Safety Spotlight: Air superiority

As “blue” forces (the good guys) we were conducting a mock raid against targets protected by “red air” (the bad guys), led by the U.S. Air Force aggressor squadron flying F–5 Tigers, and supported by the U.S. Navy aggressors flying A–4 Skyhawks. Both aggressor teams were staffed with experienced pilots, exceptionally skilled in handling their low-tech aircraft. Our job in the F–15s was to sweep in running west to east and eliminate or distract the red air forces, which typically outnumbered us, so that ground attack aircraft could slide through unmolested, attack, and egress safely.

I made the “stripped” call, announcing my departure from the formation; rolled inverted; and began a near 90-degree descent pointing at an A–4 well below and to my right, the gray jet prominent against the shimmering blue water. The A–4 had snuck underneath our radar and was running west to disrupt the ground-attack aircraft behind us. I planned to dive within range, pick off the A–4 with a simulated heat-seeking missile, and then reverse course and climb back to rejoin my flight on the eastbound sweep. Piece of cake. It’s only an A–4; I’m in an F–15, swooping in high and unobserved. This will be like shooting fish in a barrel. Poor, unsophisticated, underpowered A–4.

As I closed within range, diving 70 degrees nose low, throttles back but still accelerating rapidly, the heat-seeking missile had trouble tracking. Sun glare off the sea was a more attractive target than the limited heat signature of the A–4. After multiple attempts and closing fast, I rolled left and pulled to create space and use some G to slow down. The wing flash from the large F–15 alerted the A–4 pilot and he immediately pitched up and back, into a pure vertical climb toward me.

I overshot his flight path, screaming in at 500 knots, well above best corner speed for maximum turn performance. High-G warning tone pulsating rapidly, I made a 9-G pull into the vertical behind him and entered a classic “egg fight.” The name comes from the shape of the flight paths created in a pure (or almost pure) vertical fight. As aircraft slow in the vertical and pilots pull the nose over the top, their turn radius is smaller (top of the egg). Across the bottom of the egg, because of acceleration, the turn radius increases.

With each lap of the egg, the A–4 was gaining ground. I was astonished and then alarmed at how quickly he pulled through the vertical. I began to recall our threat brief on fighting the A–4. The good slow-speed handling characteristics of the A–4 and relatively light nose meant A–4 pilots had exceptional nose authority at slow speed, particularly in the vertical. The summarizing statement in F–15 threat briefs addressing the A–4 stated, “avoid an egg fight.”

Eventually, I had depleted airspeed to the point where I no longer had the energy to go over the top. In full afterburner, wallowing across the bottom of the egg barely above the 5,000-foot-msl hard floor, I rolled to a horizontal plane and watched the A–4’s nose track toward me as I prepared to enter last-ditch jinking maneuvers. My first-ever Cope Thunder was about to come to a humiliating end, only minutes after the “fight’s on” call.

Then I heard “Fox Two kill, the A–4 chasing the Eagle at low altitude.” My flight lead, “Plug” Lewis, had returned to rescue me. The A–4 rocked his wings in acknowledgement and departed the fight. Almost out of gas after so much time in afterburner, I called “bingo,” the code word for the fuel state requiring a return to base, and we returned home in deafening silence.

The A–4 engagement that day emphasized that superior technology is no substitute for poor performance. Performance is optimized when a highly skilled and proficient pilot flies an aircraft to its full capability.

I know of many type club events where older airframes with smaller engines are outrunning newer airplanes with larger engines in rally competitions. Sitting right seat with various pilots in different airplanes, I’ve watched pilots flying round dials with no autopilots fly approaches so solid I wasn’t sure the needles were alive. Meanwhile, some pilots getting up to speed on their newer glass panels struggle like they’ve just begun flying IFR. Skilled backcountry pilots in older airplanes routinely outperform newer pilots in more advanced aircraft. Technology certainly helps, but skill matters more.

Go fly.

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