11/19/2014 Revision 2

A BF4 Jet Tutorial Manuscript

[FS] flargrbargr [FLIGHT SQUADRON]

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Table of Contents Introduction Chapter 1: Basics (Pg. 4) 1. Don’t let frustration get the best of you! a. Rams DO Happen! 2. Controls 3. Loadout a. Missiles b. Counter Measures c. Cannon d. Upgrades 4. Aiming 5. The “Best” Jet a. F-35 b. J-20 and SU-50 6. Pitch, Roll, Yaw 7. Speed Control a. 313 8. Looping 9. Point of View a. 1st b. 1st/3rd c. 3rd Chapter 2: Positioning (Pg. 11) 1. Neutral 2. Defensive 3. Offensive Chapter 3: Merges and One and Two Circle Flow (Pg. 12) 1. Merges 2. One Circle Flow 3. Two Circle Flow Chapter 4: Studying Your Opponent (Pg. 13) Chapter 5: Evasive Maneuvers (Pg. 14) Overview 1. Looping 2. Switches

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3. The Cuban Eight 4. Rudder Switches a. Opposite-Rudder Switching b. Same-Rudder Switching 5. Barrel Rolls 6. Scissoring 7. Widening the Roll Further 8. The “Dillon” 9. Following Up Maneuvers 10. Concentration Under Pressure Chapter 6: Radar Reading and Timing Evasive Maneuvers (Pg. 18) 1. Radar Reading 2. Timing Evasive Maneuvers a. 4 factors to help you time evasive maneuvers Chapter 7: ECM (Pg. 20) 1. ECM > Flares 2. Use in Conjunction with Timed Maneuvers Chapter 8: Offensive Maneuvers (Pg. 21) Overview 1. True Circle Geometry and Pursuit Curves 2. Out looping 3. Contrail Chasing 4. Cutting 5. Entering Enemy Loop from its Axis 6. High Yoyo/Low Yoyo 7. Breaking Loop-Cycles 8. Hooks 9. Oncomings 10. Countering a Staller/Pugachev’s Cobra 11. Chasing a Barrel Roll a. Direct Chase b. Counter with a Hook Further Reading and Sources (Pg. 26)

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Introduction Greetings, fellow pilot! Welcome to the Battlefield 4 Jet Tutorial Manuscript. The main purpose of this guide is to help supplement and guide pilots as they polish their flight skills. Hopefully, this guide may also serve to increase awareness and appreciation for BF4 jets and its mechanics. Learning how to effectively utilize jets in BF4 is normally a turbulent and stressful process. This guide was intended to help alleviate new pilots from said stress. Flight Squadron is a Battlefield 4 platoon dedicated to the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Guiding new pilots as the progressively learn the ways of the jet. Being a respectable pilot. Taking a stand against any and all hackers. Avoiding feelings of entitlement and pretentiousness. JETS!

If you share the same passion and attitude towards jets, you are most certainly welcome to be a part of our Flight Squadron! We have many ace pilots who are always willing to personally teach you how to fly. Training Sessions are now available at FlightSquadron.com! Sign-up to practice with an official FS trainer today!

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Chapter 1: Basics 1. Don’t let frustration get the best of you! a. Perhaps the most important factor when learning jets. Learning jets is frustrating for everyone, but allowing frustration to sour into anger and rage always impedes the learning process. Those that channel their frustration into a drive and passion for jets have always been found to learn the fastest of them all. b. Rams DO Happen! In Battlefield 4, you cannot turn your head to look around and turn your jet at the same time. In real life, you would actually be able to see through your F-35 through the visor display. However, this is not real life, many rams are unavoidable by both pilots, and many are going to happen. 99% of rams are unintentional and they happen a lot, both in public air superiority and pro 1v1 dogfighting. No sense in raging about rams; accept the borderline hilarious and extremely high probability of rams and just have fun flying! c. Learning how to proficiently wield a stealth jet takes time and practice. Hopefully this guide helps you along your (flight) path to ruling the skies! 2. Controls a. Bind spacebar to “pitch up”. 3. Loadout a. Missiles i. Missiles will impede your learning process. Equip laser guided missiles and use the main cannon; it does much more damage. A good pilot doesn’t need missiles to get kills. b. Counter-Measures i. Use flares if the enemy is firing an annoying amount of missiles. ii. Use ECM if you can at least do decent looping and switches (ECM examined in detail below) or if no one is using missiles. c. Cannon i. 20mm cannon is best 1. 2000 round per minute / 60 seconds per minute = 33.333 rounds per second x 2.5 Dmg per round = 83.333 Dmg per second!!! 2. 100 HP / 83.333 DPS = 1.200 seconds to kill 3. Bullet Velocity = 1200 meters/second ii. 25mm cannon is 2nd best 1. 1200 round per minute / 60 seconds per minute = 20 rounds per second x 3.4 Dmg per round = 68 Dmg per second. 2. 1.471 seconds to kill 3. Bullet Velocity = 1200 meters/second iii. 30mm cannon is 3rd 1. 600 round per minute / 60 seconds per minute = 10 rounds per second x 6.8 Dmg per round = 68 Dmg per second.

