Also see readcyac.txt in readcyac.zip		      

		 CHUCK YEAGER'S AIR COMBAT
		******************************************

CONTENTS
Welcome to General Chuck Yeager's Air Combat
     Keyboard References for non-mouse users, Yeager Air Combat
     Keyboard References, Installing Yeager Air Combat, To
     Star Yeager Air Combat
Quickstart to Air Combat                          
Mission Menus                                     
     Flying an Historic Mission, Playing in Campaign Mode, 
     Creating Custom Scenarios, Ending a Custom Scenario, Test 
     Flight, Last Mission, Review Film                                       
Instrument Check                                  
     Heads Up Display, Instrument Panel                                  
In the Cockpit                                    
     Flight Stick Controls, Throttle Controls, Gear, Brakes, and 
     Flaps, View Keys, Selecting Your Weapon, Targeting and Firing,
     Firing Missiles, Radar Warning Receiver, Countermeasures, 
     Detecting by Radar, Quickly Locating Friendlies and Enemies, 
     Navigating, Communications and Warnings, Damage, Ejecting, 
     Time Compression, Blackouts and Redouts, Changing the HUD Color,
     Flight Menus                                      
Flight Recorder                                   
     Playing Back Your Current Mission, Saving a Flight Recording,
     Reviewing a Previously Saved Flight Recording, Deleting Flight 
     Recordings                        
Ground School                                     
     Airplane Movement, Altitude, Air Pressure and Oxygen,
     Four Forces, Three Measures of Turn, The Flight Envelope, 
     Flight Performance Recovery, The Energy State 
Flight School
     Level Flight, Climb Dive  Break  Take Off Landing
Basic Maneuvers
Variations for Advanced Pilots   
Gunnery School
     Target Range, Flight Path, Deflection Angle, Holdover Angle,
     Leading, Gun Sight Type
Fighter Tactics
     Detection, Closing, Attack, Maneuver, Missile Evasion Techniques,
     Attacking Bombers, Attacking the Me-110, Ground Attack    
Airplane Descriptions
     Answers to Copy Protection Questions
Appendix: HUD Messages 
Glossary  
About the Man



WELCOME TO GENERAL CHUCK YEAGER'S AIR COMBAT

Keyboard Procedures for Non-Mouse Users

Tab             Moves cursor arrow sequentially through
		options "buttons."
Spacebar        Selects option beneath cursor arrow.
Enter           Selects option with >"text"< (arrows) on
		either side. Note: this may be different 
		than the button the cursor arrow points to, 
		so you can hit Enter to save time.
ESC             Exit to previous screen.
Backspace       Backup one screen when creating a custom
		mission.
"Hot keys"      Most options can be selected by pressing the
		first letter of the first word. For example,
		"Test Flight" is selected from the main menu
		by pressing T.

Note: On the Historical Mission Selection screen, pressing 1, 2,
or 3 will select the first, second, or third mission visible on
the screen.


Yeager Air Combat Keyboard References

VIEWS
F1              Forward
F2              Back
F3              Left
F4              Right
F5              Up (Look up at 45 degrees from forward view)
F6              Down (Look down at 45 degrees from forward view)
F7              Plane to target
F8              Target to plane
F9              Map (in playback screen, this activates the 
		"3D box view")
F10             Fly-by

Shift-F1        Behind your airplane, looking forward
Shift-F2        In front of your airplane, looking back
Shift-F3        Alongside the right wing of your airplane
Shift-F4        Alongside the left wing of your airplane
Shift-F5        From below looking up at underside of your airplane
Shift-F6        From above looking down at the top side of your
		airplane
Shift-F7        Target's cockpit
Shift-F8        Following target
Shift-F9        Circling external view or airplane
Shift-F10       Following missile

(Cursor         Slew view angle. If you're using the keyboard
Arrows) to control the flight stick, or if you're on the 
		FILM PLAYBACK screen, then you have to press Ctrl 
		along with the arrow keys.

Ctrl-PgUp/      After you've selected "fly-by-view" these keys
PgDn            will change the altitude of your view position.

-               Decrease view magnification
+               Increase view magnification

FLIGHT CONTROLS
1 to 5          Set throttle (0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%)
6               Afterburner (Vietnam Era aircraft only)
7               Throttle -5%
8               Throttle +5%
G               Landing gear up/down
F               Flaps in/out
B               Air brakes and wheel brakes on/off

COCKPIT CONTROL
Backspace           Display/Hide instrument Panel
]                   Select previous weapon
[                   Select next weapon
Spacebar, Button A  Fire weapon
Enter, Button B     Select next target to right of current target
' (apostrophe)      Select target closest to center of screen
9                   Fire chaff (on MiG-21 and F-4 only)
0                   Fire Flare (on MiG-21 and F-4 only)
R                   Radar on/off (on MiG-21 and F-4 only)
, (comma)           Decrease RWR magnification (on MiG-21
		    and F-4 only)
. (period)          Increase RWR magnification 
		    (on MiG-21 and F-4 only)
W                   Next waypoint
Shift-W             Previous waypoint
Shift-E             Eject
Ctrl-R              Change HUD (Heads Up Display) color
Ctrl-F              Toggle flight info on/off
D                   Show how much damage you've absorbed 
		    (as % of max damage)

MISCELLANEOUS - DURING FLIGHT
Esc       Toggle flight menus on/off
Ctrl-P    Pause
Ctrl-S    Sounds on/off
Ctrl-Q    End mission
Ctrl-A    Direction to nearest friendly plane
Ctrl-Z    Direction to nearest enemy plane
T         Toggle time compression (1x, 2x, 4x)

MENU COMMANDS
Esc                     Toggle flight menus on/off
Left, Right (arrows)    Previous/Next menu
Up, Down (arrows)       Previous/Next item
PgUp, PgDn              Previous/Next item group 
			"group"=one or more items separated by
			line)
Home, End               First/Last item
Enter                   Make selection and remove menus

HELP FUNCTIONS
Ctrl-I          Invincibility on/off
Ctrl-E          Easy Aiming on/off
Ctrl-L          Easy landings on/off
Ctrl-U          Unlimited ammo on/off
Ctrl-T          Target information on/off
Ctrl-B          Blackouts and redouts on/off
Shift-1         Map window on/off
Shift-2         Flight envelope window on/off
Shift-3         Target view window on/off
Shift-4         Yeager window on/off

Note: Using a help function will prevent you from advancing in
Campaign Mode. The Nearest Friend (Ctrl-A) and Nearest Enemy
(Ctrl-Z) features do not count as Help Features in Campaign Mode.
KEYBOARD AND MOUSE USERS: Because it's more difficult to aim
while controlling your airplane with the keyboard or a mouse, you
can select Easy Aiming from the Help Menu and still complete a
Campaign.


FILM PLAYBACK SCREEN
P               Brings up film playback screen when in flight
Home            Go to start of film
End             Go to end of film
; (semi-colon)  Move back five seconds
' (apostrophe)  Move forward five seconds
[               Move back 1/20th of a second
]               Move forward 1/20th of a second
5 (keypad)      Stops film

Left Arrow      Play in slow motion
Right Arrow     Play in normal speed
Pg Dn           Play at 2x normal speed

Ctrl-(Cursor Arrows)
		Slew view angle (Also activated by the
		tab key and by moving the cursor arrow. These 
		can also be used to rotate perspectives in Box 
		View).
(Function Keys)
		Set the view mode. All commands remain the
		same as, except that F9 activates BOX VIEW 
		instead of MAP VIEW, which is not available on 
		the Film Playback screen.

Enter           Next Target button (only works in Review Film 
		on main menu)
+               Zoom in
-               Zoom out
L               Load film (only works in Review Film on main menu)
S               Save film
Esc             Exit Film Playback Screen

The following commands work only in "Box View."

F9              Activates Box View
H               Always follow plane's heading (default=off)
P               Always follow plane's position, keeping player 
		centered in the box (default=off)

Exiting to DOS
Ctrl-C          Exit to DOS. You will be asked to confirm this by
		pressing Y.

GAME NOTE
In Campaign Mode and Ace's Challenge you MUST come to a full stop
at your home base to get credit for a completed mission. In some
missions (notably escort missions) the scenario will end after
the bombers have reached their final waypoint. You must land at
your home base before they reach their final waypoint.


Installing Yeager Air Combat:

To play Yeager Air Combat, you need 640K of memory and a CGA,
EGA, MCGA, or VGA compatible video adapter.

Use the Install utility included on the CD-ROM to install the
game on your hard drive.

     Note: The install utility creates a directory named YEAGER
     on your hard disk. You need 1.4 megabytes of free space on
     your disk.

1.   Boot your computer with DOS (any version from 3.3 or later)

2.   Insert CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive.

3.   Type D: and press Enter. (Type the appropriate drive letter
     of your CD-ROM drive.)

4.   Type CD\YEAGER and press Enter.

5.   To install, type Install followed by the CD-ROM drive letter
     you are installing FROM and the drive letter you are
     installing TO. For example, to install from drive D: to
     drive C:, you would type INSTALL D: C: and press Enter.

6.   The game is copied into the YEAGER subdirectory on your hard
     drive.

To start Yeager Air Combat:

1.   Type C: and press Enter. (If your hard drive isn't C:, enter
     the correct letter.)
2.   Type CD \YEAGER and press Enter.
3.   Type YEAGER and press Enter. To answer the question on the
     screen, find the correct answer in the Airplane Descriptions
     section, type the answer, and press Enter. There is no time
     limit, and if you answer incorrectly you get two additional
     chances.

4.   The game will load and you'll see the title screen. Press
     the spacebar to continue.

The program automatically detects the best graphics mode for your
computer and starts the game in that mode. If you want to play
the game in a different graphics mode or use an AdLib music card,
see Startup Parameters for instructions on these options.

Note: You may need to remove TSRs present in your system
(terminate-and-stay-resident programs, such as Sidekick¨) before
starting Yeager Air Combat. You can temporarily avoid these TSRs
by booting from your original DOS disk. See "Problems with
Game/Product Support/Limited Warranty" readme file (Prodsupp.txt)
for information on removing your TSRs. 

At any time during the game, you can press Ctrl-P to pause the
game, and any key will resume. You can also press Ctrl-C to quit
the game (press Y to confirm).

Startup Parameters

When you start Yeager Air Combat, the program automatically
detects the best graphics mode for your computer and starts the
game in that mode. However, if you want to start the game in a
different graphics mode, you can do so by adding a few extra
characters (called arguments) to the start command.

EXAMPLE: Let's say you want to load the game with EGA graphics
mode and use a joystick. You'd type YEAGER EGA JOYSTICK and press
Enter.

The order of the extra arguments doesn't matter as long as
there's a space between each argument.

These are the arguments you can use:
EGA             Loads game with EGA graphics.
MCGA            Loads game with MCGA graphics (Same graphics as VGA, 
		but slower. Maintains compatibility with PS/2 25 
		and 30).
VGA             Loads game with VGA graphics.

SLOWCARD        When you are in MCGA or VGA mode, if the game freezes
		on startup, or if you get sound but the wrong colors 
		or no colors at all, try this parameter. It slows down 
		the interface between the computer and the video card.

FASTCARD        Deactivates Slowcard.
JOYSTICK        Loads game with joystick flight control.
KEYBOARD        Loads game with keyboard flight control.
MOUSE           Loads game with mouse flight control.
MOUSE2          Loads game with high-resolution mouse flight control.

LOW             Loads game in low graphics detail mode (less detail
		speeds up game play).
MEDIUM          Loads game in medium graphics detail mode (less details
		speeds up game play).
HIGH            Loads game in high graphics detail mode.

NOSOUND         Loads game with sound turned off.
NOSPEECH        Loads game with digitized speech turned off.
PC              Loads game with PC internal speaker sounds.
ADLIB           Loads game with AdLib sound card sounds.
BLASTER         Loads game with Sound Blaster sound card sounds.

ALL             If you want to be able to play all missions without 
		having to win each one, type this parameter to make 
		all missions available immediately. This is a default 
		parameter.
CAMPAIGN        Starts new campaign. In order to advanced in Campaign
		Mode, you will need to land safely at your home base 
		after successfully completing each missions. (See 
		"Playing in Campaign Mode.")

