Dogfighting in the F/A-18C - It’s strengths and adversaries weaknesses?

[ESzczesniak]

I was wondering if someone could point me to a discussion (I couldn’t find one) or elaborate here on where the Hornet is going to excel in a dogfight, and how to use these strengths? I’m thinking about a post-merge gun battle, short range IR missile at most. Certainly first look, first shot, BVR is the first choice.

 

As I understand it, the Hornet should be more of an angles/turning fighter and not a power fighter. A YouTube video had mentioned it excels at high alpha in a dogfight, but how do I use this in a fight (low speed turn performance?)?

 

And what about weaknesses to exploit against common Hornet adversaries?

 

1) MiG-21: The Hornet seems to have an marked advantage on turning performance, modest in vertical

 

2) MiG-29: The Horrent seems to loose modestly in both turn and vertical.

 

3) Su-27: The Hornet seems to modestly loose in turn and markedly loose in vertical.

 

So how to I go about attacking these aircraft?

Edited June 12, 2018 by ESzczesniak

[RShackleford]

Be near corner velocity at the merge, which I think is around 380-400 knots unless you plan to go vertical at the merge. Blow all your energy at the merge for a 1-circle fight (turning into the enemy fighter vs away) and you should be setup well, after that try to maintain energy and cash in energy for nose position wisely. If they go vertical and you are horizontal just keep lift vector going towards predicted control zone, don't let them gain turning room on you outside of the vertical turning room they have and you can try a slight climb into them to deny some of that as well.

 

The largest error I see happening online is people getting too fast and making their turn circle enormous with low turn rate... When someone is circling at 450kts I can sit 100 kts slower inside the turn using angles to close distance (my radius is smaller.) Hornet vs hornet you always have to fight what the bandit is trying to do, but against pretty much every other adversary in DCS you want to make it a minimum radius fight, making aggressive moves as fast as you can to be threatening and force the bandit into a mistake

[Jetguy06]

Be near corner velocity at the merge, which I think is around 380-400 knots unless you plan to go vertical at the merge. Blow all your energy at the merge for a 1-circle fight (turning into the enemy fighter vs away) and you should be setup well, after that try to maintain energy and cash in energy for nose position wisely. If they go vertical and you are horizontal just keep lift vector going towards predicted control zone, don't let them gain turning room on you outside of the vertical turning room they have and you can try a slight climb into them to deny some of that as well.

 

The largest error I see happening online is people getting too fast and making their turn circle enormous with low turn rate... When someone is circling at 450kts I can sit 100 kts slower inside the turn using angles to close distance (my radius is smaller.) Hornet vs hornet you always have to fight what the bandit is trying to do, but against pretty much every other adversary in DCS you want to make it a minimum radius fight, making aggressive moves as fast as you can to be threatening and force the bandit into a mistake

 

 

Would you mind explaining what a Lift Vector is please? I've been wondering and Googling for months, but can't find any explanation of it. I hear it alot in BFM/ACM discussions, but can't find a definition.

[RShackleford]

Dale is that you?

Pocket sand!

Would you mind explaining what a Lift Vector is please? I've been wondering and Googling for months, but can't find any explanation of it. I hear it alot in BFM/ACM discussions, but can't find a definition.

 

Lift vector is basically a line going straight up from your jet. It's different than plane of motion, but both start becoming closer to the same with increasing G's. For example, at 89degrees of bank and 9 Gs, you're going to be turning almost horizontal but it will still be slightly descending because of gravity. Generally you want to use your lift vector to set your plane of motion in a way that the bandit has the least amount of turning room to use against you. Hornet does really well at denying turning room because the low speed turn radius is so small.

[yoshama]

 

the Lift Vector is literally the vector of lift calculated from integrating the lift field created by the aircraft. Basically assume a line going strait up from the airplane and that is the vector (Direction and magnitude) of the lift (The part of flying that holds you up in the sky). The vector generally stays roughly perpendicular to your wings and nose. The more you pull, the more lift is created and the greater the magnitude of the vector. Because the lift vector is the strongest force on an airplane, Fighters change directions by pointing their "lift vector" in a direction and increasing it's magnitude "pulling" to create an acceleration. Engines can create up to maybe 2 Gs on the lightest airplanes with the biggest engines while the lift vector can create up to 9+ Gs depending on the airplane.