Pilot Talk Page III
"In air fights it is absolutely essential to fly in such a way that your adversary cannot shoot at you, if you can manage it." --Oswald Boelcke, German Air Service 40 victories

Willie, how long can you tread water? -- Commander Randy 'Duke' Cunningham, USN, after his and Willie's F-4 took a missile hit over NVN and he dashed for the coast.
"The Messerschmitts took their time, coming around deliberately, no excess speed, blending into position behind me. The seven of us were locked into a vertical turn; the tip of my right wing pivoted on an imaginary point in the clouds below. I yanked the control wheel toward me with all my strength, screaming and squeezing to keep my stomach muscles tight and the blood circulating in my head, my body compressed under five times the force of gravity . . . I jerked my head back to glance at my attackers. It was an eerie sight. They were skillfully following my arc, but they couldn't get a shot at me unless they turned tighter and aimed their guns ahead of me, like a hunter leading a moving target . . . The 109s were starting to have trouble staying in the turn, stalling and losing altitude, their noses pointed far behind me."-- Frederic Arnold Distinguished Flying Cross In "Kohn's War"

I felt the best I could do was present him a difficult shot. As he closed in behind me, I would pull up and then kick the airplane over about the time I thought he was ready to shoot. When I saw the muzzle flashes from his guns I would present him with a 90-degree deflection shot, about the most
difficult there is.--Colonel Francis S. Gabreski USAAF, 31 Victories WWII, 6.5 Korea Highest scoring surviving American fighter pilot

"When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. This does not mean that the enemy is to be allowed to escape. The object is to make him believe that there is a road to safety, and thus prevent his fighting with the courage of despair." --Sun Tzu The Art of War

"I fired and the '190 rolled over into a diving curve. Chopping the throttle, I followed, having no difficulty in staying behind him, although his turning only allowed deflection shots . . . All the same, down and around we went and I would try another short burst until we were almost on the treetops. Since having unleashed 300 rounds and never registering a hit using the auxiliary sight, I decided it was now prudent to break off and try another day." Colonel Hubert "Hub" Zemke 56th Fighter Group, 17.5 victories
"The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon that enables it to strike and destroy its victim. Therefore the good fighter will be terrible in his onset, and prompt in his decision.
"Energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow; decision, to the releasing of the trigger."--Sun Tzu The Art of War

Aerial gunnery is 90 percent instinct and 10 percent aim. -- Captain Frederick C. Libby, RFC
"I slipped over to go after him and lost sight of him momentarily. And that is the trouble: things change so fast in the sky. You have your man, you miss him, you lose him -- and maybe you've lost the whole world and yourself along with it. It happens while you're snapping your fingers a couple of times or making one pass."
"Then I saw my Zero again, pulling up and heading northwest. I poured wide-open throttle to it and went right after him. Somehow it was the biggest thrill I ever had . . . I got above him, closing the gap a little more and a little more. In the meantime, he'd been doing S turns, and I kept sliding over so he wouldn't see me. Finally I got up to twenty or thirty yards -- just like opening a door and walking into a room, it was so close. Then I fired the shortest burst I ever used, not more than twenty or thirty shots, but they were all smashing right home into him, and he blew up all over the sky. . . ."-- 2nd Lt. Jack E. Conger, USMC VMF-212, Guadalcanal, 10 victories
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