Note: when you quit the game, the program automatically remembers
all of that game's startup parameters, as well as all the items
checked on the drop-down menus. The next time you start the game,
just type YEAGER and press Enter, and those same parameters and
menu items will be in effect. Also, if you quit the game in the
middle of a Campaign, and you want to return to where you left
off, be sure not to select the Campaign parameter the next time
you start up the game, as that will put you at the beginning of a
new campaign.


QUICKSTART TO AIR COMBAT

How to use this manual
This manual is designed for easy use. All of the game controls
and essential information are explained in five succinct
chapters:

Mission Menus           Tells you how to select missions, test
			airplanes, and review films.
Instrument Check        Tells you how to read all the various
			instrument panels.
In the Cockpit          Tells you how to fly your airplane, change
			views, operate various on-board systems, and
		use Air Combat's special help features.
Flight Recorder         Tells you how to control the Flight Recorder.
Air Combat in 
Three Eras              Tells you the answers to the Copy
			Protection questions.

The rest of the manual explains aerodynamics, fighter tactics,
maneuvers, and gunnery skills, as well as providing the
background for Air Combat's Historic Missions. These chapters all
contain information and hints that can be directly applied to the
game; however, you don't need to read them in order to take to
the air and start shooting down airplanes.

Quickstart
If you want to jump right into combat with a minimum of reading,
use the Quickstart to Air Combat. The Quickstart will lead you
through a custom mission in which you intercept B-17 bombers in a
FW-190. You'll be introduced to Air Combat's flight controls as
well as useful features like the Target Window and Flight
Recorder.

Tactical Overview
At the end of the Quickstart is a section called Tactical
Overview. This section explains two basic concepts in air combat:
speed and maneuverability. In the end, you'll understand how good
tactics are more important than superior hardware.

Quitting Air Combat
At any point in the game, you can exit to DOS by pressing Ctrl-C.

Preparations
You're going to need to know how to control your airplane, views,
and weapons. Take a moment to skim over the flight and weapons
control in the chapter called In the Cockpit. The sections you
want to briefly review are: Flight Stick Controls, Throttle
Controls, and Gear, Brakes, and Flaps.

Create a Custom Mission
There are two kinds of missions in Air Combat: Custom and
Historic. Custom Missions are combat scenarios that you design.
You choose the airplanes, the opponents, and the tactical
situation. Historic Missions are real missions drawn from three
wars.

For this Quickstart, you're going to create a custom mission and
fly it. Select "Create Mission" from the Main Menu.

	How to "Select" Options
	If you're using a mouse, select options by pointing the
	mouse cursor and clicking a mouse button.
	If you're using the keyboard, press the Tab key to move
	the cursor to the different options. When the cursor is
	over the option you want, press the Spacebar. To exit
	a menu and return to the previous screen, press Esc.

Choose the FW-190
When you create a custom mission, you fill in the details of a
war story like you're a veteran fighter jock recounting his
exploits over mission whiskey. For this Quickstart, you're going
to tell your pals at the O Club how you flamed some bombers in
your hot German fighter. Select FW-190 as your plane.

Place Yourself at 10,000
The Focke-Wulf 190 A-8 is primarily a ground attack airplane. As
such, it maneuvers best at low altitudes. Choose "10,000" feet.

Tactical Position
Your next step is to tell who had the advantage in the fight. To
"jump" an opponent is to come barreling down on his head from
behind and above. Since this is your first mission, you should
take the advantage. Select "jumped."

Choose Your Opponents
Now you need to say how many opponents there were. You're going
to go up against bombers, so you can afford a few extra targets.
Select "three."

Three of what? You could duel any of the airplane types shown. 
However, for the purpose of this Quickstart, your going to
shoot down bombers. Select "B-17."

In any Custom Mission, you can fight up to three types of
airplanes. You can choose 1-5 airplanes per type, for a maximum
of 15 enemies. Whether you choose to be historically accurate or
not is up to you - you can mix and match airplanes of different
eras, if you like. However, you have enough targets for this
mission, so choose ".".

Choose The Enemy's Experience Level
Every pilot knows that the machine is only as good as the guy
driving it. No war story is complete without saying whether your
opponents were real pros or real pudknockers. In this mission,
you're going up against some real lame ducks. Select "amateur."

You're now ready to begin the mission. You'll be placed somewhere
behind and above the three B-17s. Select Done to begin. 

If you need to pause the game at any point in this mission, press
Ctrl-P.


Begin The Mission

You find yourself in the cockpit of a Focke-Wulf 190, diving on
your opponents.

Hide the Instrument Panel When Searching
In any combat situation, your first task is to find the enemy.
Since you're "jumping" them, you know they're somewhere below and
in front of you.

When looking for the enemy, it's usually a good idea to hide the
Instrument Panel. This gives you a clearer view of what's in
front of you. To hide the Instrument Panel, press <Backspace>. (If
later you want to display the Instrument Panel again, press
<Backspace>.)

Use the Scan Keys to Rotate Your View
If you can see the bombers right now, go to the next step. If you
can't see the bombers right now, they're probably just a little
ways off of the screen.

You can use the View Keys to look around your airplane, but since
you know the enemy is somewhere in front of you, you should stay
in Forward View and use the Scan Keys to scan left, right, and
from side-to-side (Up, Down, Left, Right arrow keys).

Target a Bomber
Once you spot the bombers, you need to target one. Targeting
helps you identify, pursue, and obtain valuable information on
the enemy. (In Vietnam missions, targeting is essential for
firing missiles.) You can only target an enemy plane while in
Forward view. Note: When you Scan, you're still in the current
view. To target an enemy, press Enter. Joystick and mouse 
users, press button B.

Look Straight Ahead
Once you've scanned a direction, it's difficult to scan back to
where you're looking straight ahead. To return to your normal
Forward View, press F1.

Turn on the Target Window
The Target Window option is located in the Help Menu; but rather
than open the Flight Menus, use the shortcut command. Press
Shift-3 to turn on the Target Window.

The Target Window gives you a view of the currently selected
target and shows his relative position to you, regardless of how
far away he is. The Target Window provides information on 
aircraft type, location, distance, and speed.

Invincibility
The bomber's gunners are amateurs, so they're not very accurate.
On the other hand, there are lots of them shooting at you. Give
yourself the ultimate advantage - become invincible to enemy
weapons!

Press Esc to bring up the Flight Menus. Press the right arrow
key to move the highlighted bar to the Help Menu.
"Invincible" is already highlighted, so press Enter.

You're now invincible, so don't worry about those gunners. You'll
still feel and hear every hit, but at least you'll have plenty of
time to shoot down all three bombers.

Note: Many of the Flight Menu options have shortcut commands
assigned to them. Rather than bringing up the Flight Menus, you
could have simply pressed the shortcut command, Ctrl-I, to select
Invincibility. 

Dive on the B-17s
You're ready to attack. Because you want plenty of time to shoot
at the bombers, you don't want to pick up too much speed in the
dive. Press F to lower your flaps. This will slow your airplane
down while you're in the dive and keep you from exceeding your
maximum speed limit.

To begin your dive, push your flight stick forward (see "Flight
Stick Controls" in the Cockpit).

Get a Bomber in Your Gun sights
The trick now is to get the bomber in your sights. You may have
to roll right or left to get a bead on the bomber (see "Flight
Stick Controls" in In the Cockpit).
 
When You're in Range, Fire
In the lower left corner of the Heads Up Display is some weapons 
information: "20mm :800 (%)." The "20mm" is the currently 
selected weapon - a 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon. "800" is the number 
of rounds this weapon has. The percentage sign is your average 
percentage chance to hit this target at this range.

Watch the percentage closely. When it rises above 20%, start 
firing. To fire, press the spacebar. Joystick and keyboard users, 
press button A.

Wait until your chances of hitting are good. As you fire, you'll
have to pull back on the flight stick to keep the bombers in
sight. Maneuvering and firing is rarely easy, but it must be
learned.

Mop 'em Up
Since your fighter is traveling at over 300 mph, you'll
eventually overtake your target. You'll have to circle around for
repeated passes. 

If you run out of ammo, you'll have to switch to one of the
FW-190's other weapons. To select a different weapon as the
current one, press the right bracket ( ] ) or left bracket  
( [ ) key. 

Review the Mission
Once you've blasted the bombers out of the sky, you can review
the mission with Air Combat's Flight Recorder. To bring up the
Film Playback, press P. 

Use the View Keys to change your view of the action. Some of Air 
Combat's more important View Keys are F1 to look forward, F2
to look backward, F3 to look left, and F4 to look right (see
View Keys in In the Cockpit for a more complete listing).

When you're done experimenting with the flight recorder, select
EXIT to return to the mission.

Once you return to the mission, you can practice some basic
maneuvers (see Basic Maneuvers).

Eject and End the Mission
When you're done practicing flying, press Shift-E to eject.
(There are plenty of Focke-Wulfs where that one came from.) The
mission will end automatically when you touch the ground.

If you want to end the mission sooner than that, press Ctrl-Q. 

Stats Screen
When the mission ends, the Stats screen appears. Take a look at
your bullet accuracy. Don't worry if you didn't hit much - there
are plenty of airplanes for you to practice your gunnery skills
(for hints that could improve your shooting, see Gunnery School.)


MISSION MENUS

Selecting Options from the Mission Menus
Mouse Users:  To select an option, point the mouse cursor and
click a mouse button.
Keyboard Users:  Press the Tab key to move the cursor to the
different options.

When the cursor is over the option you want, press the Spacebar.
To exit a menu and back up to the previous screen, press Esc.
In addition, most options in the Mission Menus have keys assigned
to them - pressing that key selects the option for you. The key
is usually the first letter of the option. For example, pressing
F while viewing the Main Menu selects Fly Historic Mission.

See the Yeager Air Combat Keyboard References for a complete
listing of the keys for each Game Screen.

Flying an Historic Mission
Though the historic missions have dates next to them, you can fly
them in any order you like. But if you want a challenge, you can
set the game up so you have to fly the missions in each era as
part of a larger campaign. See "Playing in Campaign Mode" in this
chapter.

1.   Choose Fly Historic Mission from the Main Menu.

2.   Choose which conflict you want to participate in.

     A single small square below the mission descriptions
     indicates an easy mission. Two small squares indicate a
     moderately difficult mission, and three tell you that the
     mission is especially difficult.
     A check by the mission indicates that you've accomplished 
     the mission fully without any help (see "Ace's Challenge" 
     under "Ending an Historic Mission" in this chapter.)

3.   Choose the mission you want to fly.
4.   Set the Difficulty level for this mission.
     To change the Difficulty level, move the cursor to the Diff:
     button and press a mouse button or the spacebar.

     Difficulty Levels
     Difficulty levels affect the skill and experience of your
     opponents.

     Easy       Most of the opponents you face are green. They tend to 
		stay on the defensive and are relatively inaccurate 
		with their weapons. Call this a target-rich environment.
     Normal     You face both skilled and unskilled opponents. Only good
		judgement will tell you if the guy you're facing is a 
		turkey or an eagle.
     Hard       Expect to see mostly experienced pilots in the air. 
		They'll do everything in their power to get you in their 
		sights and when they shoot, they'll hit.
     Expert     You're up against the cream of the enemy's air force. 
		It'll take a lot of maneuvering to get the enemy in 
		sight - that is, if he doesn't shoot you down first.

5.   Choose Tactics to compare your airplane with the enemy's.
     This does not select airplanes for the mission - it allows
     you to compare two airplanes before you head out.
     
     Choose left or right arrow to cycle through the airplanes 
     on the left.

     Choose up or down arrow to cycle through the airplanes on 
     the right.

     Choose OK to return to Mission Description

     The Tactics screen compares your fighter's weapons, ceiling, 
     and maximum weight with that of your opponent. The arrows 
     indicate which plane has the advantage over the other. 

6. Choose OK to start your mission.

Take the Ace's Challenge
Here's something else to shoot for. Take the Ace's Challenge. For
each mission you must:
     *    Achieve the mission objectives
     *    Don't use any help features. The help features include
	  any of the options in the Help Menu. Keyboard and 
	    Mouse Users: Because it's more difficult to aim when 
	    controlling your airplane with a mouse or the keyboard, 
	    you can select Easy Aiming from the Help Menu and still 
	    take the Ace's Challenge.
     *    Land on the runway of your home base, cut throttle to
	  0%, and come to a complete stop

If you're in a mission and you're not sure whether you've used
any help features, press Esc to bring up the Flight Menus. If a
square appears on the right end of the menu bar, you've used a
help feature; no square means you haven't.

