Zoom Maneuver from a Turn

Situation: You're in a hard-turning fight. You can't obtain an advantage and you're too close for a missile shot. Both you and your opponent are at low speed. The object here is to use your high thrust-to-weight ratio to perform a steep climb so that you can get enough distance between you and the enemy to use your missiles.

Maneuver:

• Fire your afterburners (1).
• Perform a very steep climb (2).
• Continue until you've climbed 5000 feet or so. Throttle back your engines and perform a stall turn (3).
• As soon as your opponent comes into view, fire a short-range missile.

Note: While climbing you may present your opponent with a good missile shot, so take an occasional look out the back.

Your fighter can perform a ballistic climb—use this advantage to put some distance between you and the enemy.

(figure)

Return to: Starfighter Combat - Offensive Maneuvers