In the Fighter game, if you can't fly good BFM then you'll never amount to a hill of beans.
The F/A-18 Hornet is a great fighter, but let me tell you a MIG-29 is no slouch.

BFM is all about spending ENERGY for NOSE POSITION, you spend knots for a tactical placement in a high-speed furball.

The ability to leave a fight is greatest right at the pass, you may choose to merge to a one-circle or two-circle fight, away from the bandit or into the bandit.
Do not go for turning room E.G. Vertical turns at the merge, as you may give the bandit optimum turning room for a Guns shot.

Instead, keep a lag, pure or lead persuit on the bandit, and keep him infront of your 3/9 line.

One Circle - Will tend to jam both fighters inside minimum range (Rmin) and a chance for a Mike (AIM-9M All-Aspect Missile) or a Guns shot referred to as a "Knife Fight in a Phone Booth".

Two Circle - Gives you a better chance at a head-on missile attack.


COMM Brevity

1. BANDIT - Known enemy aircraft; does not necessarily give us authorization to employ
weapons.
2. HOSTILE - A BANDIT whose engagement Rules of Engagement (ROE) has been met,
allowing us to employ weapons.
3. BOGEY - A radar/visual contact whose identity is unknown.
4. TALLY - Sighting of a target/bandit/bogey; opposite of “NO JOY”
5. VISUAL - Sighting of a friendly aircraft; opposite of “BLIND” (typically used during 1v1
BFM as our opponent is actually still our wingman)
6. NO JOY - No visual contact with target/bandit/bogey; opposite of “TALLY”
7. BLIND - No visual contact with friendly aircraft; opposite of “VISUAL” (typically used
during 1v1 BFM as our opponent is actually still our wingman)
8. KNOCK-IT-OFF (KIO) - Term used to stop an entire multi-plane engagement/exercise.
In the context of 1v1, used to end a specific engagement/exercise (e.g., Snapshot Drill).


Weapons Geometry

Parameters for 5,000ft - 20,000ft MSL and Bandit in a stern chase.
Rmin - Minimum Range.
Rne - Lethal Range.
Rmax - Max Range.
AON- Angle Off Nose.
AOT - Angle Off Tail.

Radar

Rmin - 4nm
Rne - -4-15nm
Rmax - 15-25nm

AOT - 10nm 20° Aspect

Heat (IR)

Rmin - 2.5nm
Rne - 2.5-10nm
Rmax - 10-15nm

(Sidewinder Envelope)
AON - 2.5nm 45° Right Aspect
AOT - 2nm

Guns

Rmin - (No Rmin)
Rne - 1500-4500ft
Rmax - 4500-6000ft (1nm)

AON - 3000ft Aspect.


Guns Jink

Offensive Guns means taking the gun cross and pointing it infront of the target (Lead Persuit) this means the gun cross needs to be placed right off the nose of the bandit, if that aircraft jinks then take that gun cross and move it to the new position.

A good way to imagine it is projecting a long Pitot Boom right off the nose of the bandit and if the bandit jinks take the gun cross and move it infront of the nose and then let the funnel catch up.

First you must move the gun cross because that displays the true departure line of the bullets then take then funnel and make the shot.

Defensive guns means denying the opponent one of three things...
1. Range - getting out of range of guns means the bandit cannot accurately shoot you.
2. Lead - can you deny your opponent lead persuit? pulling the best you can with the most G's while flying defensive could mean life or death.
3. Plane of motion - rolling your aircraft atleast 70°-80° out of plane with a defensive guns jink, doing it too soon is bad, but doing it too late is worse!

Defending Against Missiles

If you find yourself on the recieving end of a warhead, remember that you need to fight missiles with ASPECT.

This means you need to turn your nose to 45-90° left or right aspect relative to the missile or put the missile right on your lift vector line. Once a hostile missile has been launched, disregard BFM and focus on defeating the Missile.

Gaining speed and turning makes the hostile missile lose ENERGY, if you can get that rocket motor to burn out before it reaches you... You will have defeated the missile.

Turning room is acheived by using the aircraft's optimum airspeed, in a superhornet, a 7G turn at 440KIAS is the most efficient rate.



Never intentionally maneuver to lose sight (no blind Lead turns).

In training, an up-Sun aircraft is responsible for collision avoidance. Knock-it-off anytime
deconfliction is not assured. If the down-Sun aircraft lost sight, transmit “(call sign), blind Sun” and turn away from predicted collision bearing. If the up-Sun aircraft still has sight of the down-Sun aircraft and safe separation can be maintained, the up-Sun aircraft shall immediately broadcast “(call sign,) continue,” otherwise knock-it-off.

If you are in the Sun, you are using a tremendously powerful tactic because it blinds the bandit. But because he is blind, it is your responsibility to maintain safe separation.
If the weather is hazy, the Sun creates a 22° halo effect when you are looking down with the Sun at your back. If the bandit is in the halo area, they cannot see you.

Combat use of this tactical implication, is useful when taking the fight vertical or using the "tactical egg" maneuver. A vertical turn is usually never done at the initial pass, almost all fights go two-circle because you want to have a chance to shoot the bandit with a Mike.

Fighters with similar characteristics starting with similar energies, the fight will usually end up getting lower and slower as you spend ENERGY for POSITION. At some point in that fight you can take the fight vertical with enough energy and use "God's G" to gain turning room and lead the bandit down the back-side.

A Sunny day can provide a perfect oppurtunity to take the fight vertical by creating a shadow in the cockpit, meaning the bandit can't see you in the glare of the Sun.

Going vertical in a cold, blue sky gives a hostile Heat(IR) missile a huge benefit as you become a hot and easily-visible target to the seeker head against the cold, blue sky...

Never lose sight of your opponent. lose sight, lose the fight!
And remember, you've got to train like you fight, and fight to win!