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2. 1.471 seconds to kill 3. Bullet Velocity = 900 (slowest bullet speed = requires more leading for shots). d. Upgrades i. Belt feeder is completely useless for some reason. Intended to decrease reload time. Doesn’t specify for either cannon or rockets, but it also doesn’t affect either. Don’t even touch this. ii. Stealth isn’t very effective. Even the most novice of pilots can usually maintain a lock granted that there is a fair distance between you and the enemy. Active radar missiles also counter this feature. Not recommended iii. Proximity scanner is useless because if the obscenely short range of detection (30 meters). The air radar in Battlefield 3 is now always enabled anyways, with the exception of hardcore. Not recommended iv. Gyro Stabilizer is a reasonable choice since missiles are the bane of Battlefield 4 jets. Not exactly extremely helpful, but neither are the other perks, and it does make the game considerably less frustrating. Recommended 4. Aiming a. Learn to fly before learning to kill! Learning speed control first helps with aiming the cannon because aiming your cannon requires you to reorient your jet, and reorienting your jet means turning your jet with proper speed control. Consistency in movements = Consistency in aiming b. Accuracy with the main cannon comes with time and really isn’t something you can teach. c. As of the new update, you are now required to lead your shots proportionally to your ping. Players with pings 65 and lower normally won’t be affected much and it might not even be noticeable. However, above 65 ping, it starts becoming more and more cumbersome to aim properly. At around 160 ping, it becomes downright annoying. At such high ping, you will have to predict where the enemy will be and this is especially hard to do if they are very evasive to begin with. Do take this into account when playing on high ping servers! 5. The “Best” Jet a. The F-35 is technically the most advantageous jet to be in. i. Smallest dorsal/ventral (top/bottom) profile. Literally a smaller target to hit. ii. Able to utilize “Elevator Trick” (explained under 3rd person for speed control) iii. Ability to enter hover/STOVL mode (Short Take Off and Vertical Landing). Not exactly advantageous, but it allows the F-35 to escape the flight ceiling much easier (hold brakes and yaw until you point below the horizon).

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iv. Side note: Cannon fires from left side b. J-20 and SU-50 i. Larger dorsal/ventral profile increases likelihood of getting hit with bullets. (This is why the US team always has an advantage in US vs CN or US vs RU air superiority servers). ii. Lack of STOVL mode. iii. Side note: Cannon fires from right side. 6. Pitch, Roll, Yaw

a. Pitch is controlled by Elevators. b. Roll is controlled by Ailerons. c. Yaw is controlled by Rudders. (Very important for 1v1 dogfighting) d. Never pitch down, speed control changes significantly. 7. Speed Control a. Learn speed control before learning to aim, consistency in all turns makes for more consistent aiming later. b. 313 knots = Best turning speed c. Hold brakes and tap afterburner to maintain 313 (Ex. In a vertical loop, I do about 14-15 taps of afterburn from 6-12 o’ clock, then about 3-4 taps going back down from 12 to 6 o’ clock).

