F-15 energy

[HoYa]

As I learn this game I am realizing how incredible it really is. But it does come with a high price of frustration and confusion.

 

When dog fighting (guns) in the f-15 it seems my energy is always super low. Like below w 200 even with full afterburner on. The mugs zoom by me and climb while I can't even get the nose up. Does the f15 bleed energy or what?

 

Yes speed break,is retracted, flaps are not in landing position, fuel,tanks are jettisoned.

 

Thanks

[Nerd1000]

Don't pull on the stick so hard.

[razo+r]

Also get before turning up to corner speed, like 450 or 500 knots, which will help you either turning fast but loosing lot of energy or maintain speed and still be able to pull quite a few Gs

[GGTharos]

All aircraft bleed energy when in a turn. It is up to you to manage your energy. Afterburner doesn't mean 'more speed', it just means 'more thrust'. If you're flying straight and level, more thrust gives you more speed until thrust=drag and you can no longer accelerate.

 

When you are turning, you're expending energy on that turn. If the energy required for the turn exceeds thrust, you lose speed.

 

Thrust is highest at a specific mach number for the eagle that's M0.8 at low altitude, moving to M0.95 and staying there by 15000' IIRC.

Going slower or faster means less thrust.

 

That said, this isn't necessarily your best maneuvering speed either, especially at low altitude.

 

The point here is that this subject is complicated ... and like pointed out above, stop pulling on the stick so hard unless you have a good reason to :)

 

As I learn this game I am realizing how incredible it really is. But it does come with a high price of frustration and confusion.

 

When dog fighting (guns) in the f-15 it seems my energy is always super low. Like below w 200 even with full afterburner on. The mugs zoom by me and climb while I can't even get the nose up. Does the f15 bleed energy or what?

 

Yes speed break,is retracted, flaps are not in landing position, fuel,tanks are jettisoned.

 

Thanks

[pr1malr8ge]

My bad It seems that I miss read the OP's post.

 

 

I have/had the same issues. BFM is a dance between knowing where your target is and what your plane is doing.

 

You need to go heads down to look at your speed and if you have to relax your turn to keep your speed up you must do that otherwise the bandit will continue to walk around you.

 

The issue with VR flying is the lack of sensory perception. I.e. the feel of G, the feeling of buffeting, and the sounds of wind/airframe noise. The real pilots of the f15 don't realy need to go heads down because they can sense what plane is doing and given enough time flying it they know what energy the plane has with out ever looking away from their bandit.

Edited November 8, 2016 by pr1malr8ge

[NevSmith]

My bad It seems that I miss read the OP's post.

 

 

I have/had the same issues. BFM is a dance between knowing where your target is and what your plane is doing.

 

You need to go heads down to look at your speed and if you have to relax your turn to keep your speed up you must do that otherwise the bandit will continue to walk around you.

 

The issue with VR flying is the lack of sensory perception. I.e. the feel of G, the feeling of buffeting, and the sounds of wind/airframe noise. The real pilots of the f15 don't realy need to go heads down because they can sense what plane is doing and given enough time flying it they know what energy the plane has with out ever looking away from their bandit.

 

 

Indeed - very good point of view. Thumbs up :thumbup:

 

Cheers to all of you.

[B2Blain]

I am new to DCS F-15C. I am coming from Falcon BMS. Flying a muti role fighter I rarely do BFM, but when I do I am able to bring the nose around a lot quicker - which makes sense since the Viper is a lighter and more maneuverable fighter.

 

I too am having issues trying to employ the F-15C in a dogfight. I recently started flying the guns mission against F-5E. I usually take an offset and then put the jet in burner trying to gain altitude and speed. It seems one F-5E is in trail so I usually wait and try to time my turn to get behind the trailer.

 

Getting into a turning fight hasn't been too successful against the F-5E which makes sense since it is a smaller and more nimble fighter in a dogfight. I have tried to employ my fighter in a vertical fight to use the Eagle's higher thrust and weight but there doesn't appear to be an advantage against the F-5E.

 

I also find my self employing the afterburner a lot. How to you keep your energy up while not allowing a smaller jet get the turning advantage?

[DarkFire]

From the perspective of an Su-27 driver, while the Eagle is impressively capable as a WVR BFM fighter, that's not where its greatest strength is. If you find yourself in an engagement with something like an Su-27 or MiG-29, use your better acceleration and better climb rate to your advantage. Try not to get sucked in to a WVR dog fight, but if you are, also bear in mind that your roll rate in the Eagle is also superior which can help to keep you out of a valid gun firing solution.

