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The Art of Guns Combat
by Dennis Greene
 

Inertia causes all kinds of trouble for pilots and is a main reason that we need engines. When starting your plane, you'll need much more throttle to accelerate than you will during flight. The engine has to overcome the inertia of the aircraft. Likewise changing direction can be assisted by the application of power.

While in flight, inertia makes maneuvers more difficult at high speeds. The faster your plane is moving, the more inertia it has in a given direction. So the engine and control surfaces have to do more work to get the plane to change direction.

The biggest side effect of inertia is g forces, the force that is felt when mass in motion is disturbed; in this case it is used to denote any inertial change experienced by the plane and the pilot. Whenever you change direction, you are subject to g's.

If you turn to the side (as in yawing or banking), you're putting a centripetal acceleration on the plane and your body. Inertia (often mistakenly called centrifugal force), tries to keep you moving in your original direction, causing "transverse g's" When you turn downward, "negative g's" make you feel lighter, as in a dropping elevator. If you turn upwards, as when pulling out of a dive, "positive g's" push you into your seat. Positive and negative g's have risks - greyouts, blackouts, and redouts.

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WW2F
Wounded FW in WW2 Fighters.

FINAL ADVICE

You can learn more advanced maneuvers in the coming chapters and by watching your fellow pilots. Analyzing the tactics of the enemy or the opponent is another good way to learn.

For those of you who haven't fallen asleep we'll move on to the next chapter, which will cover slightly more advanced flying techniques, the importance of formation flying and how it will increase your skills as a fighter pilot.

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Last Updated April 22nd, 1999

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