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d. Speed control in 1st is easier since speedometer is located in top left of HUD, but FOV becomes much smaller and it is much harder to track/spot enemies.

e. Speed control in 3rd is normally harder to grasp in the beginning, but just “clicks” after a while. 3rd person speed control relies on watching the background speed and using the “Elevator Trick” (explained below). f. Use quick taps, not long ones. Quicker taps allow for more precision in speed control. Think of it like resolution on a screen. The picture looks more detailed and life-like with smaller, but many more pixels. Conversely, 8-bit resolution looks very unlife-like. Applied to jet speed control, smaller taps allows you to more finely tune your speed to 313. If you were limited to, say, 2 second holds of afterburn, it would be very hard to achieve tight loops. g. Afterburn more while going up, afterburn less while going down, all while holding brakes constantly to maintain 313. h. Anywhere from 300-318 knots makes for tight-ish turns, but always strive for 313, always strive for perfection. i. Always try to achieve 313 before your opponent, this will give you just a little bit more of an advantage in both offensive and defensive positions. 8. Looping

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a. Looping is much akin to the Ollie for skateboarding. If you can’t do an Ollie, you can’t do a lot of tricks on a skateboard. If you can’t do loops at 313 fairly consistently, you can’t do tricks in a jet. b. Most basic but crucial maneuver to jets, but make sure to learn the other maneuvers. Only doing loops to escape/kill is not sufficient in the end, as it can be easily countered. c. Type of loop is determined by the circle you draw with a loop. (Ex. Looping horizontally doesn’t change altitude) d. 3 types: horizontal, vertical, and diagonal e. Start off learning horizontal loops, they are easier as you don’t have to account for gravity, unlike for vertical and diagonal loops. 9. Point of View: 1st vs 1st/3rd vs 3rd d. 1st Person

i. The most limited Field of View (FOV) ii. Good for beginners due to speedometer in top left of the HUD. e. 1st/3rd Person i. Switching back and forth from 1st to 3rd person as needed (most commonly 1st for aiming and shooting, 3rd for chase and evasion). ii. 3rd person is much better than 1st in terms of chase and evasion. A wider field of view yields several things. Planes will have a harder time escaping the larger field of view, and you will have better situational awareness (seeing contrails and other jets easier). iii. Maintaining speed control in 1st/3rd usually involves most maneuvers in 3rd, but with intermittent switches to 1st person to check speed. iv. 1st/3rd is better than just1st, but not as effective as just 3rd.

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f. 3rd Person

i. Basically the same as 1st/3rd but without the 1st. That means aiming and shooting in 3rd person, in addition to chasing and evading in 3rd as well. ii. The new addition of the crosshairs in Battlefield 4 jets is helpful for aiming in 3rd person; though it is not always accurately in the middle, it is always somewhere within the box. This new crosshair is also very helpful with taking longer shots in 3rd person. iii. Another benefit of using only 3rd person is the lack of glare found in 1st person (most noticeable and cumbersome on Silk Road). iv. Ability to look backwards. v. Maintaining speed control in 3rd person is slightly more difficult, but there are several factors that help. 1. Background Speed: Background speed moves significantly faster while moving at 313. Increase and decrease speed while doing a loop to find the fastest background speed, and then maintain it by tapping afterburners while holding brake. 2. “Elevator Trick”: In 3rd person with default FOV, the elevators (rear most flaps that control the pitch factor) sit very closely to the bottom of the screen when turning at 313. Note that the elevator actually touching the bottom of your screen is not 313, there has to be a small gap. Going too far above 313 causes the gap to increase (first rapidly, then stabilizes). Maintain a speed where the gap is just before the rapid increase, and remember, quick taps! Note that changing the in-game FOV settings will change both the background speed and the elevator trick, drastically.

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(Images of the “Elevator Trick” during vertical, diagonal, and horizontal respectively.)

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Chapter 2: Positioning 1. Neutral a. The beginning of a 1v1 is always neutral. Both jets fly directly past each other. b. Generally a situation in which both jets spot each other simultaneously and neither jet has a positional advantage over the other. Neither jet spots the other with enough time, distance, or sufficient angle to be able to get right behind them. c. During neutral 1v1 flying, both jets are attempting to make cuts, pull hooks, etc., in order to go on the offensive, thus forcing the enemy to go defensive. d. Always be ready to switch from neutral to defensive and offensive as needed and as quickly as possible. 2. Defensive a. Normally occurs when the defender spots the attacker too late. b. Occurs very often in public air superiority (due to the large amount of planes on each team). c. A much more important concept for 1v1 dogfighting. The defender should always attempt to employ evasive maneuvers. This is more easily achieved when the attacker is either in a lag, or lead pursuit curve, and hardest when he is in pure pursuit curve (explained in True Circle Geometry and Pursuit Curves below) 3. Offensive a. Normally occurs when one jet spots the other first and has sufficient angle, distance, and turn speed to be able to “chase” the enemy jet. b. Normally begins with lag pursuit, therefore the enemy normally has a small window of time to pull an evasive maneuver just after you take the offensive. c. From this point, the attacker should attempt to shorten the distance even more and make cuts, while also being constantly aware of the enemy jet’s location and any maneuvers he might employ. d. Entering in pure pursuit is ideal because it doesn’t give the enemy that window of time to escape. e. When in the offensive position, attempt to: i. Observe the enemy jet. ii. Predict the future position of the enemy jet. iii. Maneuver in response to said prediction. iv. React to any changes in the situation as you execute offensive maneuvers.