 

All very dependent on the situation, and all highly dependant on the actual situation in which you find yourself.

[Sweep]

Sweeper's wall of BFM Text

 

I am new to DCS F-15C. I am coming from Falcon BMS. Flying a muti role fighter I rarely do BFM, but when I do I am able to bring the nose around a lot quicker - which makes sense since the Viper is a lighter and more maneuverable fighter.

 

I too am having issues trying to employ the F-15C in a dogfight. I recently started flying the guns mission against F-5E. I usually take an offset and then put the jet in burner trying to gain altitude and speed. It seems one F-5E is in trail so I usually wait and try to time my turn to get behind the trailer.

 

Getting into a turning fight hasn't been too successful against the F-5E which makes sense since it is a smaller and more nimble fighter in a dogfight. I have tried to employ my fighter in a vertical fight to use the Eagle's higher thrust and weight but there doesn't appear to be an advantage against the F-5E.

 

I also find my self employing the afterburner a lot. How to you keep your energy up while not allowing a smaller jet get the turning advantage?

 

Wall of text in the spoiler. TLDR: Set up a 1v1 guns with the F-5 first, don't get slow, it isn't an F-16, stay above 400, try to either fight a good rate fight or force a scissors. You'll win both.

 

And might I add, drop this "lighter = better BFM'r" stuff, your forum name isn't Pierre Sprey. :D

 

 

Okay, step back. Stop doing the 2v2 mission...Start off 1v1. Don't force a 1v1 from a 2v2 or 1v2. I say 1v2 because I can't use the AI wingman for crap. PvE/PvP guy here.

 

To be honest, not getting offensive against an F-5 doesn't make sense - It's a light jet, sure, but he has a low TDR/TWR. Honestly, it sounds like you're not familiar enough with the Eagle's EM performance. So let's go through that first: If you're rating, 350 is your minimum airspeed. Typically, a merge entry speed for a moderately high fuel scenario (ie near full internal, like 12k or so) is gonna be 500KCAS +/- 50. Why? Because you need energy to do a few things like deny lead turn, go vertical/oblique, etc. You're looking for 420-460KCAS for a rate fight. If you're digging in, lift vector on or below horizon, you are going to be "in the beeper" and at high G (7+), so make sure you're warmed up. As you get lighter, 390-430KCAS tends to be the better rate speed. You can bleed from 400+ to 350 and ease the energy back in as required (aligning circles, denying WEZs, etc.).

 

If you come from a virtual F-16 background, I'll just say this: Those days of coming in at 400KCAS and bleeding to 330 are dead and gone. The Eagle takes more speed and more skill.

 

Remember this, as well, you're fighting AIs - The AIs have SFM and Godmode energy retention, even if their BFM is highly predictable, they have that one thing going for them.

 

So my advice is this: Rmin the AIM-9 and get him into a scissors. Why a scissors? Because it's an F-5, it's a high radius, low rate fighter with desk fans for motors. You'll get offensive very fast.

 

If you don't wanna do that, try to get him into a level rate fight where he's extremely predictable and you can beat him fast. Depending on the altitudes and configurations, you should have him in two turns or less.

 

If you think that this is too good to be true, it almost is...Thing is, anything over 415KCAS and you're basically guaranteed to pop over 6g (unless you're stupid high or heavy). So you need to be warmed up for the Gs. In the F-16, or rather, the F-16 simulator(s), your virtual pilot has a fairly decent G tolerance to start with. In DCS, you don't, but you can build your tolerance in flight. Start with either S turns or a full on G exercise with hooks or in-place 90s. The other thing is that when you see the tunnel seriously start darkening, ease off. This will help you in killing that F-5, because when you get near 450 and above, you can't just pull through and bleed down to something sustainable from a G POV. The AI F-5 retains its speed alright, the human ones don't. They'll over G if they try what you're doing and honestly, they'll probably just get slow to start with.

 

BFM is tough, dissimilar BFM is tougher, but with some determination it's winnable.

 

Good luck!

 

[LJQCN101]

I fly Falcon BMS too. Here's one thing to note:

 

The F-15 doesn't have an AOA limiter, you can pull straight up to 45 Units (or 35 deg) AOA, bleeding a lot of speed. It's very sensitive to stick inputs. For me I always keep my AOA below 35 units.

