Energy basics

As fighter pilots, we are concerned with mechanical energy. As you will remember from basic science, it only comes in two forms: Potential and Kinetic. Energy management is all about converting between these two states.

If 2 fighters are moving at the same speed, and one is 1000 ft higher than the other, the higher fighter has more potential energy, and thus an overall 'E' advantage.

Conversely, if the fighter is 1000 feet lower than his opponent, but moving 100 knots faster, he has more kinetic energy than his opponent, and thus a greater 'E' state.

To quote Hartmann: 'You sell your altitude for speed'. The basic position you strive for as an energy fighter is a relatively steep, 'high side' guns attack. Following such attack, your primary objective is to sell your excess airspeed to reaquire an altitude advantage, thus preserving your greater total 'E'.

This is where attacking in a shallow 'U' comes in handy. Ideally, you have dived from a higher alt, so your kinetic and total energy states are high. You dive below the bandit's 6 and then shoot him as you climb shallowly up from below. He has to bleed energy to see you, bleed energy to avoid you, and you have several options, including a straight-ahead high-speed extension, a steady state climb to regain E, and a Zoom-climb into pitch-back tactics.

The nuances are varied and dynamic, but the principle is very basic. It's a bit like chess: If you tangle with low wing-loaded opponent such as a Spitfire or a Zero, he can break-turn in the horizontal to defeat your guns solution. Fine. You know that an airplane that is out of airspeed is out of options, right?

You use this tactic of converting potential energy into kinetic energy and back to potential energy to force your opponent to keep using his energy in a kinetic fashion until he has no more to burn. You then convert your potential into kinetic to blast him as he wallows just above his stall speed.

Everybody 'cheats' just a little, and there is nothing wrong with that. With practice, you know that if you turn with this bogie for 'just a second', you'll get a good guns solution on him. Nothing wrong with that. We use energy tactics to achieve positional advantage for the kill. Just don't completely forego energy management for positional advantage. That is the game of the angles fighter, and very few of the airplanes we fly regularly are suited for it.

The smart 'angles' fighter is concerned with gaining just a little more position with each pass. The smart energy fighter is concerned with forcing his opponent to bleed just a little more energy (speed and/or altitude) at each pass, until the bogie is virtually helpless. When you have managed the fight to the point where you are certain that you can initiate a zoom climb and the bogie has no chance of following you up, you've won, and all that is left is to move to the end-game, where you will usually catch him with a full-planform guns shot as he turns tightly at low speed.

Vadr