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Chapter 3: Merges and One and Two Circle Flow 1. Merges – When two planes fly directly past each other with opposite heading (direction of travel).

1. One Circle Flow a. How the majority of 1v1 dogfights initiate. b. Occurs when both jets turn towards the same direction (Ex. North). c. Results in a merge where the two planes are level to one another. 2. Two Circle Flow a. Some dogfights initiate this way. b. Occurs when both jets turn towards or away from each other after merging. c. Results in another merge where each plane is inverted relative to the other. d. Each plane will fly inverted over the other during the merge. At this time, the plane who kept their loop tighter through the turn may have a chance to shoot the other jet. e. Speed control through the loop is very important the one with better speed control usually wins. f. Two circle flow normally repeats itself. After the merge, both planes normally turn towards each other once more, resulting in a third merge. This continues until one decides to break off from two circle flow, or one shoots down the other by superior looping. Two good passes can be enough to take down another jet in two circle flow.

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Chapter 4: Studying Your Opponent 1. Every pilot has his own flight style a. Every pilots is different, studying the way your specific opponent evades and attacks will help you decide how to do so yourself. b. After several rounds of 1v1 dogfighting or air superiority, you should be able to tell how your opponent tends to evade, however, reading his offensive maneuvers is usually more difficult. Observing his offensive maneuvers usually means that he is somewhere out of your FOV, possibly behind you, meaning that you would have to rely mostly on radar to determine his location, angle, and which way he is going. c. Keep in mind that some maneuvers are more effective against some pilots than others. The switches that you used to dodge that last jet may have worked, but it might just be the next guy’s specialty, in which case you’d want to try something different, such as changing your switches from diagonals to verticals, or using a different maneuver altogether, like barrel rolls. 2. Questions to ask a. Defensive i. What does the opponent use as a main evasive maneuver? ii. Barrel rolls, rudder switches, barrel switches, constant looping, etc? iii. Do you look prettier that the opponent? b. Offensive i. What offensive maneuvers does your opponent employ? ii. Cuts, contrail following, hooks, oncomings, etc?

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Chapter 5: Evasive Maneuvers Overview: These evasive maneuvers are those that I find to be most effective in Battlefield 4 stealth jets. There are many maneuvers in real life, however, these maneuvers are either not physically possibly to achieve in Battlefield 4 (maneuvers that require real thrust vectoring), rendered useless due to the way the camera and FOV work (vertical barrel rolls), or are easily countered due to the unrealistically tight turn radius of jets in Battlefield 4 (Pugachev’s Cobra or any stalling what-so-ever). 1. Looping a. Works if you can loop much better than your enemy. b. Extremely predictable. c. Easily countered with certain offensive maneuvers. d. Can be used in between other maneuvers, but not recommended as the only maneuver. 2. Switches a. Transitioning via a roll (aileron input) to change the looping angle (Ex. Vert => Horizontal, Diagonal => Vertical, Diagonal => Diagonal). b. Always try to use radar to locate enemy and switch towards them (Ex. Enemy is behind you and coming from the left, you should roll left anywhere from about 45-135 degrees and keep pitching to switch toward them). Switching toward the opponent allows you to “cross” in front of the opponent instead of switching away which basically leaves you in their field of view longer. c. Timing of the switches is also very important. Improper timing of any maneuver can render the maneuver useless, or worse, place you right in front of the enemy. Switching toward the enemy minimizes the chances of accidentally doing that, but improper timing can still ruin it all. 3. The Cuban Eight

a. Consists of two loops forming a figure eight laid upon its side, much like a lemniscate (infinity sign). b. Consists of a simple 180° switch (roll) after completing about 5/8ths of a loop. c. This can be done in any dimension (vertical, horizontal, and diagonal) and is good as a starting evasive maneuver that is slightly more unpredictable than regular looping. 4. Rudder Switches a. Basically the same as a regular switch, but 10x more effective! Instead of only rolling into their direction and continuing to pitch, you want to yaw and roll into their direction. (Ex. Enemy is behind you and coming from the left, you should pitch up and roll and yaw to the left while continuing to pitch).

