It appears to me that most people seem to think that ACM simply means turning and turning your plane against the enemy's plane until one of you is dead, regardless of the plane that you are in.
Also that you should never use altitude to gain an advantage, and that if you are extending, then you are running.
Lets take an example, and I am not trying to flame the individual that I was up against, but it is a very good example of ACM and Air Tactics.
Im flying a P47d11, and my opponent is in a Ki61. Ever since the "Fire in the Sky" setup, I have come to respect the Ki61 more than any other plane in the AH inventory. The Ki61 is the only plane that I will ever think twice about before engaging.
Ki61 strengths (according to my observations flying against it)
Good low turning ability
Very Good acceleration, even in a dive
Fairly fast
Good armament
Weakness :
climbing above 15K
P47D11 strengths
good armament
using flaps, has some small ability to turn low and slow
can take lots of hits
good diving ability
fair climbing ability especially above 15k
Weakness
most planes out turn it
most planes out accel it
most planes out climb it
Now, the situation was this : we were about 15K when merging, I had higher alt, and better e advantage to start with, so I started to B N Z the Ki. He was able to smartly out manuevar me, and I began to lose e advantage, and we had dropped to 11K.
As I was still b n zing, I still had some advantage in e, but he was on my 6, less than 1.5k out. So, I began performing a chandelle, (slow climb turn allowing me to gain alt and keep speed up) and our spiral climb began (I was using wep to keep as much distance as possible). below 15k, he kept slowly gaining on me, almost to a 1.0k distance, but once we hit 15k, he began falling behind again. At 17K, I turned off wep, knowing that he couldnt catch me then. By 19K, he had fallen back to 1.7k distance, and over channel one came this :
Ok youve officially bored me by climbing to 20K
The ensuing conversation led me to believe he simply thought I was running away, and didnt want to fight him.
and he peeled off and headed for base. Now my plan had been to gain enough alt advantage over him that i could come back around on him and continue the fight on my terms. Didnt happen cause wilbuz came around in his 190 and killed me
. (As he does almost every time)
The only advantage in a p47d11 that i have is to outclimb the ki61 so as to continue the fight on my terms. I submit. This is using tactics to maintain an edge on an opponent. I try not to back down from fights, but I am not going to fight on someone else's terms. I make enough mistakes as it is, and flying an average plane, I have to use what i can to try to win.
Part of ACM is to use the plane's strengths that you're flying in against the weaknesses of the opponents. Energy fighting is the hardest form of ACM to do, not only because it takes patience, but because it is so easy to make a mistake and lose the advantage. In the CT, I will not hesitate usually to furball with a 109 or a 190, as many of the LW pilots will atest to. Japanese planes are impossible for me to do this with, as they simply turn too well. I am more willing to fight a N1k2 though, than I am a Ki61. I have to use the strengths of my plane v that of the enemy if I am even to have a chance. Also, in doing so, I am even willing to HO an enemy, especially those flying japanese aircraft, because I have to take any shots I can get. Another example, of me v a Ki the other day, we merged at about 10k, and I HO'd first pass. Unlucky for me, im a terrible shot, even with 8 0.50 cals. Anyway, as he was an able pilot, he got right in behind me and I had to dive to get away, which was ineffective anyway. On the deck he closed, and I started scissoring, forced him to overshoot once, pulled up behind him with flaps down and fired. Again due to my terrible shooting I missed. He came around, and this time with an e state which matched mine, nailed me. He gave me credit for good evasives, but didnt like the fact that I HO'd him. I explained myself, and he seemed to understand.
ACM is asmuch about altitude, e state and positioning, as it is turning ability.
Plz, correct me if im wrong.