Note: Once you've started a mission with a help feature active,
you're automatically disqualified from the challenge. If a square
did appear in the menu bar, you must start the mission again. 
If you successfully do all of the above, a check appears by
the mission's date.

Ending An Historic Mission
You can end an historic mission anytime. There are three ways to
end a mission:
*    Press Ctrl-Q. Alternately, you can press Esc, and then
     select End Mission from the ? Menu.
*    You can fly to your home base, land on the runway, cut the
     throttle to 0%, and come to a complete stop (see
     "Navigating in In the Cockpit").
*    Eject out of your airplane. You can only do this safely at
     speeds of 500 mph or less and at an altitude of 300 ft or
     more.

When you've accomplished your mission objectives, a "MISSION
ACCOMPLISHED" message appears at the top of the HUD.
If the Yeager Window is on, Yeager delivers the good news.
If you didn't accomplish the mission objectives, it's assumed
that you successfully bugged out and got home.

Mission Debriefing
When you're done flying an historic mission, Yeager tells you how
you did. 

Select Stats to see details of your mission.

Stats Screen
The Stats screen provides information on kills and losses,
accuracy with your weapons, how long the mission lasted, and your
airplane's condition.

Select Debrief to see Yeager's message again. Select Done to
return to the Main Menu.

Playing in Campaign Mode

When you choose to do a campaign, you're signing up for the long
haul - you're committing yourself to fly and fight over 15
missions in order.

To play in Campaign Mode, you must use the campaign parameter
(CAMPAIGN) when typing the command line. See "Starting Features"
in Loading Air Combat section. To start a new campaign, type
"Yeager Campaign".

Campaign Rules
There are six pages of missions in each war. You must
successfully complete the current missions before you can go to
the next page.

Success means achieving the mission objectives as Yeager
described them. If the mission objective is to protect bombers,
then you must protect bombers; if your mission was to strafe
ground targets, then you must destroy any ground targets in your
patrol sector.

Don't use any help features or your victories will not count and
you won't be able to progress to subsequent pages of the
campaign. The help features include any of the options in the
Help Menu. Keyboard and Mouse Users: Because it's more difficult
to aim when controlling your airplane with a mouse or the
keyboard, you can select Easy Aiming from the Help Menu and still
complete a campaign.

Creating Custom Scenarios
This is your chance not only to tell some outrageous war stories,
but to actually go up and fly them. You can set up swarms of
inferior opponents for a big turkey shoot, or put yourself in the
worst possible situation and see if you can claw your way out of
it. Try giving yourself a prop airplane and letting a jet bounce
you.

You begin with the words "There I was in my..." You fill in the
details. At any point in this sequence, you can select Back Up or
press the Backspace key to return to the previous screen.

1. Choose Create Mission from the Main Menu.
2. Choose the airplane you want to fly.
3. Choose the altitude you want start at.
4. Choose your tactical position.

Tactical Positions
Your tactical position determines where you are in relation to
your opponent.

Easy            You're above and behind your opponent, and he's 
		unaware of presence. You have the tactical advantage.
Saw             You're heading toward each other at roughly the same                            altitude, completely aware of the other. You're on equal                        footing with  your opponent.
Was Jumped      Your opponent is somewhere above and behind you, 
By              prepared to attack. He has the tactical advantage.

5.   Choose a number of opponents.
6.   Choose the type of aircraft your opponents are flying.
7.   Choose "." to end the sentence, or choose "and" to add more
     opponents to the scenario.
8.   Choose the experience level of your opponents.

Experience Levels
In general, inexperienced opponents will be less aggressive in a
dogfight and will try to evade you (diving, jinking, etc.).
Experienced pilots will confront you if possible and do
everything possible to get a good bead on you. If you manage to
get on the tail of an experienced pilot, he'll break, climb,
twist, and dive in order to shake you. Experienced pilots are
also better marksmen and will use their weapons more efficiently.

9.   Choose Done to fly your custom mission.

Ending a Custom Scenario
You can end a custom scenario anytime. There are three ways to
end a mission:

*    Press Ctrl-Q. Alternately, you can press Esc, and then
     select End Mission from the ? Menu.
*    You can fly to your home base, land on the runway, cut the
     throttle to 0%, and come to a complete stop (see
     "Navigating" in In the Cockpit).
*    Eject out of your airplane. You can only do this safely at
     speeds of 500 mph or less and at an altitude of 300 ft or
     more.

Stats Screen
The Stats screen provides information on kills and losses,
accuracy with your weapons, how long the mission lasted, and your
airplane's condition.

Select Done to return to the Main Menu.

Test Flight
Select Test Flight to take up any of the six featured fighters in
Air Combat. You can also get performance and armament data as
well as Yeager's comments on any of the fighters encountered in
the game. (For info on bombers and liaison aircraft, see the
aircraft recognition manuals in the historic era description
sections in this manual.)

Right/Left Arrow
Select the arrow buttons to cycle through the aircraft.

3d/2d
Select the 3d/2d button to switch between a two-dimensional
bitmapped view of the airplane and the three-dimensional polygon
view you see in the game. In 3d view you can rotate the airplane
to view it from any possible angle.

To rotate the airplane, use the mouse or Tab to move the cursor
onto the window. Press the spacebar or a mouse button. Click in
box with cursor arrow to rotate airplane.

Exit
Select Exit to return to the Main Menu. 

Fly
You can fly any of the six featured planes in a non-hostile
environment. Select Fly when viewing the featured planes:
     P-51D Mustang            MiG-15 Fagot
     FW-190                   F-4E Phantom II
     F-86 Sabre               MiG-21 Fishbed
     
The Fly option is grayed out when viewing any airplanes other
than the six featured ones. 

	When you test fly an airplane, the Location Menu appears
	in the Flight Menus. The Location Menu lets you quickly
	change your location so you can test your airplane's 
	performance at different altitudes and practice takeoffs
	and landings. The locations are:
		On Runway       On the Runway, ready for take off
		Final Approach  Final approach for landing
		10,000 ft       10,000 ft up
		40,000 ft       40,000 ft up

There are three ways to end a mission:
*    Press Ctrl-Q. Alternately, you can press Esc, and then
     select End Mission from the ? Menu.
*    You can fly to your home base, land on the runway, cut the
     throttle to 0%, and come to a complete stop (see
     "Navigating" in In the Cockpit).
*    Eject out of your airplane. You can only do this safely at
     speeds of 500 mph or less. At higher speeds, there's a
     chance you could rip your head from your shoulders!

Last Mission
Select Last Mission to bypass the mission screens and go directly
to the last mission you flew (whether Historic, Custom, or Test
Flight). The mission will start without introduction, so keep on
your toes. 

Review Film
Review Film lets you load and watch any previously saved flight
recording. Once you select Review Film, a select file box
appears.  

Select the mission you want to load. For more details on saving
and loading missions, see Flight Recorder.

INSTRUMENT CHECK

Heads Up Display
The Heads Up Display or HUD is a transparent sheet spread across
the glareshield upon which critical information is electronically
projected. The HUD reduces the need to look down at your
instruments. Although HUDs of this complexity were not used until
recently, every airplane in Air Combat can have one. To turn the
HUD on or off, press Ctrl-F or select Flight Info from the
Graphics Menu.

Altitude
Indicates your altitude above sea level.

True Air Speed
This displays your forward velocity

Heading
The compass direction you're heading. 0-degree is north, 
90-degrees is east, 180-degrees is south, and 270-degrees
is west.

Target Marker
The target marker indicates where the target is off of the
screen. This is the shortest direction you would have to fly to
get into a firing position. Note that the shortest route is not
always the best route - for example, if you're following the
target marker at low altitudes, you could possibly turn into the
ground. For details on using the Target Marker, see "Maneuver" in
Fighter Tactics.

Pipper
The pipper is the gun sight for Korean and Vietnam era fighters
(for details on using the gun sights and the pipper, see Gunnery
School).

Waterline Marker
Indicates your airplane's attitude relative to the ground. When
the waterline marker is parallel to the ground, you are flying on
a straight course. If the waterline marker is above the horizon
(in the blue), you're climbing. If it's below (in the green),
you're diving.

Landing Gear Indicator
Indicates that your landing gear is down. Press G to raise or
lower landing gear.

Flaps Indicator
Indicates that your flaps are down. Press F to raise or lower
flaps. For details on flaps, see Ground School.

Brake Indicator
In the air, indicates that your air brakes are on. On the ground,
this shows that your wheel brakes are set. Press B to set your
air brakes or wheel brakes. For details on air and wheel brakes,
see Ground School.

Note: WW II era airplanes do not have air brakes. Pressing B only
sets or releases their wheel brakes.

G-Force
The number of g's you and your airplane are experiencing. A g is
the basic unit of load factors on your airplane - it's often used
to measure the severity of a turn. For details on the effects of
g's on flight, see Ground School.

Time Compression
Press T to toggle Time Compression on and off. When Time
Compression is on 2x, events happen at twice their normal rate,
or 4x where events happen at four times their normal rate
(hitting T a third time turns Time Compression off, and the
symbol disappears from the HUD). Time Compression is useful for
reducing the amount of time it takes to reach destinations. But
be careful; you'll have to react twice as fast to enemy attacks.

Zoom Level
The level of visual magnification - 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x, and 32x.
The default zoom level setting is 2. To increase visual
magnification, press +. To decrease visual magnification, press
-. 

Current Weapon
The weapon currently activated by the weapon control. To change
the currently selected weapon, press " [ " or  " ] " on the
keyboard. Note: Some fighters only have one type of weapon. For
details on weapon control, see "Selecting Your Weapon" in In the
Cockpit.

Ammo
The ammo (in rounds) available for the currently selected weapon.

Chance to Hit
Your percentage chance to hit the selected target with the
current weapon.

Throttle
Current throttle setting, displayed as a percentage of maximum
engine power. If your afterburners are on, THR: will be replaced
by AFT:. (Note: Afterburners are only available in Vietnam era
airplanes.) If your engine is damaged, you may not be able to
increase throttle to 100%.

Vertical Speed
The vertical speed of your aircraft in thousands of feet per
minute. This number is positive when ascending, negative when
descending. 

Landing Readiness
When you are on your final landing approach, you need to lower
your flaps, reduce your vertical speed and your air speed, and
lower your landing gear. When you've lowered your gear and your
flaps and reduced your air speed enough to land, the symbol "xxx"
appears next to your vertical speed indicator, at which time it
is safe to touch down.

Radio Communications/Warning Messages
Radio communications and warning messages appear at the top of
the screen. For details on communications and messages, see
"Communications and Warnings" in In the Cockpit.

Instrument Panel

The Instrument Panel displays the necessary information for
controlling your aircraft. The Instrument Panel shown below
belongs to the F-4 Phantom. The Instrument Panels of Air Combat's
other aircraft are illustrated at the end of this chapter.

Landing Gear Indicator
Shows whether the landing gear is up or down. Press G to raise or
lower landing gear. The green light indicates the landing gear is
up. The red light indicates the landing gear is down, enabling
safe landing.

Flaps Indicator
Shows whether the wing flaps are up or down. Press F to raise or
lower flaps. For details on flaps, see Ground School. The green
light indicates the flaps are up. The red light indicates the
landing flaps are down.

Brake Indicator
In the air, this shows whether your air brakes are on or off. The
green light indicated the brakes are off. The red light indicates
the brakes are on. On the ground, the red light indicates that
your wheel brakes are set. Press B to set your air or wheel
brakes. For details on air brakes and wheel brakes, see Ground
School.

Note: WW II era airplanes do not have air brakes. Pressing B only
sets or releases their wheel brakes.

Chaff/Flare Indicator
The number of chaff and flare bursts you have left. Press 0 to
drop flares and 9 to drop chaff. For details on firing chaff and
flares, see "Countermeasures" in In the Cockpit.