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b. Opposite vs Same Rudder-Switching i. Opposite-Rudder Switching: When you yaw (with rudders) opposite to your roll (Ex. roll right + yaw left + pitch up). 1. Useful for really tight rolls (somewhat like a twist) to reorientate and engage an enemy. 2. Not so good for evasive maneuvers. About as useful as regular (nonrudder) switches. Yaw input diminishes the roll into more of a straight line, and flying in straight lines gets you killed. ii. Same-Rudder Switching: When you yaw (with rudders) in the same direction as you roll (Ex. roll left + yaw left + pitch up). 1. Used to make wide rolls. 2. Wide rolls throw your jet farther out of the enemy’s field of view, therefore making it much more effective as an evasive maneuver. 5. Barrel Rolls

a. Basically a continuous (same) rudder switch; a corkscrew maneuver. (Ex. pitch up + roll left + yaw left) Note that a continuous opposite-rudder barrel roll still diminishes the roll to a straight line just as it does for opposite-rudder switches. b. Use barrel rolls against enemies to force them to overshoot their turn and lose sight of you, hopefully causing them to “speed fail” in the process. c. Mix up barrel rolls and properly timed rudder switches to increase effectiveness. d. NEVER barrel roll upwards or downwards for more than 1 roll if the jet is right on your tail. Due to the FOV and 3rd person camera angle, an upwards or downwards barrel roll right in front of an enemy jet rarely ever works against seasoned pilots. e. Try to roll along a more horizontal or diagonal axis.

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6. Scissoring

a. When two jets are barrel rolling perfectly out of phase with each other, forming a double helix or DNA structure-like flight path. b. Appears on the radar as if the jets make a figure X when they cross over each other repeatedly. c. First one to lose speed control enough or disengage from the dogfight generally tends to put themselves at a disadvantageous situation. Therefore once you are engaged in a scissor roll with another jet, you must make sure you evade to gain the advantage instead of switching maneuvers and putting yourself at a disadvantage. 7. Widening the Roll Further a. Whilst doing same-rudder barrel rolls (instead of opposite-rudder barrel rolls) is usually sufficient to evade most pilots, evading more seasoned pilots will necessitate even wider rolls (still at 313). b. Moderating the aileron (roll) input changes the width of the roll. Less aileron = wider rolls = better for evasion c. Widening the roll is advantageous because of 3 reasons: i. Widening the roll will throw your jet even farther out of their FOV. ii. It makes chasing you physically more difficult. Moderating the roll input to match the jet you are chasing takes more work. iii. Widening the roll by using less aileron (roll) input allows you to use more aileron when you need to make the roll tighter. 8. The “Dillon” a. Essentially any maneuver that involves going significantly below 313 (240-280ish range), normally including a barrel roll or rudder switch of some sort. b. A maneuver that should only be executed when the enemy is right on your tail and all other options are exhausted. c. Begin by barrel rolling and max out the airbrakes (throttle down) when the opponent cannot see you (while still barrel rolling). This will bleed your speed far below 313 in

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order to force the enemy to either do the same. Cutting your speed while out of the enemy’s FOV will maximize the amount of time it takes between when you cut your speed and when your opponent does as your opponent will normally realize what you’ve done far too late. Doing this correctly can give you the advantage or, at the very least, cause the enemy pilot to lose his. d. If the enemy is still behind you, bring your speed back to 313 and then hit the brakes, once again, out of the enemy’s FOV. Eventually, your opponent will end up overshooting you, causing him to respond with another maneuver; be prepared to react to your opponent’s maneuver. e. Maneuver should be executed with proper timing and very quick jet maneuvering. Best used in conjunction with ECM. f. A very risky maneuver, executing this maneuver at the wrong time is a very dire mistake and is very easy to do. 9. Following Up Maneuvers a. Pulling these maneuvers only once usually isn’t enough. My rule is rinse and repeat as needed. b. The “as needed” is explained in detail in the next section, “Radar Reading and Timing Evasive Maneuvers” c. This sub section is bolded because beginners tend to not realize this right away. You have to make sure the maneuvers that you pulled work, if not, then keep maneuvering. 10. Concentration Under Pressure a. Always remember to focus when under pressure, particularly when the enemy is right behind you, close to or in a firing position. i. Remember to keep your speed at 313 while still focusing on evasive maneuvers. Even the best of pilots can speed-fail if they allow the pressure to undermine their concentration. ii. This tip may sound rather obvious and simple, but it surely isn’t something to overlook. In 1v1 dogfights in particular, this skillset can make all the difference. b. Also important when behind the enemy, particularly when firing at them. i. You must train yourself to be able to fire and maintain 313 simultaneously. ii. Many kills are lost right after getting one burst into them because the focus has shifted from maintaining 313 to firing the main cannon. iii. You can also try to use this against the enemy. If he loses speed every time he fires, try something unpredictable right before he starts to fire (mostly determined by radar). Exploiting his weaknesses in offensive maneuvers might give you the advantage.

