Hey Andy,

Whats a Lufbery? (don't think i spelt that right) Are there any other ACMs of this type are of great importance that are useful to know?

Zed

Zed

You spelled it right!!

A Lufbery (named after the WW1 French/American ace) is not a maneuver so much as it is a situation.

A Lufbery is when two fighters are circling each other...usually one is one one side of the circle, the other is on the opposite side. They are usually both turning as hard as they can.

Typically a Lufbery is a neutral situation with neither aircraft able to gain an advantage.

A Lufbery can also be a defensive circle of two or more aircraft. The idea is that they circle up and clear each other's tail from attack. This tactic was used in WW1 and WW2 but is not valid in a missile environment.

A little known but nice to know fact...ACM as a term can mean several things.

In the USN, it often is used to describe air to air training in general.

In the USAF, its meaning is more specific. ACM (Air Combat Maneuvers) refers to a specific type of training mission flown in the USAF building block approach to air to air training. ACM is a 2v1 offensive or defensive mission where the emphasis is on the two ship performong scripted initial moves against an attacker ot target. ACM is NOT free play in the USAF...that is called ACT...Air Combat Tactics.

Andy

Thanks Andy!