Radar Monitor
Displays objects seen by your active radar. Press R to turn your
radar on and off. For details on using radar, see "Detecting by
Radar" in In the Cockpit.

Waypoint Indicator
Indicates the direction you need to fly to get to the next
waypoint. Press W to change the next waypoint you want to head
toward. See "Navigating" in In the Cockpit for more details.

Speed Indicator
Registers the speed of the airplane in miles per hour (mph).

Artificial Horizon
Shows the wing's degree of bank. Artificial horizons in Korean
and Vietnam era cockpits show the degree of pitch as well.

Altimeter
Measures the height in feet of the airplane above sea level. Air
Combat's airports and open terrain are at sea level.

Radar Warning Receiver (RWR)
The RWR is a passive detection device that senses any active
radar currently aimed at your airplane. For details on RWR, see
"Radar Warning Receiver" in In the Cockpit.

Heading Indicator
Like a compass, this shows which direction the plane is flying -
north, south, east, west, or points between. For navigation tips,
see "Navigating" in In the Cockpit.

Vertical Speed Indicator
Indicates whether the airplane is climbing, descending, or in
level flight. The rate of climb is measured in thousands of feet
per minute.

Fuel Gauge
Indicates how much fuel you have left. When you run out of fuel,
your engine quits.

Current Weapon
The currently selected weapon and the number of rounds left.

Temperature Warning Gauge
Shows when your engine temperature is above normal. At normal
engine temperature, this gauge is at 0. At maximum temperature,
your engine will soon overheat and catch on fire.

Oil Pressure Gauge
Indicates oil pressure in your engine. If your engine is damaged,
oil pressure may drop and your engine will overheat.

Thrust Gauge
Indicates your thrust. A green light on in the F-4 indicates that
your afterburners are on. No light on in the F-4 indicates no
afterburners. In the MiG-21, a red light indicates that your
afterburners are on. A green light on in the MiG-21 indicates no
afterburners.

Hydraulic Fuel Gauge
Monitors the pressure in your hydraulic system. If your hydraulic
system is damaged, pressure will drop. In hydraulically-controlled airplanes (F-4, F-86, and MiG-21), low hydraulic pressure limits 
the effectiveness of the flight stick. In all Air Combat airplanes, 
a loss of hydraulic pressure prevents you from dropping flaps, air brakes, and landing gear.


IN THE COCKPIT

Some Important Game Keys

F1              Look Forward
F2              Look Backward
F3              Look Left
F4              Look Right
Esc             Pauses the game and brings up the Flight Menus. 
		Options on the Flight Menus let you configure the 
		game to your liking. See Flight Menus in this chapter.
Backspace       Display/hide Instrument Panel
Ctrl-P          Pauses the game. Press any key to continue.
Ctrl-Q          End mission.


Flight Stick Controls
A pilot uses the flight stick to roll, climb, and dive. In Air
Combat, the flight stick automatically coordinates the rudder to
produce even turns. 

You can control the flight stick with a joystick, mouse, or the
keyboard. To change your control device, press Esc to bring up
the Flight Menus. From the System Menu, select Joystick,
Keyboard, Mouse, or Hi-Res Mouse.

Joystick
Calibrating Your Joystick
If you notice your airplane isn't flying level but tends to
"drift," you need to recalibrates your joystick. To calibrate
your joystick:
1.   Press Esc to bring up the Flight Menus.
2.   Select Joystick from the System Menu.
3.   At the prompt, move your joystick to the upper left corner
     and press a button.
4.   At the prompt, move your joystick to the lower right corner
     and press a button.
5.   Return the joystick to center.

Mouse
Centering the Flight Stick
To center your flight stick, press / (or 5 on the numeric
keypad).

Keyboard
Use the numeric keypad to control your airplane. Hold down a key
to initiate a roll, climb, dive. When you release the key, the
flight stick automatically centers.

	(Numeric keypad)
	1       Roll Left and pitch up
	2       Pitch up
	3       Roll right and pitch up
	4       Roll left       
	6       Roll right
	7       Roll left and pitch down
	8       Pitch down      
	9       Roll right and pitch down

Throttle Controls
The throttle controls the amount of energy your aircraft's engine
produces. This energy is measured as a percentage of your
engine's total potential output. The throttle can only be
controlled using the keyboard.

	(Keyboard)
	1       0%
	2       25%
	3       50%
	4       75%
	5       100%
	6       Increase throttle to 100% and turn on afterburner
		(only applies to Vietnam era airplanes.) To turn
		off the afterburner, press any other throttle key.
	7       Reduce throttle by 5%
	8       Increase throttle by 5%

Gear, Brakes, and Flaps
Your gear, brakes, and flaps are controlled with the keyboard.

	F       Raise/lower flaps
	G       Raise/lower landing gear
	B       In flight: Extend/retract air brakes (only
		applies to Korean and Vietnam era airplanes)
		On the ground: Set/release wheel brakes

For detailed explanations of these flight controls, see Ground
School.

View Keys
Air Combat's 18 view keys not only make for dashing cinematic
sweeps of aerial acrobatics - they have tactical uses as well.
While patrolling, combat pilots must constantly scan the sky for
bogeys. In a dogfight, visual contact with the enemy is critical
- both during the attack and when evading the enemy.

Display/Hide Instrument Panel
If the Instrument Panel is currently displayed, press backspace
to hide it. If it's hidden, press backspace again to display it.

Cockpit Views
The Cockpit Views let you quickly view your surrounding. When
searching for a bandit, you can press all six keys in rapid order
and have a pretty good chance of spotting him. That being said...
Stay alert! The area below and in back of your airplane is
obstructed by your airplane. This is a blind spot the enemy would
love to hit you from!

F1      Forward         Look ahead. This is your "normal" view

F2      Back            Look over your tail at what's behind you

F3      Left            Look over the left wing

F4      Right           Look over the right wing

F5      Up 45-degrees   Look up at a 45-degree angle from 
			Forward View

F6      Down 45-degrees Look down at a 45-degree angle from 
			Forward View

You can only target opponents from Forward View. Note that you
can still target opponents while scanning in Forward View (see
"Scan Keys" in this section).

External Views of Your Airplane
External Views can be used to get a wider view of your airplane
and its surroundings. External Back View is especially useful if
you're worried about visitors at 6 o'clock low.

Shift-F1        External Forward   Behind your airplane, looking 
					forward.

Shift-F2        External Back   In front of your airplane, 
				looking back.

Shift-F3        External Right  External looking right.

Shift-F4        External Left   External looking left.

Shift-F5        External below  From below looking up.

Shift-F6        External above  From above looking down.


Other Views
F7      Plane -> Target         View of your airplane (foreground) in relat-
				ion to current target (background). You must 
				have a target to select this view (see 
				"Targeting  and Firing" in this chapter).

F8      Target -> Plane         View of current target (foreground) in re-
				lation to your airplane (background). You 
				must have a target to select this view (see
				"Targeting and Firing" in this chapter).

F9      Map                     A map of the area with waypoints (see 
				"Navigating" in this chapter for details on 
			using the Map).

F10     Fly-By                  View from a fixed point below your airplane 
				as it flies overhead. Press Ctrl-Pg Up to                                       elevat                          elevate your view of the airplane as it 
				passes by. Press Ctrl-Pg Dn to lower your 
				view.

Shift-F7   Target's Cockpit     In the cockpit of the current target. You
				must have a target to select this view 
				(see "Targeting and Firing" in this chapter).

Shift-F8  External Target       Behind your current target. You must have 
				a target to select this view (see "Target-
				ing and Firing" in this chapter).

Shift-F9    Circling            Circling external view of your airplane.

Shift-F10   Missile             External view from behind your missile as 
				it speeds through the air. You must have 
				fired a missile to select this view (see 
				"Firing Missiles" in this chapter).

Scan Keys
Use the Scan Keys to rotate your view. You can scan from any of
the 18 views.

Up              Up arrow
Down            Down arrow
Left            Left arrow
Right           Right arrow

AT Keyboard Users: If you're controlling the flight stick with a
joystick or mouse, use the cursor keys on the numeric keypad to
scan. If your flight stick is controlled from the keyboard, press
Ctrl with the cursor arrow keys to scan.

Ctrl            If you're using the keyboard to control the flight 
		stick, press Ctrl with the cursor arrow keys to scan.

F1              When you scan, use F1 to return to forward view 
		quickly.


Selecting Your Weapon
Except for the P-51 and F-86 (with their powerful complements of
six .50 caliber machine guns), all of your aircraft have multiple
weapons on board. The current weapon is fired when you press the
fire button. Use the following keys to select the current weapon.

]               Select next weapon

[               Select previous weapon 


Targeting and Firing
You can use the joystick, mouse, or keyboard to target and fire.

Joystick Users
The joystick buttons control targeting and firing. Joysticks vary
greatly - experiment to see which button on your joystick is
button A and which is button B.

A button = Fire currently selected weapon.
B button = Select target to right of current  target.
' (apostrophe)  Target object closest to aiming crosshair

Mouse Users
The mouse buttons control targeting and firing.

Left button = Fire currently selected weapon.
Right button = Select target to right of current.
' (apostrophe)  Target object closest to aiming crosshair


Keyboard Users
Spacebar                Fire Currently Selected Weapon

Enter                   Target next object to right of current target

' (apostrophe)          Target object closest to aiming crosshair


Firing Missiles
In Vietnam scenarios, you have air-to-air missiles at your
disposal as well as guns. Unlike your guns, you must target an
enemy aircraft and get a lock on it before you fire the missile.

Infrared-Guided Missiles
Infrared-guided (or heat-seeking) missiles are sensitive to
infrared radiation emitted by your target's jet engines (they're
not sensitive enough to lock onto prop-driven engines). The F-4
Phantom is armed with four AIM-9 Sidewinder heat-seeking
missiles. The MiG-21 carries the East's copies of the Sidewinder
- four K-13 Atolls. 

The infrared missiles of the Vietnam era were not as sensitive as
those used today. To get a proper target lock, Vietnam pilots had
to be more or less staring down their opponent's tailpipe.

Get on the target's six so his engines are clearly visible.
Select your infrared missile as your current weapon. A low
buzzing noise tells you that the missile is active and ready.

When the diamond appears, your missile has a lock on the target
(the buzzing noise becomes higher pitched). Watch your percentage
chance to hit and keep in mind that Vietnam era missiles were
highly inaccurate.

For missile tactics, see "Attacking with Missiles" in Fighter
Tactics.

Radar-Guided Missiles
Radar-guided missiles use your on-board radar to home in on your
opponent. The F-4 Phantom is armed with four AIM-7 Sparrow
radar-guided missiles. The MiG-21 has no radar-guided missiles.

Once you've targeted your opponent, turn on your radar (press R).
Select your radar-guided missiles as your current weapon. A
high-pitched beeping noise tells you that the missile is active
and ready.

When the diamond appears, your missile has a lock on the target
(the beeping noise turns into a long "hum"). Watch your
percentage chance to hit and keep in mind that Vietnam era
missiles were highly inaccurate - especially the radar-guided
Sparrow.

For missile tactics, see "Attack" in Fighter Tactics.

Radar Warning Receiver
The Radar Warning Receiver (RWR) is a passive detection device
that senses any active radar in the vicinity of your airplane. An
RWR blip could indicate friendly or enemy search radar, or it
might be announcing an imminent radar-guided missile attack. All
Vietnam era aircraft are equipped with these "fuzzbuster" units.

Your airplane appears in the center of the RWR screen. Enemy
airplanes will blink depending on their current "state" or
intentions:

Searching -  Enemy planes that are searching for a target will
  typically flash their radar about once every two seconds. 
  They appear on your RWR monitor as slow-blinking dots.
Tracking - Opponents that are tracking a target will leave their
  radar on. They're displayed as solid dots on the RWR screen.
Preparing - Enemies with a radar missile lock on your airplane
  are displayed as fast-blinking dots. When targeted by an enemy
  plane, your airplane's radar warning alarm is sounded (a
  low-pitched beeping sound). If the missile has been launched, 
  the active missile alarm is sounded (a high-pitched beeping 
  sound). Note: There is no audible warning for heat-seeking 
  missile attacks.