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Chapter 6: Radar Reading and Timing Evasive Maneuvers 1. Radar Reading a. One of the most crucial and rewarding skills of them all – I really can’t stress this enough! b. Necessary for timing the evasive maneuvers. c. Not exactly teachable; must learn from experience. Always pay attention to Radar! d. Just remember that the map flips when you are upside down. e. Hardest thing to master in jets, in my opinion, but it makes both 1v1 and public matches a whole lot easier, so do practice and polish this skill. 2. Timing Evasive Maneuvers a. Proper timing maximizes effectiveness and minimizes error in evasive maneuvering. b. Improper timing severely diminishes effectiveness and almost always puts your jet an unfavorable position. c. 4 factors help you time evasive maneuvers i. Sounds – “Woosh” sounds are a good indicator as to when you have just slipped out of the enemy’s FOV (a good time to pull a maneuver eg. Rudder switch). ii. Radar Reading – Pay attention to when the enemy jet isn’t pointed at you. When the jet behind you forms an obtuse angle relative to your jet, that indicates that you are out of their FOV. Also avoid accidentally switching the wrong direction as this can place you perfectly in front of the enemy jet (a prime example of when you should have zigged instead of zagged). To better avoid this, remember to always switch toward the enemy. iii. Situational Awareness – Always try to keep track of where your jet and the enemy jet are in 3D space. A limitation of radar reading is that you can’t always tell if the jet is, for example, perfectly level at the top of a loop and going down, or at the bottom of a loop and going down. Situational awareness helps paint a clearer picture by looking at what is going on in the rest of the screen in front of your jet and using that in addition to radar to mentally map out where both jets are in 3D space and react appropriately, both offensively and defensively. iv. Looking Backwards – With the new addition of the capability to look behind your jet in 3rd person, evasive maneuvers might be easier to employ more effectively. Being able to look behind one’s jet can allow them to pull evasive maneuvers toward the enemy. Further testing and experience with this new ability is needed, but it seems that the default FOV is too small to be able to see where the enemy is when you are in defensive mode. I’m going to assume that for most situations, if you can see the enemy jet behind you, and he’s a good pilot, you’re probably already dead. In any case, the look back ability makes your jet look totally badass.

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Chapter 7: ECM

1. ECM chosen over flares and extinguisher for several reasons a. ECM lasts 2.3333 times longer than flares (7 sec vs. 3 sec). b. ECM allows you to disappear from radar and supplement your maneuvers. c. ECM provides a visual obstruction using smoke (unless you are in the SU-50). d. ECM is less effective than flares against missiles, but in a 1v1 dogfight between good pilots, missiles are never fired anyways, whilst hopping off radar with ECM is still useful. 2. Use in Conjunction with Timed Maneuvers a. Use it when pulling a properly timed evasive maneuver. Using ECM at the wrong time might just give the opponent a smoke path to follow you with, possibly making it easier to chase you even though you’ve popped off radar. b. A poorly timed ECM with the enemy right behind you usually constitutes a waste of your countermeasures, but doesn’t always hurt you either. c. Sometimes a poorly timed ECM can leave a more obvious trail behind your jet if the enemy finds it too soon. Avoid using ECM to inadvertently increase your opponent’s situational awareness and leading him straight to you. Using ECM right after passing the enemy gives you the most amount of time before he can find your ECM.

