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MarkShot's STK/EAW Guide
By Mark "MarkShot" Kratzer
Table Of Contents Download/Print PDF Version
What Low Altitude Defenders Do
There are generally two options available to the low altitude defender as he prepares to face your attacks.
- He may extend away and put you behind him.
- He may fly towards you and below you.
Most of this topic is focused on attacking the defender who extends away (the majority tend do this). Flying towards and underneath an opponent is generally a mistake. It does tend to be done for a number or reasons:
- The defender is ignorant.
- The defender is an Evasive Style fighter (see STK/EAW topic) and thus readily willing to put an opponent in his turning circle.
- The defender is that much better than the attacker such that he is sneering at the attacker and wants to accelerate the pace of the game.
The Settling Attack
Having stated that flying towards an attacker is a mistake. Let's quickly investigate why and how to conduct the attack.
First, why is it a mistake for the defender?
- If the defender has a hot engine from the previous fight, there is little chance to cool it. This could be a definite problem if the attacker is an Energy Fighter.
- The defender forfeits the chance to gain additional altitude which he might take advantage of in his defense. This is not to say that the defender can equalize energy states. He most likely cannot and should not bother trying. However, it is still much better to face an opponent who has a 300mph energy advantage at 6,000' than 2,000'.
- The attacker can approach the defender by practically coming straight down on him. This form of approach makes it almost impossible for the defender to force a nose to nose situation which would keep the attacker outside of his turning circle. This is because he would have to climb almost straight up to force a nose to nose situation, and he does not have the energy to do this.
- The attacker can very easily counter any turns which the defender makes with minimal maneuvering by simply rolling is wings. Remember that the defender is flying on the horizontal geometric plane and the attacker is flying on the vertical geometric plane. So, the attacker can simply roll his wings to adjust his nose for the target whose geometric plane is perpendicular to his flight vector.
The attacker should employ what I refer to as the settling attack method. It goes like this.
- Your opponent should be heading towards you at about 10,000' separation doing about 150-230mph and 6,000-10,000' below.
- Chop your throttle and climb if necessary to get your speed under 200mph.
- Drop flaps and gear.
- Point your nose down at your opponent and dive on him. If you find your speed getting too fast (greater than 230mph), then add a little spiral into your descent to avoid damaging your flaps and or gear.
- Make sure that your opponent either continues to fly towards you or begins to circle. Often he will begin to circle in an attempt to counter your attack and to maintain visibility of your plane. If he should switch into extending away, then break off your settling attack and switch plans.
- Generally, you should be able to get yourself fairly close to your opponent and to the outer edge of his turning circle fairly easily. Also, you should find your speed close to his while being about 2,000' above him.
- Retract your gear and go full throttle. Note that although you have dumped a lot of energy, you still initiate combat against your opponent with a 50-100mph energy advantage. You should already hold the angles advantage. If you had a 200mph energy advantage, then you would be too fast to effectively to push the attack forward.
- Apply energy fighting techniques to work you way deeper into your opponent's turning circle in order to take a tracking shot.
For the remainder of this topic, we will discuss defenders who are extending away and ignore any further discussion of settling attacks.
The Attacker's Goals
The high altitude attacker has three goals which he is trying to accomplish. Often they tend to happen together in an effectively prosecuted attack, but they can each be accomplished individually too.
- Knock the defender off balance and keep him off balance - What do we mean when we say off balance? It means that the defender is forced to be continuously turning or maneuvering. Flying straight and level has ceased to be a viable option. If the defender was simply to continue flying straight and level, you would crawl up his six and take a shot. Thus, to avoid that from happening he is now continuously maneuvering. He has been knocked off balance and if he makes a mistake or gets pushed too hard, he could well fall over. (Provide a decent tracking gun shot.)
- Acquire a position in the defender's turning circle and maintain it - We have already discussed the turning circle concept. If you can acquire a position in his turning circle, then you are now a real threat to him and you, yourself, are quite safe from his guns. At this point, applying standard Energy Fighting techniques should allow you to work your way in for the kill.
- Force the fight lower - If all you can do is force the fight lower, then it means that your opponent is most likely dumping energy to evade you. That can be a very effective defense. However, each dumping causes a further reduction of his absolute energy state (altitude). His options are getting fewer and fewer. When he reaches sea level, he will become quite vulnerable.
So, remember if you are not accomplishing any of the above, then you are doing little more than logging flight time. You have not at all aggravated the defender's predicament. The defender is probably cruising along admiring the scenery.
© This STK/EAW Guide is Copyright 2000 Mark Kratzer. All Rights Reserved.