RWR sensitivity radiates from your airplane in a sphere.
Depending on the range of your opponents, you may want to
increase or decrease the range of this sphere. If opponents are
at long range, decrease RWR magnification. If opponents are in
close proximity, increase magnification so you can get a better
sense of their relative locations.

If blips are clustered around your aircraft, increase
magnification.
     
. (period)      Increase RWR magnification

, (comma)       Decrease RWR magnification

Countermeasures
Countermeasures are the procedures you take to avoid missiles
fired at your aircraft. The countermeasure you take depends on
the type of missile being launched.

A chaff cartridge releases a cloud of metal strips into the air.
These strips momentarily act as a decoy for radar-guided
missiles. A flare is a container of burning metal such as
magnesium - flares serve as decoys for heat-seeking missiles.

9 (keyboard)    Fire chaff (counters radar-guided missiles)

0 (keyboard)    Fire flare (counters infrared-guided missiles)

Detecting by Radar
The F-4 Phantom is equipped with search/track radar for
air-to-air interception. The radar control switch is used for
both locating enemy aircraft and providing radar reflection for
the radar-guided AIM-7 Sparrow missile (see Firing Missiles in
this chapter).

Since it only carries infrared-guided missiles, the MiG-21
requires only a simple search radar unit.

R               Radar on/off

The radar's search area is limited to a narrow cone emanating
from the nose of your aircraft. You can only detect planes you
are facing - you cannot detect airplanes behind you (use your RWR
for that). Unlike your RWR systems, radar can detect infrared
missiles.

When you turn on your radar, the radar monitor on the Instrument
Panel is illuminated. The small white dot at the bottom of the
readout indicates your aircraft. Other dots indicate aircraft or
recently launched missiles in your path. 

Since Vietnam era radar did not possess IFF (Identify Friend or
Foe), the only way to identify an aircraft on your radar screen
is to draw close enough to make visual contact.

Quickly Locating Friendlies and Enemies
Two keys increase your Situational Awareness by giving you the
clock coordinates of the nearest enemy or friendly plane. Some
fighter pilots have reported irrationally sensing that another
plane is in the vicinity - this is the equivalent of that
intuitive knowledge.

Ctrl-Z  Direction of nearest enemy plane ("Bogey")

Ctrl-A  Direction of nearest friendly plane ("Friendly")

If no bogeys are in the area when you press Ctrl-Z, a message -
"Can't find any bogeys" - appears in the Warning/Communications
line at the top of the HUD.  Likewise, pressing Ctrl-A with no
friendlies in the sky gets you a "Can't find any friendlies"
message.

The Clock
Ever since radio accompanied pilots into the air, the clock has 
been used to communicate the general direction of bogeys 
(unidentified aircraft) relative to the pilot. Imagine your
aircraft as the fixed point in the center of a huge clock.
The nose of your plane always points to 12. Enemy aircraft are
identified as being located at positions on the face of the
clock, with relative altitude indicated as low or high. For
example, "Bogey at 3 o'clock" would indicate an aircraft to
the right; "Bogey at 3 o'clock low" would indicate an aircraft
below and to the right.

Navigating
Navigating is only a concern when flying Historic Missions. Your
mission's success depends on you accomplishing your mission
objectives and returning home safely. 

You navigate by flying to a designated waypoint, changing course,
flying to the next waypoint, and so on. Use the waypoint
indicator to set your heading toward the current waypoint. 

P-51 and FW-190 Waypoint Indicators
The two red dots below your compass are your waypoint indicator.
A single red light indicates the direction you should turn to get
back on course. Two red lights indicate that you're heading in
the right direction.

F-86 Waypoint Indicator
The waypoint indicator is on the compass. The light red
needle is the direction you're currently headed. The dark red
needle indicates the direction to the next waypoint. To get on
course, turn until the light red needle covers the dark red
needle, and then level out.

F-4, MiG-21, MiG-15 and F-86 Navigation Computers
The gauge marked DIR or NAV indicates the direction to the next
waypoint. When the needle is at 12 o'clock (straight up), you're
headed in the right direction.

Heading to the Next Waypoint
The waypoint indicator will not tell you when you've reached a
waypoint. To find out the distance to the waypoint, press F9 to
bring up the Map. 

At any time during the mission, you can instruct the waypoint
indicator to indicate the direction to a different waypoint.

W               Direction of the next waypoint
     
Shift-W Direction of the previous waypoint

Communications and Warnings
Radio communications and warning messages appear at the top of
the HUD. Communications can be anything from a simple exclamation
("They're taking the bait!") to an enemy location ("Fighters at 3
o'clock"). Messages warning you about dangerous flight conditions
("APPROACHING STALL") also appear at the top.

Damage
Press D to briefly display a status message at the top of your
HUD telling you how much damage your aircraft has sustained as a
percentage of the total damage it can withstand. For example, 50%
damage means if you take as much damage as you've already
absorbed your plane is destined to become part of the landscape.

Ejecting
If you let the enemy maul your airplane bad enough, you may be
forced to hit the silk. It's always better to jump than to follow
a lost airplane into the ground. 

You can only eject safely at speeds of 500 mph or less - at
higher speeds, you risk ripping your head from your shoulders.
Your altitude in any jump should be a minimum of three hundred
ft. 

If you do jump, take advantage of the splendid view. Use the View
keys to take a look around.

Shift-E Eject

Time Compression
In time compression mode, the game runs at twice or four times
normal speed. If you're too far away from your targets, you can
use time compression to reduce the time it takes you to get to
them. It's also useful for flying back to home base after a
successful mission.

T               Time compression

Press T to let the game run at 2x its normal speed. Press T again
for 4x normal speed. To turn off time compression, press T a
third time.

Stay awake while flying in time compression mode. Your opponents
are twice as fast, too. If you detect enemies while flying in
time compressed mode, turn it off before you attempt any
maneuvers. It's easy to put yourself into an irrecoverable dive
or spin if you maneuver in time compression mode.

Blackouts and Redouts
After a few seconds at positive high g loads, the vessels in your
legs and lower extremities expand and the blood begins to drain
into your lower body. Your heart loses its ability to pump blood
to your brain, and the pilot begins to have problems. Peripheral
vision is the first thing to go, followed by forward vision. If
the turn is held too long, consciousness itself will fade away
and the pilot will typically auger in.

A similar phenomenon occurs when you pull high negative g's, only
in this situation the blood rushes to your head and you
experience a redout.

To recover from a blackout or redout, ease up on the stick until
your vision returns. You can avoid both blackouts and redouts by
pressing Ctrl-B.

Changing the HUD Color
You may want your HUD readout to be more or less noticeable.
Press Ctrl-R to cycle through the different HUD colors available
to you.

Flight Menus
The Flight Menus contain options that let you configure the game
to your liking. Press Esc at any time during the mission to bring
up the Flight Menus. 

Left arrow      See the options in the previous menu    

Right arrow     See the options in the next menu

Up arrow        Move the highlighted bar up   

Arrow down      Move the highlighted bar down

7/Home          Go to first option in menu    

End             Go to last option in menu     
     
9/PgUp          Go to next group up separated by line  

3/PgDn          Go to next group separated by line

Air Combat automatically configures itself to your graphics
adapter sound and control devices, but there are many options you
can set yourself. When you quit the game, Air Combat saves your
current configuration. The next time you start the game, your
configuration will be the same as when you quit your last game.
Many of the Flight Menu options are features that can be turned
on or off. For example, selecting Map Window from the Help Menu
displays the Map Window. A check appears by any feature
that's been activated.

Almost every option has a shortcut key that lets you select the
option without opening the Flight Menu. For instance, pressing
Ctrl-I while in flight makes you invincible without bothering to
find the option in the menus.

? Menu

Film Playback Screen
Pressing P brings up the Flight Recorder. See Flight Recorder for
details.

Auto-Save Film
When checked, this option automatically saves the last
several minutes of your last mission. With Auto-Save Film active,
you don't need to worry about saving a recording before you end
the mission. To see your last mission, select Review Film from
the Main Menu. If you want to keep the flight recording, select
SAVE and rename the film (see Flight Recorder).

End Mission
Pressing Ctrl-Q ends the mission. If you were flying an historic
mission, the Mission Debriefing screen appears. If you were
flying a custom mission, the Stats screen appears.

Exit to DOS
Pressing Ctrl-C quits Air Combat and returns you to DOS.

About Yeager
Brings up the official game credits and copyright date. Press any
key to continue.

System Menu
Pressing Ctrl-S brings you to the System Menu.

Sound
When checked, you'll hear all of the sound effects checked
below. This option must be active to hear Background, RWR, and/or
Stall Sounds. If Sound is not checked, no sound effects are
produced. 

Engine Sounds
When checked, you hear the sound of your engine. (In Target->
Plane mode, you'll hear the sound of your enemy's engine). The
Sound option (above) must be active to hear Engine Sounds.

RWR Sounds
When checked, a warning sounds when an enemy has a radar lock
on you (a low-pitched beeping sound) or when an inbound
radar-guided missile has a target lock on you (a high-pitched
beeping sound). The Sound option (above) must be active to hear
RWR Sounds.

Stall Sounds
When checked, you hear a warning for stalls. The Sound option
(above) must be active to hear Stall Sounds.

Lock Sounds
When checked, you hear a warning telling you when your
missile is locked on the target. The Sound option (above) must be
active to hear Lock Sounds.

Keyboard
When checked, selects the keyboard as your flight stick and
weapon control device.

Joystick
When checked, selects the joystick as your flight stick and
weapon control device. You can also select this option to
calibrate your joystick. Follow the on-screen prompts.

Mouse
When checked, selects the mouse as your flight stick and
weapon control device.

Hi-Res Mouse
When checked, if your mouse seems too sensitive, select
Hi-Res Mouse as your control device. With Hi-Res Mouse active,
you have to move the mouse farther to get the same effect.

1x Time
When checked, the game runs in normal or "real" time. You can
press T to switch from normal time to time compression mode.

2x Time
When checked, game time is compressed so that everything runs
at twice the normal speed. You can press T to switch from time
compression mode to mega-time compression mode.

4x Time
When checked, game time is compressed so that everything runs
at four times the normal speed. You can press T to switch from
mega-time compression mode to normal time.

View Menu

You can switch views using the view commands or by selecting
options from the View Menu. For view commands and descriptions of
each of the views, see View Keys in this chapter.

Graphics Menu

Low Detail
When checked, all objects are displayed with minimum detail
to increase simulation speed.

Medium Detail
When checked, all objects are displayed with medium detail.

High Detail
When checked, all objects are displayed with maximum detail.

Simple Planes
When checked, you never see the most complex shapes for
planes regardless of the detail setting above. This is useful if
your machine is slow but you want to keep your display speed fast
during combat.

Dithered Horizon
When checked, the horizon is dithered to give the illusion of
distance. This feature is only available in VGA and MCGA
256-color modes. You can turn off the dithered horizon to
increase simulation speed.

Clouds
When checked, you may or may not see clouds at varying
altitudes. You can turn off the cloud effects to increase
simulation speed. 

Bitmap Explosions
When checked, you see bitmapped explosions when planes blow
up. You can turn off the bitmapped effects to increase simulation
speed. This feature is not available in CGA mode.

Flight Info
When checked, the HUD (Heads Up Display) is displayed on your
screen. Press Ctrl-F to activate or deactivate. For details on 
the HUD, see "Flight Instruments" in Instrument Check.

Help Menu

Invincible
When checked, your airplane is invincible to enemy weapons.
Press Ctrl-I to activate or deactivate. 
Note, however, that you can still crash and rip your wings off.

Unlimited Ammo
When checked, you have unlimited ammo. Press Ctrl-U to
activate or deactivate. 

Easy Aiming
When checked, you can be a little less accurate aiming
because more of your misses will be counted as hits. This goes
for missiles as well as bullets. Press Ctrl-E to activate or
deactivate. 

Note: If you're using a keyboard or mouse to control the
airplane, this feature is not considered a help. Keyboard and
mouse users can take the Ace's Challenge with Easy Aiming active
(see "Ending the Historic Mission" under "Historic Campaigns" in
Mission Menus.)

Easy Landings
When checked, you cannot crash no matter how hard you land!
Press Ctrl-L to activate or deactivate. 

No Blackout
When checked, you can pull any number of g's without
experiencing blackouts or redouts. Press Ctrl-B to activate or
deactivate. 

