Two great pillars have always been at the base of dogfights: the ONE CIRCLE FIGHT, also called “radius fight” or “nose to nose fight” and the TWO CIRLCE FIGHT, also called “rate fight” or “nose to tail fight”. BFM combines the fundamentals of aerodynamic flight and the geometry of pursuit, with the physics of managing the aircraft’s energy-to-weight ratio, called its specific energy. BFM are based on aerodynamic, physics, kinematics, energy and geometry conceptsīasic fighter maneuvers (BFM) are tactical movements performed by fighter aircraft during air combat maneuvering (also called ACM, or dogfighting), to gain a positional advantage over the opponent. And we will do that through a bit of the theory behind WVR aerial combat, explaining the so-called BFM (Basic Fighter Maneuvers), the tactical movements performed by a fighter during an aerial engagement to gain a positional advantage over the opponent.
Today we will try to bring you inside the mind of a fighter pilot engaging an adversary aircraft during a dogfight.
We talk about the basics of WVR (Within Visual Range) engagements: turn performance, speed at merge, Specific Excess Power and much more.
