Circle Strafing!

[ShuRugal]

So, I have finally managed to get a handle on effective circle strafing. I need to practice more to be able to keep my speed up closer to 100km/hr while still keeping precisely on target.

 

[ShuRugal]

More circle strafes!

 

Video is sil being processed by Yotube, but it will be visible in a short while:

 

 

I did a better job keeping speed up, but still need to work on maintaining my distance.

 

Also, Vikhrs dont circle strafe. at all.

[VincentLaw]

I'm not sure how effective circle strafing would be in real life, and I have not really done it much in DCS, but I did get banned from a Battlefield Vietnam server for circle strafing in the Cobra.

 

I think the main problems with circle strafing are:

A. It requires you to be way within your weapons range to be effective.

B. You are not looking at where you are going. (target fixation trap)

C. You are an easier target for enemies that are outside your circle.

[Bushmanni]

The kind of circle strafing that's done in FPS games isn't really going to work with BS ie. flying circles in close range of the enemy. While I was experimenting dodging tube launched ATGM I found that if I keep my sideways speed about 100km/h it will never hit me and I could still shoot Vikhrs at the enemy tank. Strafing wont protect you from bullets, SAMs and main gun shells. Targeting a tank and firing Vikhr successfully while flying sideways does take some skill and attention and you might drift in WEZ of some other enemy while doing it so it's not really smart thing to do unless you know there's only that one tank and you want to make it a gamble instead of safely engaging from stand-off range.

[MTFDarkEagle]

Circle strafing isn't something I do (or have to do) regularly, but in my opinion it could be usefull when engaging troops.

The most profiting I think from this manouevre: practice of skill. It takes good coordination to do, as well as forces you to also look around at the same time to see if you're not going to hit anything.

 

What Bushmanni says is also true. What remains paramount in that situation is that you keep your situational awareness. But the SA is an entirely different subject.

[ShuRugal]

Circle strafing, as Russian KA-50 pilots learned fighting in Georgia, is brilliant for scrubbing up isolated units such as convoys and camps at close (under 1 km). At ~100kph close in, the T&E mechanisms on armored vehicles can't slew fast enough to keep up. Obviously, newer AD systems like the GOALKEEPER won't be defeated by this method, but against traditional armor and troops....

[Slippery Pete]

I did get banned from a Battlefield Vietnam server for circle strafing in the Cobra.

 

 

You played BF:V? I got banned from SO many servers for being "too good" of a pilot. I was unstoppable in the MiG-17, I would fly up high where the low draw distance of the game would mask you in fog, then I'd use the hud map like a radar and just dive down on enemy bases, dropping bombs pin point style, and vertically climbing back into the fog. I'd get kill scores like 100 kills with zero deaths, and admins would see that and just assume I was cheating.

 

Good times.:pilotfly:

[Felonious_Monk]

What is your method for doing this? Like what are you inputting on the collective, the cyclic, and the rudders. Do tell. I want to learn to do this.

[ShuRugal]

What is your method for doing this? Like what are you inputting on the collective, the cyclic, and the rudders. Do tell. I want to learn to do this.

 

Well, i usually enter it in FD mode (or just turn off Heading AP channel) from a regular turn at about 100kph IAS. Make a shallow bank, as if to execute a normal pylon turn around the target, then rudder around until you are flying nose-center, shifting your inputs as required to keep the disk tipped at the same angle. Once you are nose-in to the center, your attitude should be 10-15 degrees nose down and wings-level.

 

It helps if you trim for level flight at the desired circling speed before entering, and then do NOT re-trim until you have established your funnel. This makes it easier to transition the cyclic position from banked sideways to nose-in.

 

Also, remember that since the mast is tipped about 5 degrees forwards, your nose will be 5 degrees higher than whatever bank angle you entered with. IE: go in with a 10-degree bank, and you will need only 5 degrees nose down to maintain it. 15 degree bank? 10 degree nose down. etc etc.

[Maverick-X]

I don't think that is a suitable method for flightsims. That works great in casual shooters, but if its not the close range to the enemy that brings you in trouble, than the systems limitation of your weapon systems.

 

I guess you could get some shots of with rockets, but you usually want forward motion w/o any sideslip and a dive for this, so you wont be accurate. You can completely forget vikhrs, as they are beamriders and need to stay between target and launchplatform.

...and then there still is the Danger of close range. An AK47 is enough to ruin your shkval...

[ShuRugal]

I would not suggest employing such a tactic against any modern SHORAD units such as the GOALKEEPER or a current generation stinger or igla. However, against units without such dedicated hardware, it is absolutely effective. the T&E mechanisms on armored vehicles are not designed to be able to traverse quickly enough to track an aircraft performing such a maneuver.

 

as for the suggest that an infantryman with an AK-47 could hit an airborne target at 500-1000 meters moving at variable speed and altitude... the answer is "not before i've ht him with my 2A42...."

[Maverick-X]

If there are no threads to you, you could aswell simply hover 4-8km away depending on the weapon you intend to use. You are safe from being engaged by the enemy except from atgm's perhaps, which are easy to dodge even from a hover.

 

Might be a fun thing to master, but I don't think it is effective. I'll give it a try though, as I'm curious how hard it is to maintain speed and distance