Target Info
When checked, target information is displayed below each
target. Press Ctrl-T to activate or deactivate. 

The color of the target info indicates your opponent's awareness
of your location - red means he's located you, black means he 
hasn't.

The percentage indicates your average chance of hitting the
target at this range with the currently selected weapon.

Map Window
When checked, the Map Window is displayed on your screen.
Press Shift-1 to activate or deactivate. The Map Window provides
you with the location of all friendly and hostile aircraft in the
area. 

You can magnify the range of the Map Window by pressing period
(.). At full magnification, fighters appear as a single pixel
(one dot) and bombers as two (two dots). To decrease the range of
the Map Window, press comma (,).

Map Identification Key 
     White          Your airplane
     Dk. Red        Bogey below
     Lt. Red        Bogey above
     Dk. Blue       Friendly below
     Lt. Blue       Friendly above
     Yellow         Missile (with target lock)
     Grey           Missile (no target lock)

Envelope Window
When checked, the Envelope Window is displayed on your
screen. Press Shift-2 to activate or deactivate. 
For details on the Envelope Window, see Ground School.

Target Window
When checked, the Target Window is displayed on your screen.
The Target Window provides you with useful information about the
currently selected target. Press Shift-3 to activate or
deactivate. 

For hints on getting the most out of the Target Window, see
"Detection" in Fighter Tactics.

Yeager Window
When checked, the Yeager Window is displayed on your screen.
Yeager watches your six, tells you how to correct dangerous
flight performance problems, and gives you tips on flying and
fighting. Press Shift-4 to activate or deactivate. 


FLIGHT RECORDER

The Flight Recorder lets you review and/or save your progress in
a current mission as well as load any previously saved flight
recordings. VCR style controls let you rewind, fast forward, or
watch events frame by frame, while Air Combat's standard view
keys let you watch your best dogfights from an infinite number of
viewpoints. You can also use the unique Box View to see a
large-scale overview of any mission.

Playing Back Your Current Mission
To review the last several minutes of the mission you're
currently flying, press P (or press ESc to bring up the Flight
Menu, and then select Film Playback Screen from the ? Menu). When
you press P, you can only play back the mission you're currently
flying - you cannot load previously saved flight recordings.

Time Counter
Shows current position in the flight recording.

Playing Speed Controls
Use the Playing Speed Controls to adjust how fast you play the
flight recording.

Position Controls
Use the Position Controls to "skip" to different parts of the
flight recording.

View Mode Indicator
The view mode indicator tells you which view you're currently
watching from. See "View Commands" in In the Cockpit for more on
views. 

Next Target
You must be in a target view to use the Next Target option:
F7             Plane -> Target
F8             Target -> Plane
Shift-F7       Target's Cockpit
Shift-F8       External Target

When you're in a target view, select Next Target to cycle through
the targets in the mission, regardless of whether they are
currently within sight of your airplane. You can also press F7,
Shift-F7, F8, or Shift-F8 repeatedly to cycle through the
targets.

Zoom Controls
Use the Zoom Controls to zoom in and out on the action. From the
default zoom setting of 1, you can zoom in to 2, 4, 8, 16, or 32.

I/O Controls
Use the I/O Controls to save a flight, load a previously saved
flight recording, or exit the Flight Recorder. See Saving a
Flight Recording and Reviewing a Previously Saved Flight
Recording in this chapter.

Rotating the Camera 
In any view, you can rotate the camera angle 360-degrees 
vertically and horizontally.

Mouse Users
To rotate the camera, move the mouse cursor to one of the defined quadrants. Click a mouse button to nudge the camera, or hold down the mouse button to rotate more quickly.

Keyboard Users
Press Ctrl with the cursor arrow keys to rotate the camera.

Ctrl-Up Arrow   Up
Ctrl-Down Arrow Down
Ctrl-Right Arrow        Clockwise
ctrl-Left Arrow Counter-clockwise

Alternatively, press Tab repeatedly until the cursor lands on a
rotation hotspot, and then press the spacebar to rotate your
view.

Switching Views 
All of the View keys function in the Flight Recorder except the Map 
View (F9), which is replaced by the Box View.

     Box View
     The Box View gives you a large-scale, 3D view of the recording.   
     Press F9 to switch to the Box View. Press any other View key 
     to switch back to normal viewing.

Identification Key for Box View 
     White          Your airplane
     Yellow         Bullets or missiles
     Lt. Magenta    Explosions 
     Lt. Blue       Friendlies and bailed out pilots
     Red            Hostiles
     Dk. Grey       Shadow if bottom of box is at ground level
     Dk. Blue       Shadow if bottom of box is above ground level

You can rotate the box by clicking in the box or using the
rotation keys (see "Rotating the Camera" in this chapter).

Viewpoints in the Box
The standard viewpoint in Box View is from a fixed point, the
airplanes weaving through the 3D space of the box. However, there
are two options that allow you to slightly alter the standard
viewpoint. You can activate one or both of these options:

Heading - Press H to have your view follow your fighter's
  heading. The box rotates horizontally as your airplane travels
  through the air. Imagine a camera following your airplane.

Position - Press P to keep your airplane in the center of the
  box. 

Zoom Keys
Use the zoom keys (+, -) to increase or decrease magnification of
your view.


Saving a Flight Recording

While you're flying, Air Combat temporarily records the last
several minutes of the mission. The length of this recording
varies depending on your computer and the number of aircraft in
the mission, but on the average Air Combat will record the last
four to six minutes of the mission. If you're flying a long
mission, you may want to save segments of it so you don't lose
them. For example, if you've flown for four minutes and you're
still not done with the mission, you should save a segment; after
eight minutes you should save again; etc.

Saving a Flight Recording While Flying
To save a flight that's in progress, press P to bring up the
Flight Recorder. Select SAVE from the I/O Controls. You'll be
asked to name the recording.

Type a name for the flight recording (up to 8 characters) and
press Enter. The flight recording is saved in the game directory
as a file with the extension ".F". For example, if you named the
file "AWESOME," it would appear in the game directory as
"AWESOME.F".  When you're ready to continue the mission, press
Esc or select EXIT from the I/O Controls.

You can save as many segments of the mission as you like, but you
can only watch the last several minutes played. To review earlier
segments that you've saved, select Review Film from the Main Menu
(see Reviewing a Previously Saved Flight Recording below).

The Auto-Save Film Feature
When active, the Auto-Save Film feature automatically saves the
last several minutes of your mission as a flight recording. With
Auto-Save Film active, you don't need to worry about saving a
recording before you end the mission.

To activate Auto-Save Film:
1.   Begin any mission.
2.   Press Esc to bring up the Flight menus.
3.   Select Auto-Save Film from the ? Menu. A check should
     appear beside the Auto-Save option.

When you end the mission, the last several minutes of the mission
are temporarily saved as a flight recording named LAST.

To watch LAST, select Review Film before you engage in any other
missions. When the LOAD FILE box appears, select the arrows to
scroll through the missions you've recorded. When LAST appears,
select it. Use the Playing Speed Controls and the Position
Controls to review the film. 

If you want to save the new flight recording, select SAVE from
the I/O Controls. You'll be asked to name the recording. You must
rename LAST if you want to keep it - if you don't, LAST will be
overwritten the next time you fly a mission. Type a new name for
LAST (up to 8 characters) and press Enter.

Reviewing a Previously Saved Flight Recording

To load a previously saved flight recording, select Review Film
from the Main Menu.

When the LOAD FILE box appears, select the arrows to scroll
through the missions you've recorded. When the name of the file
you want to watch appears, select it. Use the Playing Speed
Controls and the Position Controls to review the film. 

Deleting Flight Recordings
Each flight recording is saved as a separate file in the game
directory - any file with a ".F" extension is a flight recording.
You can only delete flight recordings by exiting to DOS. Refer to
your DOS manual for information on deleting files.


GROUND SCHOOL

Air Combat models the real flight envelopes of eighteen different
aircraft. Each aircraft performs differently according to its
airspeed, altitude, and structural limits. These factors affect
everything from maneuverability, how quickly an airplane can
turn - to minimum and maximum speeds.
 
The basic aerodynamics explained here have very real applications
in Air Combat. Knowing, not guessing, how your airplane
performs can mean the difference between painting a flag on your
fuselage or drilling a 50 ft. hole in Mother Earth.

Airplane Movement
The pilot controls the airplane by moving a flight stick and
pedals in the cockpit. These in turn move control surfaces on the
wings and tail, causing the airplane to change direction. An
airplane can rotate in three dimensions while in flight: it can
roll, pitch, or yaw.

Parts of an Airplane

Ailerons Control Roll
To turn an airplane, you must bank the wings by moving the flight
stick left or right. For example, moving the flight stick to the
right raises the right aileron and lowers the left, which in turn
rolls the airplane to the right.

Elevators Control Pitch
Pulling back on the flight stick raises the elevators, causing
the airplane to pitch up (climb). Pushing forward on the flight
stick lowers the elevators, making the airplane pitch down
(dive).

Rudder Controls Yaw
The rudder works in conjunction with the ailerons to coordinate
turns.

Flaps Increase Lift and Drag
Flaps increase wing surface and curvature, thus increasing both
lift and drag. They're useful for landing, since they lower your
stall speed.

Air Brakes Increase Drag
Air brakes increase drag, thus slowing down the airplane.
Prop-driven airplanes don't have air brakes.

Landing Gear
Landing gear is necessary for landing and ground maneuvering. All
of the airplanes you fly in Air Combat have retractable landing
gear.

Altitude, Air Pressure, Oxygen

Your airplane doesn't move through a vacuum but rather through a
varied environment, the earth's atmosphere. The dynamic of
flight is nothing more than an interaction between the atmosphere
and your airplane. Fortunately, all that you really need to know
for a basic understanding of aerodynamics is this, the higher
the altitude, the lower the air pressure, temperature, and oxygen
content.

Four Forces

Four basic forces influence the airplane in flight: lift, weight,
thrust, and drag. These are actually forces and counter-forces.
Lift pushes the airplane up while weight pulls it toward the
earth. Similarly, thrust pushes the airplane forward while drag
slows it down.

When an airplane is flying level (neither climbing or diving),
lift and weight are exactly opposed or balanced. In the same way,
a constant speed means that thrust equals drag.

Lift vs. Weight
As the jet engines or propellers move the airplane, air rushes
over the wings. Since the wing is unevenly shaped, flat on the
bottom, arched on the top, the air does not move at a constant
speed over both surfaces. The air moves faster over the arch. 

The air traveling over the top of the wing must go a greater
distance to get to the trailing edge. It must go faster in order
to get there.

In fluid dynamics, the law is: The faster a gas or liquid moves,
the less pressure it exerts. Since the air, as we know, is moving
faster over the arched top, there's less pressure there than on
the underside of the wing. This inequality between pressure
states is what creates lift.

Like any heavier-than-air object, an airplane's natural
inclination is to fall to the earth. The force of gravity pulling
on the object is what's known as the airplane's weight.

Angle of Attack
The angle of attack is the angle at which the wing meets the
airflow. An increased angle of attack creates more pressure and
therefore more lift. This is how you climb, pulling back on the
stick pulls up the nose, which increases the angle of attack and
creates lift.

Increased angle of attack creates more lift.

Everything has a cost. As you increase your angle of attack, the
increased lift and large surface area meeting the airflow create
more drag. This has the effect of slowing down the airplane.

Thrust vs. Drag
Both a spinning propeller and a jet engine spitting superheated
gases create thrust. In order for the airplane to move forward,
its thrust must be greater than the drag created by air molecules
striking the airplane's surface.

Maximum Speed
As the airplane climbs to higher, oxygen-poor altitudes, thrust
decreases. At the same time, however, drag is reduced in the
thinning atmosphere. Thus each airplane has an altitude at which
the best thrust/drag ratio is achieved, typically at low
altitudes for prop airplanes and high altitudes for jet fighters.

Minimum Speed and Wing Loading
As stated earlier, air pressure progressively decreases the
higher you fly. To overcome the loss of air pressure, an airplane
must go faster to maintain flight (to get the same amount of air
flowing over the wings as at lower speeds at lower altitudes).