 

I also recommend a comprehensive study of P-1210 and P-1289 AIR COMBAT MANEUVERING by the Naval Air Training Command and practice the technique often.

Edited January 18, 2017 by LJQCN101

[Sweep]

I fly Falcon BMS too. Here's one thing to note:

 

The F-15 doesn't have an AOA limiter, you can pull straight up to 45 Units (or 35 deg) AOA, bleeding a lot of speed. It's very sensitive to stick inputs. For me I always keep my AOA below 35 units.

 

I also recommend a comprehensive study of P-1210 and P-1289 AIR COMBAT MANEUVERING by the Naval Air Training Command and practice the technique often.

 

+1 on all of that.

 

As for reading, the T-38 Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals and the F-16 Combat Aircraft Fundamentals are helpful too.

 

I think both of those are distributed with BMS, too...IIRC. They're available on the 'net as well I believe.

[plaiskool]

I don't think coming from BMS change anything.

A good DCS BFM player IMO will do pretty good as well in BMS vs hard BMS player i'm pretty sure.

Once you understood it, you can apply it to all planes.

It's just a practice practice practice stuff, and as well understanding, some people will never get it, some will get it very fast.

Best way to learn is by getting wrecked there is no secret, then second, set up a 1v1 server with an "alright" dogfighter and get live explainations with in game pause plus tacview.

[SinusoidDelta]

+1 to all the advice here.

 

This thread has first hand accounts of DACT missions with the F-104, F-5 and F-15: http://forums.ubi.com/showthread.php/587067-Early-Eagle-days-F-104G-vs-F-15B-Forums

 

The book Radar, Heat, Guns which is a Cold War fiction book written by former Eagle driver James Frederick. I'd highly recommend it. I posted an excerpt in the spoiler below. There is plenty more golden advice in the book.

 

"Pete, I think of BFM as the bread and butter of flying the F-15. It's as important to fighting the machine as addition and subtraction are to a mathematician and grammar is to a writer. You almost have to be able to take it for granted. It has to become instinctive to assess your energy state and position relative to your enemy. Now, I think it’s really very simple. It's all a matter of angles and range. As a defender you're generally trying to increase them, as an attacker you're trying to eliminate them." Pete was listening intently. No one at Luke had gotten this basic with him, and he was trying to follow each word, each concept. Spence was a good briefer, and as he continued he began to draw on the blackboard.

 

"What's instantaneous and sustained corner velocity in our jet?"

 

Without so much as a thought Pete answered. "350 and 420 knots." Spence wrote the numbers on the board.

 

"At what altitude?"

 

Well, that wasn't something he had thought about in academics at Luke. The numbers were just two of hundreds he had been required to memorize. He knew definitions, and he could specifically remember looking at the Energy Management charts, but had to guess at the answer to Spence's question. "Sea level?"

 

"Right. What's the relationship between airspeed and turn radius?"

 

"Uh, let's see. I guess higher airspeed would be a wider turn, and a slower turn would be tighter. . . " Spence finished it for him.

 

" For a given G, right?"

 

"Right."

 

Spence drew two concentric arcs on the board, one with a bigger radius than the other. "Who's flying faster? Who's pulling higher G?" Pete looked at the circles.

 

"Well, I would say the outside guy is flying faster or pulling less G, the inside guy is flying slower or pulling higher G." "What if I said the inside guy is a 747 and the outside guy is a Cessna 150?" "Wouldn't matter; the relationship is strictly a function of speed and G," Pete answered. "Could it be possible that the outside guy is actually pulling higher G than the inside guy, or that the inside guy is going faster than the outside?"

 

Pete sighed. He didn't know this was gonna' turn into a physics lesson. He rubbed his head, then answered, " Yeah, either case could be true, but not both at the same time. Either the outside guy is going faster, or he's pulling less G than the inside guy." Pete wasn't sure, but he wanted to sound sure. Spence took the study one step further.