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Chapter 8: Offensive Maneuvers Overview: Initially, dogfighting in jets is somewhat aimless and random. However, learning how to read radar and improving situational awareness will help you to understand which offensive maneuvers to use and when. These maneuvers can definitely be used in public air superiority, but they are of the utmost importance when 1v1 dogfighting. Use this thought process throughout your offensive maneuvering: 1. Observe the enemy jet. 2. Predict the future position of the enemy jet. 3. Maneuver in response to said prediction. 4. React to any changes in the situation as you execute offensive maneuvers.

Only move onto this portion of the tutorial once you can at least:  Fly in 3rd person and maintain a speed of 300-318 at most times throughout maneuvers  Pull basic (non-rudder) switches to some degree of effectiveness  Minimally understand how to read the radar

Now that that’s settled, let’s get started

1. True Circle Geometry and Pursuit Curves

a. True Circle Geometry i. Circumference of circle = The “Bubble” ii. Center of the loop = The “Post”

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iii. True circle geometry becomes important when an attacking plane loops behind an enemy jet with equal circumference, but with the two posts offset from one another within the same plane. iv. Assuming both planes continue to loop as such consistently, the attacking plane will continuously cycle through stages of Pure, Lead, and Lag pursuit. v. Attacker gets sight of defender at 2 positions of the loop 1. 3 o’ clock: Attacker obtains a shot angle as defender lowers into the attackers FOV and then shifts below it. 2. 9 o’ clock: Defender cuts above the attack from beneath and shifts above the attacker’s FOV with a small window of time to shoot in between. vi. Defender should pull a defensive maneuver at either 12 o’ clock or 6 o’ clock because these are the times at which the defender is the most out of the attacker’s FOV. vii. Avoid taking lead at the 6 o’ clock position. Taking lead at this point can land you straight on top of the enemy jet, or worse, straight in front of it. Not likely to occur if both jets can turn at the same rate with matched speed control. viii. Note that positions of the clock where each stage occurs is relative to the line formed between the posts of the two loops. In this example, the two posts form a vertical line. These stages must be rotated around in order to account for different displacements of posts (horizontal, diagonal, tilted displacements). b. Pursuit Curves i. Lead – Attacker gets a short opening for a shot, but pulls too far ahead right after. ii. Pure – Always attempt to be in pure pursuit when maintaining the offensive position. Attacker is on point and receives the largest window of time to shoot, the ideal angle to enter at. iii. Lag – Most disadvantageous part of a pursuit. This is the moment where the enemy jet rises above your screen. This is the point at which they would most benefit from a maneuver, always be ready to follow up with the same maneuver or a counter-maneuver. 2. Out looping a. Perhaps the most basic and crude offensive maneuver. b. Involves following enemy jet contrails and maintaining 313 better than them. c. Doesn’t really get you anywhere if both player’s speed controls are equal. d. Easily countered and very predictable e. Good speed control is much less effective without employing maneuvers. 3. Contrail Chasing a. Contrails – The vapor trails left behind the wingtips of a jet. b. Contrail Chasing – An offensive maneuver that only involves following the enemy’s contrails and speed control. c. Very crude offensive tactic, works best against enemies with poor speed control. d. Doesn’t involve cutting, hooking, or any other outmaneuvering other than trying to out speed control the enemy. Not very effective over all.

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4. Cutting a. Bread and butter of offensive maneuvers. b. Any maneuver that allows you to take a shorter path than your enemy and get closer behind them. Could involve making the same turns as the opponent, but tighter (outturning), or could involve taking a different path and reentering their loop right behind them at a better angle and/or closer. c. Difficult to fully explain and describe. Different situations call for different types of cuts at different angles. Learning how to read the radar and utilizing situational awareness is key to understanding when and how to pull your cuts. 5. Entering Enemy Loop from its Axis a. Imaging a wheel with an axle, the outside of the wheel is the loop, and the axle is the axis. b. Entering from either end of the axis upon someone’s loop is a very advantageous position. c. Entering from the axis, enter into their loop using pitch, roll, and yaw. 6. High Yoyo/Low Yoyo

a. A high yoyo maneuver resembles what a skateboarder would look like going up a halfpipe, making a U-turn, and then coming back down. b. Useful for making cuts and getting better shot angles, know which to use. c. High yoyo is recommended in most cases because it is usually easier to shoot them from top down. However, low yoyo’s can come in handy if you miss your high yoyo, just make sure you have sufficient altitude. 7. Breaking Loop-Cycles (Loop-Cycle – opponent is only doing loops) a. When to pull maneuver: i. Opponent is only looping and you are looping very close behind. ii. Opponent is just out of reach of bullets but not gaining nor losing distance b. How to pull maneuver: i. Shift your loop to either the left or right of the opponents loop, bust stay parallel to it. This can be done by rolling in the direction slightly and rolling back again when positioned outside of the loop. ii. Pop ECM (important) and pull a high or low yoyo maneuver to reenter opponent’s loop directly behind him.