Minimum speed is a function of the shape of the wing and wing
loading. Wing loading is the amount of weight the wing surfaces
must carry. The more weight the wing carries, the faster the
airplane must travel to produce enough lift for level flight.
High wing loading is better if you want to go faster; low wing
loading is better if you want to turn harder. Additionally,
airplanes with long, thin wings tend to perform better at high
altitudes than airplanes with short, stubby wings.

Three Measures of Turn

G Force
A "g" is a unit that measures acceleration. This is often used as
a measure of centrifugal force. One g is equal to the force of
gravity exerted on a stationary object on earth, the force a
person standing on the ground experiences. 

Why You Pull Up the Nose In a Turn
To remain in level flight, the lift vector must equal the
weight vector. 

When an airplane rolls over to turn, lift is diminished. Why? The
lift created by the wings remains perpendicular to the wingplane.
Remember, it's the wingplane that creates the lift. At the same
time, however, the weight of the airplane remains pointed to the
ground - after all, it's the earth that's pulling the aircraft
down. Only the vertical component of the lift compensates for the 
weight of the airplane - the horizontal component makes the 
airplane turn. As the airplane banks, the lift vector tilts, 
decreasing its vertical component and increasing its horizontal 
component while the total (resultant) lift remains the same.

To generate more lift to overcome the airplane's weight, the
pilot pulls back on the flight stick, a process called
"trimming", thereby increasing the angle of attack and creating
more lift to increase the vertical component enough to counteract
the airplane's weight. At the same time, more lift creates more
drag, slowing down the airplane. This is why maneuvering in
combat is an energy-depleting activity.

The Effects of G in the Cockpit
Every vector has a counter-vector. When lift is increased in a
turn, it's counter-vector is the apparent weight of the airplane,
the pilot in the airplane feels heavier, what is called
apparent weight or g-load. This is the same force at work when
you're pinned to your seat in the tight turn of a roller-coaster.

The more the airplane banks, the greater the g load experienced
by the airplane.

Turn Radius - How Wide Your Turn Is
Simply put, turn radius is how big of a circle you make in the
sky. The size of the circle depends on how fast you're flying and
how tightly you're turning. A jet can turn more tightly than a
prop airplane but still make a wider circle by virtue of its
higher speed.

Rate of Turn - How Quickly You're Turning
Rate of turn tells you how quickly you're turning. To put it
simply, rate of turn is how fast you can haul your nose (and
weapons) around to put the enemy in your gun sights. The higher
your speed at a given altitude, the lower your maximum rate of
turn.

The importance of your rate of turn in air combat can't be
understated. You need a good rate of turn for both offensive and
defensive purposes, to turn sharply enough to get the enemy into
your sights, or to stay ahead of his.

Maximum Rate of Turn
If you're breaking with an opponent and he remains ahead of your
gun sights, you must somehow turn more tightly so you can shoot
him down. In a turning contest such as this, your rate of turn
compared to your opponent's becomes crucial. Does your airplane
turn faster than his? Rather than finding out by waiting for his
bullets to tear up your airplane, you can compare flight
envelopes.

The Flight Envelope
A flight envelope is a graph that shows the interaction of an
airplane with its environment and the limits of its performance.

On the vertical axis of the graph is the airplane's altitude; on
the horizontal axis is the airplane's speed. Plotted on the graph
are curved lines. The outside line contains the airplane's
performance at 1 g (level flight). Within that boundary are
curves which contain the airplane's performance at higher g's
(banking or climbing).
 
Lift limit - The limit beyond which the airplane stalls due to a
lack of lift.

Thrust limit - The limit beyond which the engines can't generate
enough thrust to accelerate.

Structural limit - The limit beyond which the airframe can't
withstand the air resisting it. Continuing beyond this limit will
weaken the airframe and eventually rip your wings off.

Using the Envelope Window
You can use the Flight Envelope Window to foresee potential
flight performance problems and - in the event that you've flown
to the limit of your airplane's ability - you can use the
information to take the right corrective measures. To display the
flight envelope of your fighter, press Shift-2. 

Flight Performance Recovery

How Not to Exceed Maximum Speed
The airplane's maximum speed is also limited by the strength of
its airframe. A sustained dive at 100% throttle can very well rip
your wings off. If you know that you're exceeding maximum speed,
cut the throttle, put down flaps and air brakes, and pull back on
the stick.

Stalls and How to Recover
If the angle of attack is increased too much, the low pressure
area degenerates quickly and a stall occurs. The airplane will
lurch suddenly into a dive. You recover from a stall by
increasing speed and repositioning the wings such that a smooth
airflow over them is regained. When the stall warning appears,
set the throttle at 100% and push the flight stick forward.

It's important that you act quickly. A stall at low altitudes can
be fatal, because you won't have the room to put your nose down.
Take the stall warning seriously!

Use Flaps to Postpone a Stall - Dangerous Maneuver
If you're about to enter a stall but you need to postpone it a
few seconds (say you're trying to keep your nose up long enough
to finish someone off), dropping your flaps will buy you a little
extra time.

When your flaps are down, your stall speed decreases due to extra
wing surface. However, this is a two-edged sword. Your speed
bleeds off much faster with flaps down - when you finally stall,
your extreme low speed will put you in even deeper trouble if you
haven't finished off your opponent. 

Using a Stall to Dive - Dangerous Maneuver
If you're near stall speed, your nose is pointed up, and you need
to dive quickly, entering a stall will give you an additional
downward turning motion over what you could do with the stick
alone.

The Energy State
In air combat studies, an airplane's potential to perform at any
given moment is often measured as its energy state, which is a
function of its potential and kinetic energy.

Potential energy is a function of an object's position within a
gravitational field. To use a classic example, the boulder at the
top of the hill has greater potential energy than the boulder at
the bottom. Likewise, an airplane at a higher altitude has a
greater potential energy reserve than the one flying 10,000 feet
below it. If the airplane goes into a dive, it converts its
potential energy (altitude) into kinetic energy (velocity). The
airplane didn't get this energy for free. It "bought" this energy
by climbing to the higher altitude in the first place (that is,
burning fuel).

Kinetic energy is a function of an object's momentum. If two
airplanes are flying at equal speeds, the heavier of the two has
more kinetic energy (because it has more momentum). The heavier
airplane "bought" this energy when it accelerated to the speed of
the lighter airplane. (The lighter airplane invested less energy
getting to the same speed.)

Potential and kinetic energy can be exchanged, by climbing and
diving. Climbing converts kinetic energy into potential energy
(as you gain altitude you lose velocity), while diving converts
potential energy into kinetic energy.


FLIGHT SCHOOL

You begin training with a few simple maneuvers that every pilot
must know. Take Off and Landing are necessary for getting on and
off the ground, while Level Flight, Climb, Dive, and Break are
the fundamentals of almost every other combat maneuver you will
learn.

Level Flight
Level Flight is flying with your wings parallel to the ground,
neither gaining nor losing altitude.

Generally speaking, when the waterline marker on your HUD is even
with the horizon, you're in Level Flight. However, when landing,
the waterline can be above the horizon while you're still
maintaining your present altitude, this is due to the increased
angle of attack as you approach the runway.

Climb
A climb is a sacrifice of speed for altitude. 

 Climbing
 1.     Increase power to 100% and pull back on the flight 
	stick. Watch your vertical speed indicator (VSI). 
	Prop-driven airplanes can climb steadily at about 
	2000 ft/min, jets much faster. Keep an eye on your 
	airspeed - if you're close to stalling, don't climb 
	so fast. A good rule of thumb is to maintain 180-200 
	mph during the climb.
  2.    When you reach the desired altitude, push the flight 
	stick forward to level out, and then return the flight 
	stick to center.

Dive
A dive is a sacrifice of altitude for speed.

  Diving
  1.    Push forward on the flight stick to initiate the dive, 
	and then return the flight stick to center. The length of  
	time you hold the flight stick forward determines how 
	steeply you dive. If the dive is very steep, you may have 
	to cut power and/or drop flaps or air brakes in order to 
	avoid going too fast.
  2.    As you reach the desired altitude, pull back on the 
	flight stick to level out. Return the flight stick to 
	center.

Emergency Procedures (Power Dive)
Exceeding maximum speed in a dive, known as a power dive, can
rip your wings off if you don't pull out of it. If you find
yourself in this unlucky situation, cut the throttle (if it's not
already) and pull back on the flight stick. If you're still
accelerating too quickly, try applying air brakes (if you're in a
jet), lowering flaps, or, as a last ditch maneuver, lowering
your landing gear to create drag.

Break
A Break is a hard defensive turn to the left or the right. It's
immediate purpose is survival, to get you out of your attacker's
gun sights. It's secondary purpose is to make a closely pursuing
attacker overshoot, thus putting you in his six o'clock.

  Breaking
  1.    Increase power to 100% and move the flight stick right 
	or left. You want to turn such that you roll the 
	airplane across the attacker's path.
  2.    When your wings are at a 90ˇ angle to the ground, center 
	the flight stick and pull back hard. Whenever you go into 
	a steep turn, you lose vertical lift. If you want to 
	maintain your altitude, move the flight stick in the 
	opposite direction.
  3.    Continue the turn until your opponent overshoots, or try 
	a different maneuver. 

Always Roll Across the Attacker's Path
With an enemy on your tail, the instinctive response is to move
away from his path. This is exactly what you shouldn't do. The
correct response is to roll across the attacker's path. You will
pass in front of your opponent's guns, but only for a short time,
your deflection angle will be so high that it's unlikely that
he'll hit you. Breaking across your opponent's path quickly
creates "angle-off" (see Attack for a description of angle-off).

Countering the Defender's Break
When your target breaks, it's best to break with the target and
stay on his tail.

If your rate of turn is equal to or better than your target's,
it's relatively easy to keep him in sight. However, if his rate
of turn is better, you can maneuver with a High or Low Yo-Yo
(Banked Versions), Barrel Roll Attack, or Scissors (see Basic
Maneuvers). This reduces your forward velocity and keeps you from
overshooting your opponent.

The danger in performing any of these maneuvers is that your
opponent slips out of your sight for a moment, and a moment is
all it takes for him to give you the slip. Another tactic is to
reduce your speed just enough to pull behind him - either by
dropping flaps or using your air brakes. Note, however, that you
only want to reduce speed when you're:

	*    At or near your own maximum speed
	*    In a high thrust/weight plane like the F-4 or MiG-21, 
	     in which it's easier to get your speed back.
	*    Real sure of yourself and your situation.

Take Off
To take off, your airplane must accelerate from a standstill to
an airspeed that generates enough lift to overcome gravity.

  Taking Off
  1.    Increase power to 100%.
	Your airplane begins to accelerate down the runway. Air
	Combat's prop-driven airplanes are all equipped with 
	tail wheels - the nose will drop as the airplane picks 
	up speed.

	The airplane must reach take off speed before you can pull it 
	up.
	Take off speeds are:
	Prop-driven airplanes    95-100 mph
	Korean era jets          135-145 mph
	Vietnam era jets         140-150 mph

  2.    When you reach take off speed, pull the flight stick 
	back until your vertical speed is about 1500 ft/min. 
	Return the flight stick to center.
	Your vertical speed is displayed in the lower right 
	corner of the HUD or on the vertical speed indicator on 
	the Instrument Panel.
  3.    Press G to retract your landing gear. 
  4.    Wait for your speed to pick up before you increase your 
	VSI.

	Warning! Don't pull the nose into too sharp of a climb or 
	your airplane will stall! At low altitudes, where you don't 
	have hundreds of feet to recover, a stall is lethal.

Landing
When landing, your airplane must be traveling close to its
minimum speed while still maintaining enough lift (avoiding a
stall). On short military runways, you'll need to use flaps to
come in at a steep angle of descent.

  Landing
  1.    Line up with the runway. Optimally, you want to be 
	about 1000 feet up and five miles out.
  2.    Press F to lower flaps and G to lower your landing gear.
  3.    Aim the waterline marker on the spot on the runway where 
	you want to touch down.
  4.    Reduce the throttle until you are at your normal stall
	speed.
	With your flaps down, you won't stall at normal stall 
	speed. If you need a visual guide, use the Envelope 
	Window. When the airplane borders on the lift limit, 
	you're at the right speed.
  5.    If you're still going too fast, use air brakes to reduce
	speed (Korean and Vietnam era airplanes only).
	As you cross the end of the runway, you should be about 
	100 ft up.