 

"What if we rotate this whole thing ninety degrees and fly a loop instead of a flat turn. What does that do to our turn radius?" Pete had reached the end of his ability to visualize the abstract. He just sat and stared at the board. "OK, Toad, let's talk about what we call the maneuvering egg. If you do a loop at a constant four Gs, you'll fly a path that looks like this." He drew what looked like an egg with the chalk in his left hand. It was rounded at both ends, but the top curve was tighter, the bottom curve was looser. The figure was oblong. The instructor was in his element now, and he was just as absorbed by the concepts he was explaining as he hoped his student was. Spence loved this stuff. He highlighted the top and bottom of the egg as he continued. " At the top of the loop we're on our back pulling down towards the ground, and we have gravity added to our four Gs, in effect giving us a five G turn. Since we were going up, we're probably flying slower and decelerating. Our turn is very tight." He flew his hand in the top part of a loop, then he moved to the bottom of the figure. "At the bottom . . . here . . . we are fighting gravity. You gotta fly at one G just to stay level, right? So we actually have a 3 G turn going. And since we were pointed down on the backside of the loop, were going faster. Our radius expands." His hand flew a bigger circle at the bottom. He did it all again, flying an oblong loop with his hand, emphasizing the tighter turn at the top, the wider turn at the bottom.

 

"Not every airplane has the ability to go over the top, but we can do one almost any time we want to. We have an ability to go vertical that most other aircraft only dream about. In a flat turn, were just another airplane . . there’s lots of 5,6, even 7 G fighters out there. In a vertical fight we take advantage of one of our aircraft's greatest advantages . . . power." Pete was getting the gist of what Spence was saying. Fight a vertical fight, especially against a lesser powered airplane. Spence continued.

 

"When we set up today, I'll be very near your heat weapons vulnerable cone, so you'll have to make a hard turn as your initial move. If it's hard enough, I'll have to reposition to keep from zooming right on by. While I'm in that reposition move I can't shoot you, can I?" Pete shook his head. Repositioning was making a sort of S-turn behind the lead jet to try to get back into position to shoot. It required a period of time with your nose off the defender; while your nose was off him, you couldn't shoot him. Made sense.

 

"First you force my nose off by creating angles and excessive closure. Then, while my nose is off you, you unload and accelerate to build range. As my nose begins to threaten you again you respond by going back into a tight turn, and we start the whole process over. Theoretically, each time you get a little further away. By the third or fourth time you should have enough room to pass me beak-to-beak and separate from the fight, or begin to work on an offensive position."

 

Pete thought about it. If he passed Spence nose-to-nose and chose to keep going away . . to “bug out of the fight”, Spence would have to turn 180 degrees to take a heat missile shot at him. Since the Eagle was capable of about twelve degrees per second of turn, Pete would have almost fifteen seconds to fly away from the threat. In fifteen seconds the F-15 could be easily out of heat missile range. Spence's briefing left Pete confident that he could defeat an attack.

 

"Now the hard part," Spence sat down to finish the defensive BFM briefing. "One of the hardest things to do is to keep your opponent in sight when he's deep at your six and you're pulling six to seven Gs. Good BFM requires you to fight off the effects of the Gs, assess the nose position of your enemy, and be aware of where your jet is going all at the same time. Even some of our best pilots don't do it very well. And I don't plan on making it easy for you today. I may make some small mistakes, but there won't be any gimmes. You'll have to work for it. OK Pete. That's it for the briefing. Any questions?"

 

Edited January 18, 2017 by SinusoidDelta

[IAB98]

A few guys on this thread came from BMS. F-16 is nice and retains energy super well because of the AOA limiter. The F-15 has no such limiter so you can bring the AOA really high when you need to. Personally, I think its an advantage.

 

I was like you when I first started out. The Eagle bleeds energy fast only because you are pulling back all the way. If you only pull it half way back, you'll retain energy well. My advice to you is to merge above 400 KTS. Also don't be too set on retaining energy. When you need to snap that nose around, don't be afraid to bleed off your energy. It's all about timing. Get on his six, get the shot, and kill him asap. Another important thing to note is that the eagle rolls super fast. I've had Mirages jump me and turned the fight around for guns kills because I know how to turn and burn when I need to. Rolling will throw the guy's aim off. Just about every other 4th gen fighter in DCS will out turn the eagle sustained or instantaneous. Take the SU-27 for example. The only way you are going to beat a flanker in a dogfight is to be a better pilot than him. The Flanker will out turn the eagle at any speed right up to mach .8 or something. Just know when to time a really quick turn, and you can win the fight. Otherwise my only advice to you is kill the target way before the merge. The Eagle is the best BVR platform in DCS.

