frame). If the attacker is coming down from above, do not try to pull up into him...but do turn level to put him within this +/- 30 degree area relative to your nose.
Once you have the attacker within +/- 30 degrees of your nose (or above it), use aileron and back pressure TOGETHER to roll your plane. This is similar to a Barrel Roll. Be sure to use back pressure as you roll...this will move your aircraft in three dimensions, making it hard for the attacker to track you.
A variation of this maneuver is to perform a series of level zig-zag jinks. The maneuver is set up as before. Instead of rolling, you roll into a 90 degree bank relative to the attacker and pull to change your heading by about 45 degrees or so. Then unload, roll back to the opposite 90 degree bank angle and pull again. Be sure the attacker is following your moves when you do this, otherwise you may be flying right back into his gun line. Make all of your turns towards his wingtips.
Guns defense is covered in my 'Perspectives' series at
www.simhq.com.Here are some pictures that might help:
Andy
[This message has been edited by Andy Bush (edited 07-26-2000).]
