This book provides a detailed discussion of one-on-one dog-fights and multi-fighter team work tactics. Full discussions of fighter aircraft and weapons systems performance are provided along with an explanation of radar intercept tactics and an analysis of the elements involved in the performance of fighter missions.

MOD FTR A/C TECH TACTTHORNBOROUGH, A

The history of WWI aviation is a rich and varied story marked by the evolution of aircraft from slow moving, fragile, and unreliable powered kites, into quick, agile, sturdy fighter craft. At the same time there emerged a new kind of 'soldier', the fighter pilots whose individual cunning and bravery became crucial in the fight for control of the air. Dog-fight traces this rapid technological development alongside the strategy and planning of commanders and front-line airmen as they adapted to the rapidly changing events around them and learned to get the best from their machines. Often, this involved discovering and employing tactics instinctively to stay alive. Based on the author's personal correspondence with a number of WWI fighter pilots and aces, and drawing on published contemporary memoirs, this is an authoritative and lively history that serves as a captivating tribute to the brave pilots of both sides.

A detailed examination of the aircraft and tactics of the top aces in every major theater of the air war.

“Laslie chronicles how the Air Force worked its way from the catastrophe of Vietnam through the triumph of the Gulf War, and beyond.” —Robert M. Farley, author of Grounded The U.S. Air Force’s poor performance in Operation Linebacker II and other missions during Vietnam was partly due to the fact that they had trained their pilots according to methods devised during World War II and the Korean War, when strategic bombers attacking targets were expected to take heavy losses. Warfare had changed by the 1960s, but the USAF had not adapted. Between 1972 and 1991, however, the Air Force dramatically changed its doctrines and began to overhaul the way it trained pilots through the introduction of a groundbreaking new training program called “Red Flag.” In The Air Force Way of War, Brian D. Laslie examines the revolution in pilot instruction that Red Flag brought about after Vietnam. The program’s new instruction methods were dubbed “realistic” because they prepared pilots for real-life situations better than the simple cockpit simulations of the past, and students gained proficiency on primary and secondary missions instead of superficially training for numerous possible scenarios. In addition to discussing the program’s methods, Laslie analyzes the way its graduates actually functioned in combat during the 1980s and ’90s in places such as Grenada, Panama, Libya, and Iraq. Military historians have traditionally emphasized the primacy of technological developments during this period and have overlooked the vital importance of advances in training, but Laslie’s unprecedented study of Red Flag addresses this oversight through its examination of the seminal program. “A refreshing look at the people and operational practices whose import far exceeds technological advances.” —The Strategy Bridgei

The World War II fighter-pilot story On the very first day of the invasion of Sicily, three months into his combat career, Allan Knepper flew his P-38 Lightning fighter in a squadron sent out to sweep the island and interdict German ground targets. Retreating German infantry unexpectedly pounded the American flyers. Knepper was one of two shot down; he was never found. Knepper’s story is the story-in-microcosm of thousands of American fighter pilots in World War II. Richardson recounts Knepper’s experiences from training through combat and uses them to discuss the aircraft, tactics and doctrine, training, base life, and aerial combat of the war. This is the intimate account of one pilot at war, but also the anatomy of the fighter-pilot experience in World War II.

"The fielding of automated flight controls and weapons systems in fighter aircraft from 1950 to 1980 challenged the significance ascribed to several of the pilots' historical skillsets, such as superb hand-eye coordination--required for aggressive stick-and-rudder maneuvering--and perfect eyesight and crack marksmanship--required for long-range visual detection and destruction of the enemy. Highly automated systems would, proponents argued, simplify the pilot's tasks while increasing his lethality in the air, thereby opening fighter aviation to broader segments of the population. However, these new systems often required new, unique skills, which the pilots struggled to identify and develop. Moreover, the challenges that accompanied these technologies were not restricted to individual fighter cockpits, but rather extended across the pilots' tactical formations, altering the social norms that had governed the fighter pilot profession since its establishment. In the end, the skills that made a fighter pilot great in 1980 bore little resemblance to those of even thirty years prior, despite the precepts embedded within the "myth of the fighter pilot." As such, this history illuminates the rich interaction between human and machine that often accompanies automation in the workplace. It is broadly applicable to other enterprises confronting increased automation, from remotely piloted aviation to Google cars. It should appeal to those interested in the history of technology and automation, as well as the general population of military aviation enthusiasts."--Provided by publisher.

Many thousands of fighter pilots, of many nations - British, American, Australian, Canadian, Polish and many more - flew, fought and died in Allied aircraft. A few became famous. About five percent of fighter pilots accounted for some forty percent of all air victories, and these were the aces. Mike Spick, author of the excellent Luftwaffe Fighter Aces, examines in detail every major theatre of the air war, compares the aircraft and operational conditions, and highlights individual tactics and methods of the best of the aces.