[riproren]

I've been flying the F15 for about 9 months now, and I've been where the OP is. Flying the Instant Action missions in both maps with guns only was a little frustrating at first until I learned the energy mgmt required to fight effectively. Sometimes I would get smoked early usually due to getting tunnel vision on 1 enemy while the other slid onto my 6. Or finding myself in a tight single circle fight that I had no chance of winning. Sometimes I might get onto his 6 from above, but not have the energy when he went into a climb.

 

As has already been said above, It's really been about practicing and thinking about what worked and what didn't.

[B2Blain]

Wall of text in the spoiler. TLDR: Set up a 1v1 guns with the F-5 first, don't get slow, it isn't an F-16, stay above 400, try to either fight a good rate fight or force a scissors. You'll win both.

 

And might I add, drop this "lighter = better BFM'r" stuff, your forum name isn't Pierre Sprey. :D

 

 

Okay, step back. Stop doing the 2v2 mission...Start off 1v1. Don't force a 1v1 from a 2v2 or 1v2. I say 1v2 because I can't use the AI wingman for crap. PvE/PvP guy here.

 

To be honest, not getting offensive against an F-5 doesn't make sense - It's a light jet, sure, but he has a low TDR/TWR. Honestly, it sounds like you're not familiar enough with the Eagle's EM performance. So let's go through that first: If you're rating, 350 is your minimum airspeed. Typically, a merge entry speed for a moderately high fuel scenario (ie near full internal, like 12k or so) is gonna be 500KCAS +/- 50. Why? Because you need energy to do a few things like deny lead turn, go vertical/oblique, etc. You're looking for 420-460KCAS for a rate fight. If you're digging in, lift vector on or below horizon, you are going to be "in the beeper" and at high G (7+), so make sure you're warmed up. As you get lighter, 390-430KCAS tends to be the better rate speed. You can bleed from 400+ to 350 and ease the energy back in as required (aligning circles, denying WEZs, etc.).

 

If you come from a virtual F-16 background, I'll just say this: Those days of coming in at 400KCAS and bleeding to 330 are dead and gone. The Eagle takes more speed and more skill.

 

Remember this, as well, you're fighting AIs - The AIs have SFM and Godmode energy retention, even if their BFM is highly predictable, they have that one thing going for them.

 

So my advice is this: Rmin the AIM-9 and get him into a scissors. Why a scissors? Because it's an F-5, it's a high radius, low rate fighter with desk fans for motors. You'll get offensive very fast.

 

If you don't wanna do that, try to get him into a level rate fight where he's extremely predictable and you can beat him fast. Depending on the altitudes and configurations, you should have him in two turns or less.

 

If you think that this is too good to be true, it almost is...Thing is, anything over 415KCAS and you're basically guaranteed to pop over 6g (unless you're stupid high or heavy). So you need to be warmed up for the Gs. In the F-16, or rather, the F-16 simulator(s), your virtual pilot has a fairly decent G tolerance to start with. In DCS, you don't, but you can build your tolerance in flight. Start with either S turns or a full on G exercise with hooks or in-place 90s. The other thing is that when you see the tunnel seriously start darkening, ease off. This will help you in killing that F-5, because when you get near 450 and above, you can't just pull through and bleed down to something sustainable from a G POV. The AI F-5 retains its speed alright, the human ones don't. They'll over G if they try what you're doing and honestly, they'll probably just get slow to start with.

 

BFM is tough, dissimilar BFM is tougher, but with some determination it's winnable.

 

Good luck!

 

I didn't know that about the flight model of the AI F-5. I suspected it because they move around like UFOs. I assume the AI Migs and Sukhois are similar. I would have thought that the AI adversary aircraft would have become more realistic over the years.

 

I went back and watched the Art of the Kill with Pete Bonnani so that helped. Your tips regarding energy management also helped. I am find that I am using the burner a lot and got a bingo fuel only once. But fighting on a range close to base is a lot more forgiving on fuel management than doing that in hostile territory. So I would think that using a lot of burner during an engagement is not very realistic. But I would think a long drawn out dogfight is also unrealistic. If the bandit is not killed pretty quickly then I would assume that the blue air would just bug out.

[probad]

if you conserved energy properly you wouldn't need so much burner.

 

my hint: being in control of a fight starts from not doggedly chasing the enemy's tail. if you're dogging him you're flying his plane, not yours.

Edited January 19, 2017 by probad

[Delta99]

I'm new to flying DCS and the F15C and was having this problem too at first. I realized that I was pulling way to hard on the stick and bleeding energy like crazy. I'm now much more gentle on it and things are working out better and better.