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c. Things that may go wrong: i. Opponent may end loop-cycle by pulling a switch in response to you popping ECM. This usually resets the dogfight back to where neither pilot is at a significant advantageous or disadvantageous position to each other ii. Losing speed during the yoyo maneuver might just land you right behind him at the same distance you started (presuming the opponent held 313 well enough). 8. Hooks a. Breaking away from the fight momentarily in order to obtain sight of enemy while he is far away in order to properly enter his loop behind him. b. Always try to pull a hook with ECM, but make sure the enemy doesn’t find and follow your ECM. c. If an enemy catches you pulling a hook, they are usually inclined to pull a countermaneuver in order to decrease the distance between both jets. At this point, both jets normally 9. Oncomings a. Occurs when both jets engage in two circle flow and repeatedly pass over each other, each jet inverted relative to the other jet. b. Gaining advantage is heavily dependent on speed control and making sure the inputs are quick. Returning back to the center of the two circles quicker than the other jet gives the jet a short window on time during which he can shoot the enemy jet just before he passes over him. c. Repeatedly returning to the center faster than your opponent allows you to either kill him while two circle flowing or allows you to switch to another offensive maneuver in order to reenter behind the enemy. 10. Countering a Staller/Pugachev’s Cobra

a. Most pilots will never attempt a stall maneuver or a Pugachev’s Cobra. b. Pugachev’s Cobra is only able to be initiated near the ground by utilizing STOVL mode. c. Both types of maneuvers are extremely disadvantageous. i. Requires you to stop maintaining 313, and necessitates shifting back into 313. Both of these factors are extremely time consuming. ii. During that time many pilots will utilize the simplest counter to a stall/Cobra. d. To counter a stall/Cobra, simply do a loop. After passing the stalled enemy, pitch up at 313, then widen the loop at about 10 o’ clock and continue until enemy is back in FOV. Widening the loop at 10 o’ clock allows you to end up with slightly more distance when

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he reenters your FOV, thus giving you an even easier shot and makes it harder for him to escape your counter-maneuver. 11. Chasing a Barrel Roll a. Direct Chase i. In order to chase a barrel rolling enemy you may need to use both types of barrel rolls, same-rudder barrel rolls and opposite-rudder barrel rolls. Use same-rudder barrel rolls to chase them through the rolls while switching back and forth between opposite-rudder barrel rolls to add even extra roll speed if needed to cut the opponent. ii. Warning: Using opposite-rudder barrel rolls tightens the roll significantly; employed for too long and the enemy might have enough time to shift farther out of your FOV, as tight rolls normally end up overshooting wider rolls, thus giving away your advantage. b. Counter with a Hook i. When chasing an enemy evading with barrel rolls, a hook maneuver towards the opposite direction of his barrel roll could be used to gain some distance and allow you to reenter the barrel roll with a much better angle. ii. Remember to use hook maneuvers in conjunction with ECM. In this scenario, the enemy jet won’t see your ECM because you stay behind the enemy’s barrel roll. (Unless he counter maneuvers and changes direction).

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Further Reading and Sources (Take the information from these sources with a grain of salt, not all maneuvers and tactics described and designed for real life/air combat other flying games are applicable to Battlefield 4 jets.)

"Air Combat Manoeuvring." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 09 Nov. 2014. Web. 08 Oct. 2014. . "Basic Fighter Maneuvers." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 July 2014. Web. 08 Oct. 2014. . Flight Squadron • Index Page." Flight Squadron • Index Page. Flight Squadron, n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2014. . "Jet Fighter School." By Richard G. Sheffield. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2014. . "Jet Tutorial - Platoons - Battlelog / Battlefield 3." Jet Tutorial - Platoons - Battlelog / Battlefield 3. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2014. . "Stealth Jet stats “ BF4 Stealth Jet Stats. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2014. .