Neg-G maneuvers and tactics:

In early war situations such as the current S3, the Negative G 'Pushover' and its variations are the most effective trick in the Luftwaffe pilot's bag. Our fuel-injected engines enable us to perform these while maintaining full power, while our Spitfire and Hurricane adversaries will suffer loss of power when they try to follow. When in trouble in these situations, you WANT to see red.

The most common error made by 'Nachwuchs' is to hold these flight attitudes too long. A smart opponent will reverse his turn to pull positive G, and rapidly eat up the distance he lost. These moves will give a momentary breathing space in most instances, but will rarely end the fight, with one exception.

Do not be shy about pushing negative G from ANY flight attitude: out of a hard, positive G turn, out of a climb, or even from a dive. This last is the 'exception' mentioned above. When in 'real' trouble, I will often point the nose straight down, push negative-G briefly, then half-roll and begin a pull out in a different direction. I have NEVER had an enemy pilot successfully follow me through this maneuver. Downside is that the altitude loss puts you out of the fight, and this is an escape maneuver, which gives you virtually no chance to re-engage. If you use this, extend and go home. Of course, you need lots of alt to begin with to use this tactic. Watch your speed.

The Hartman Escape

You will read a lot of pretty bad descriptions of this maneuver in the Warbirds literature on the 'Net. It is quite simply a diving oblique outside half-loop, usually at 30-45 degrees from your initial direction of flight. It works well against opponents who are on your 6 with a lot of E.

I usually 'cheat' a little to begin this move by pushing with a little rudder in the direction of my intended break, 'skidding' the aircraft forward. Not too much, as you give the move away to your opponent. To begin, push the stick into the forward left or right quadrant, and give just enough rudder in that direction (the 'down' side) to keep yourself in coordinated flight. You want to disappear beneath your opponent's nose in such a way that he 'reds out' trying to follow you in this unexpected direction. After about 120-150 degrees of loop, I usually half-roll out in a shallow dive and reaquire visual on my opponent. You will normally find one of two things have happened:

A - he has lost you completely, and is wandering off in a different direction trying to reaquire you.

B - He is still in your rear-quarter, some distance away and pointed at you. In this case, you have a smart opponent, or an experienced one, and it is best to extend away. Since he's smart, he won't chase you long down low.

I recommend practicing this move off-line with redout and blackout disabled to get a feel for the flight attitudes involved. Also, external view mode can be of some help when you have a 'feel' for the right amount of stick and rudder needed.

The move worked well for Hartman because his opponents were left 'hanging in their straps' trying to follow him, and often the G forces prevented them from even pulling the trigger! Thats not the case in Warbirds, so you cannot count on these manevers to get you out of trouble completely. They CAN give you valuable breathing room, so that you can use superior speed and/or climb to escape or re-engage from a better position.

Vadr