#Flat spin air combat maneuver series

The bandit pilot is often surprised initially by what was likely an unobserved attack from the rear, and while he has survived a highly defensive situation that has become a somewhat neutral encounter after the overshoot, the bandit pilot must still react quickly.

(To overshoot is to fly from an AOT (angle-off-tail: the angle between the nose of the attacker and an imaginary extended line from the nose through the tail of the bandit and extending behind it into the air) of less than 90 degrees to an AOT of greater than 90 degrees.)Īs such, an attacking pilot who finds himself in a flat scissors has transitioned from an offensive to a neutral engagement, and has lost his offensive advantage, as it represents a failure to press an initial attack into a kill, and the scissors can be difficult to disengage from without being exposed to the weapons of the bandit at close range. The flat scissors maneuver commonly results when two fighters of similar capability encounter each other at similar speeds and in the same plane of motion, and the fighter approaches the defending 'bandit' (enemy fighter), usually from the bandit's rear hemisphere, and has failed to press an initial positional and angular advantage into a kill, and has 'overshot', or passed behind the bandit. The flat scissors is the simpler of the two to explain. Basic fighter maneuvering theory recognizes two different types of scissors maneuvers the flat scissors and the rolling scissors. In fact, for many years now, fighter pilots flying aircraft with even a reasonable thrust-to-weight ratio and average wing loading are well advised to avoid engaging in a scissors maneuver, since any turning, rolling or slow-speed disadvantage the pilot's aircraft might have with respect to that of his opponent (or pilot skill in energy assessment and management techniques) will quickly become evident in the scissors, and lead to his defeat in short order. Modern aircraft also make it difficult to use this technique as they maintain energy much better than earlier designs and the maneuvering limits are often the pilot's physical limitations, not the aircraft. The introduction of high-angle missiles makes it much less effective, as the attacker can shoot even when the defender is not in front of them. It was a major technique from World War I to the Korean War, but is much less common today. The scissors is a close-maneuvering technique, and as such, is really only useful when defending against guns or low-performance missiles. Performed properly, it can cause the attacking aircraft to move far enough in front to allow the defender to turn the tables and attack.

#Flat spin air combat maneuver series

It consists of a series of short turns towards the attacking aircraft, slowing with each turn, in the hopes of forcing the attacker to overshoot.

It is primarily a defensive maneuver, used by an aircraft that is under attack. The Scissors is an aerial dog fighting maneuver commonly used by military fighter pilots.