[Fionn]

Every time I go back to the eagle after flying the mirage I do this! The eagle needs the gently gently approach on the stick or it will fall out of the sky! Also tho, use the rudder... When you are at the edge of the envelope rudder is your friend!

[Angel101]

I am new to DCS F-15C. I am coming from Falcon BMS. Flying a muti role fighter I rarely do BFM, but when I do I am able to bring the nose around a lot quicker - which makes sense since the Viper is a lighter and more maneuverable fighter.

 

I too am having issues trying to employ the F-15C in a dogfight. I recently started flying the guns mission against F-5E. I usually take an offset and then put the jet in burner trying to gain altitude and speed. It seems one F-5E is in trail so I usually wait and try to time my turn to get behind the trailer.

 

Getting into a turning fight hasn't been too successful against the F-5E which makes sense since it is a smaller and more nimble fighter in a dogfight. I have tried to employ my fighter in a vertical fight to use the Eagle's higher thrust and weight but there doesn't appear to be an advantage against the F-5E.

 

I also find my self employing the afterburner a lot. How to you keep your energy up while not allowing a smaller jet get the turning advantage?

 

Actually F-5 AI is flying in UFO mode, he can climb and accelerate to mach 1 and turn behind your F-15 without any problem, of course human player cant do that.

 

I reported that just last month with a few ACMI´s https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=178885

 

So, do not despair if you feel that you should win that match more easily.

[SinusoidDelta]

Actually F-5 AI is flying in UFO mode, he can climb and accelerate to mach 1 and turn behind your F-15 without any problem, of course human player cant do that.

 

I reported that just last month with a few ACMI´s https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=178885

 

So, do not despair if you feel that you should win that match more easily.

 

It's kind of a shame you can't practice against AI to learn the F-15's energy/maneuvering advantages against a specific jet. The best place to practice BFM is definitely online.

[B2Blain]

A few guys on this thread came from BMS. F-16 is nice and retains energy super well because of the AOA limiter. The F-15 has no such limiter so you can bring the AOA really high when you need to. Personally, I think its an advantage.

 

I was like you when I first started out. The Eagle bleeds energy fast only because you are pulling back all the way. If you only pull it half way back, you'll retain energy well. My advice to you is to merge above 400 KTS. Also don't be too set on retaining energy. When you need to snap that nose around, don't be afraid to bleed off your energy. It's all about timing. Get on his six, get the shot, and kill him asap. Another important thing to note is that the eagle rolls super fast. I've had Mirages jump me and turned the fight around for guns kills because I know how to turn and burn when I need to. Rolling will throw the guy's aim off. Just about every other 4th gen fighter in DCS will out turn the eagle sustained or instantaneous. Take the SU-27 for example. The only way you are going to beat a flanker in a dogfight is to be a better pilot than him. The Flanker will out turn the eagle at any speed right up to mach .8 or something. Just know when to time a really quick turn, and you can win the fight. Otherwise my only advice to you is kill the target way before the merge. The Eagle is the best BVR platform in DCS.

 

Thanks for the advice. Prior to the merge I have tried to increase my airspeed and altitude - keeping in mind not to bleed off too much speed once the bandit blows by me. If I have speed I usually try and trade it for attitude. Once get a bandit in a good position I try to stay in lag pursuit and then when I am in a good position I try to bring the nose over in order to fire guns or sidewinders.

 

There are occasions when get distracted and I bleed off too much energy and get below 200 knots. I have also found myself in a flat spin. I need to manage those situations better. I am also trying to figure out how much afterburner to use. I believe I only reached bingo fuel once. I would assume fuel usage is more forging on a range vs being in Indian territory. So far I have used it when I have needed it - trying to maintain at least 400 knots. If anyone has any other thought on the matter I'd like to hear what other do.

[B2Blain]

+1 to all the advice here.

 

This thread has first hand accounts of DACT missions with the F-104, F-5 and F-15: http://forums.ubi.com/showthread.php/587067-Early-Eagle-days-F-104G-vs-F-15B-Forums

 

The book Radar, Heat, Guns which is a Cold War fiction book written by former Eagle driver James Frederick. I'd highly recommend it. I posted an excerpt in the spoiler below. There is plenty more golden advice in the book.

 

 

 

SinussoidDelta,

Thanks for the book suggestion. I purchased it last night and began reading it. Very good so far.