	Note: When you've lowered your gear and your flaps and reduced
	your air speed enough to land, the symbol "xxx" appears next to
	your vertical speed indicator, at which time it is safe to touch
	down.
  6.    Cut the throttle and pull back gently on the flight stick.
	The object is to stall just as you touch down. Watch your
	VSI and make sure you're still descending (your vertical
	speed should remain a negative number).
  7.    As soon as you touch down, apply your wheel brakes.


BASIC MANEUVERS

Every fighter pilot must learn and practice the basic maneuvers
and their counters. They do not insure the pilot that he will
become a top-scorer, that takes something more, but without
them, he'll be a sitting duck.

Jink
"Jinking" is randomly banking and bobbing. It's a purely
defensive maneuver designed to upset your opponent's aim while
you look for an opportunity to steer into a more advantageous
position.

Jinking is effective only against opponents who are within close
range. If your opponent is at long range, your Jinking will only
produce slight movements out of his gun sights, movements that
he will find easy to compensate for.

Pursuit
When an opponent is in "Pursuit," he's turning in order to get
onto your tail. When you see Pursuit up in the target window, it
indicates more of an intention than a particular set of
maneuvers.

Scissors
Scissors are a series of banks along an axis that reduce
downrange travel without cutting engine power. The name comes
from the criss-crossing motion of both planes, the pursued pilot
banks to get his attacker to overshoot him, which calls for a
similar reaction on the part of the attacking pilot, which causes
the defender to bank the opposite direction, and so on. Both
pilots weave back and forth as they jockey for the advantageous 6
o'clock position, creating a scissor pattern. The more
maneuverable airplane has the advantage in this situation, though
the pilot's speed and agility are important factors as well.

Vertical Scissors
This is the same as the Scissors but is performed in the vertical
plane, either a climb or a dive.

Loop
The Loop has remained a standard evasive maneuver since it was
first implemented in World War I dogfights over Europe. It's
extremely effective when the attacker is close behind you, but it
should be used with caution at longer ranges because of the time
it allows opponents to fire on you.

  Performing a Loop
  1.    Increase power to 100% and pull back on the flight stick.
	When the inverted horizon comes into view, check your six
	o'clock (F2 and scan up). You'd better know where he went.
  2.    When the upright horizon comes into view, return the flight
	stick to the center position.

Countering the Defender's Loop
Follow your opponent into the loop, taking any shots at him that
you can. You may want to turn your loop into an Immelmann so you
maintain an altitude advantage over your opponent. Make sure you
keep a close eye on where he's going.

Split S
Consisting of a half roll and a descent into the second half of a
loop, the Split S lets you change heading while simultaneously
gaining speed.

  Performing a Split S
  1.    Roll the airplane into the inverted position.
  2.    Once you're in inverted flight, pull back on the flight
	stick.
	Watch your speed. You don't want to get above your corner
	velocity. If you need to slow down in your dive, use flaps
	(press F) or air brakes (press B). If you're still going too
	fast, drop your landing gear (press G) and/or cut throttle.
  3.    When the upright horizon comes into view, return the flight
	stick to the center position.
	If you've lost track of your opponent, use the view keys to
	spot him.

Countering the Defender's Split S
You still hold the altitude advantage when your opponent goes
into a Split S. You can dive after your opponent, wait in the
skies above for a more advantageous dive attack, or disengage. 

Immelmann
The Immelmann consists of a half loop or vertical climb followed
by a half roll. The Immelmann gives you the double advantage of
changing heading while simultaneously gaining altitude. The
Immelmann can allow you to make abrupt changes to heading.

  Performing the Immelmann
  1.    Increase power to 100% and pull back on the flight stick as
	if you were performing a loop.
  2.    When the inverted horizon comes into view, return the flight
	stick to its center position.
	If you've lost track of your opponent, use the view keys to
	spot him.
  3.    Pull the flight stick left or right and half roll the
	airplane to level flight.

Countering the Attacker's Immelmann
An attacker might pull an Immelmann because he's about to
overshoot you or because he holds a speed advantage against your
superior maneuverability. If he's about to overshoot you and you
have the speed, counter him with an Immelmann of your own. If you
don't have the speed to chase him, wait to see which direction he
goes when he pulls out of the Immelmann. Dive the opposite
direction if you want to disengage. If you want to press the
attack, initiate a shallow climb (such that you keep gaining
speed) and try to follow his course. The last thing you want to
do is leave him with a short route between his nose and your
tail.

Countering the Defender's Immelmann
If you have speed, follow your target. There's no use giving him
altitude over you. If you don't have the speed to follow him, see
Countering the Attacker's Immelmann above.

Low Yo-Yo
The Low Yo-Yo is a shallow dive followed by a sharp climb. Its
purpose is to let you pick up speed when you're otherwise unable
to close in on a fleeing target. The attacker has the double
advantage of making his attack in the target's blind spot.

Countering the Attacker's Low Yo-Yo
If your pursuer is out of range and you suddenly see him drop
below you, you can be sure he's attacking with a Low Yo-Yo. Since
it's assumed that the attacker couldn't close on you, you have
the speed advantage, initiate a climb. This will put distance
between you and the attacker. If you feel gutsy, a loop or a High
Yo-Yo (Banked Variation) could put you on your attacker's tail.

High Yo-Yo
The High Yo-Yo is a steep climb followed by a dive. The climb
lets you bleed off power and avoid overshooting your target

Barrel Roll
This defensive maneuver throws your airplane into a horizontal
corkscrew spin. It's primary purpose is to upset your opponent's
aim, but pulling out of the maneuver at an unexpected point could
very well shake an enemy off your tail.

  Performing the Barrel Roll
  1.    Increase power to 100%. Pull the flight stick back slightly,
	and then move the flight stick right or left to roll the
	airplane.
  2.    Complete as many revolutions as you need.

Countering a Defender's Barrel Roll
Following the opponent into the Barrel Roll works. As an
alternative, use a straight High Yo-Yo to climb above and come
down on your spiraling opponent.


VARIATIONS FOR ADVNCED PILOTS

Low Speed Yo-Yo (Banked Variation)
The banked variation of the Low Yo-Yo is an offensive maneuver
designed to reduce the angle-off between the attacker and his
target. While breaking, the attacker goes into a shallow dive and
then climbs sharply, coming up on the target's tail. Both High
and Low Yo-Yos allows for a quick and severe change in heading.

  Performing a Low Yo-Yo (Banked Variation)
  1.    Push the flight stick forward to put the aircraft into 
	a shallow dive.
	Watch your speed. You don't want to get above your 
	corner velocity. If you need to slow down in your dive, 
	use flaps (press F) or air brakes (press B). If you're 
	still going too fast, drop your landing gear (press G) 
	and/or cut throttle.
  2.    Once you've dived below your target, pull back on the 
	flight stick to begin your climb.
  3.    On the way up, bank towards target for a clear shot.

Countering the Attacker's Low Yo-Yo (Banked Variation)
As is often the case, mimicking the attacker's action is a good
defense, the defender can attempt to go into the Low Yo-Yo with
the attacker. Another useful counter is to continue your break
while the attacker dives, and then flip into a Split S, pulling
up only when the attacker has begun his climb.

High Yo-Yo (Banked Variation)
The High Yo-Yo is like a Low Yo-Yo in reverse, a steep
break/climb followed by a dive. Like the Low Yo-Yo, the Hi Yo-Yo
also reduces angle-off, giving the attacker a better shot. This
maneuver assumes that you have the speed to pull into a steep
climb and that you're traveling much faster than your target.

  Performing a High Yo-Yo (Banked Variation)
  1.    Pull the flight stick back to climb.
  2.    Once you've climbed above your target, push toward on the
	flight stick to begin your dive.
  3.    On the way down bank towards the target for a clear shot.

Countering the Attacker's High Yo-Yo (Banked Variation)
A Split S can be an effective countermeasure if performed right
as the attacker begins his climb. Similarly, doing an Immelmann
at the beginning of the attacker's dive will also work,
especially if combined with an aileron roll and a 90-degrees change 
in heading.

Rollaway
Think of a Rollaway as the first half of a banked High Yo-Yo
followed by a Split S.

  Performing a Rollaway
  1.    Move the flight stick right or left to roll the aircraft
	into a 45-degree bank, and then pull back on the flight 
	stick.
  2.    Once you've reached the top of your arc, roll the aircraft
	away from your opponent's turn.
  3.    Level off inverted and pull back on the flight stick.
  4.    When the horizon comes back into view, return the flight
	stick to center.

High G Barrel Roll
The High G Barrel Barrel Roll is performed in a turn and, when
performed correctly, can quickly transform the defender into an
attacker. This maneuver is only effective if the attacker is
right on your tail.

  Performing a High G Barrel Roll
  1.    Pull the flight stick right or left to roll the aircraft
	into a 45-degree dive or climb. You want to break across 
	your opponent's flight path.
  2.    Initiate a Barrel Roll away from the turn.

Countering an Attacker's High G Barrel Roll
Use a straight High Yo-Yo to climb above and come down on your
spiraling opponent.

Barrel Roll Attack
The Barrel Roll Attack lets the attacker avoid an overshoot when
his target breaks.

  Performing a Barrel Roll Attack
  1.    As soon as the opponent breaks, level off.
  2.    Pull back on the flight stick to pull up the nose.
  3.    Initiate a Barrel Roll away from the target's break.
  4.    Pull in behind the defender again.

Countering an Attacker's Barrel Roll Attack
Your best bet in countering a Barrel Roll Attack is to reverse
your break, thus cutting across his path (scissoring). A more
dangerous alternative is to dive away from the attack. 

Spiral Dive
The Spiral Dive is just what the name says, a spiralling dive to
the floor. This is a hard defensive maneuver and is, in fact,
dangerous, a skilled attacker can easily follow the defender
down, taking as many opportunity shots as he can.

  Performing a Spiral Dive
  1.    Move the flight stick to the right or left, and then 
	push it all the way forward. When the ground fills your                 forward view, pull the stick back to center (however, 
	maintain the right or left roll).
  2.    Watch your speed. You don't want to get above your corner
	velocity. If you need to slow down in your dive, use flaps 
	(press F) or air brakes (press B). If you're still going 
	too fast, drop your landing gear (press G) and/or cut 
	throttle.
  3.    Let the attacker overtake you in the dive.

Countering a Defender's Spiral Dive
The initiative is yours. You can drop flaps (press F) and/or air
brakes (press B) and dive after him, or you can wait above and
look for a better attack opportunity. Whatever you do, keep the
pressure on him.


GUNNERY SCHOOL

Aerial gunning is an art, but one that can be learned with
patience and practice. Shooting a fast-moving target from an
equally fast-moving platform is considerably more complex than
shooting a slingshot at an empty bottle. The factors that come
into play are:
     *    Target range
     *    Flight path
     *    Deflection angle
     *    Holdover angle
     *    Leading
     *    Gun sight type

Each of these factors are discussed below assuming you have the
simplest kind of gun sight, one that does not account for any of
these factors.

Target Range
Improved guns notwithstanding, fighter pilots rarely hit targets
beyond 4500 ft. At ranges of 2625 ft or less, they stand an
excellent chance of hitting their opponents with low deflection
shots. Target range affects all other factors, and these effects
will be described in the following sections.

Flight Path
Bullets fly straight after you shoot them. That may sound
obvious, but seeing this in a dogfight can be disconcerting to
novice pilots. If you're on an enemy's tail and both of you are
in a tight turn, your bullets will fall far behind him even
though he's steady in your sights.

Deflection Angle
The deflection angle is the angular difference between your
flight path and that of your target. An airplane flying directly
away from you has a deflection angle of 0-degree, while an airplane
flying perpendicularly across your nose has a deflection angle of
90-degrees. The higher the deflection angle, the harder it is to hit 
the target because it spends less time crossing your visual field.

Basically, if your target is flying directly away from you, your
bullets follow him and have the best chance of hitting. If he's
flying across your flight path, however, and you fire your guns
when he's in your sights, he'll be long gone by the time the
bullets reach where he was when you fired. The more deflection
angle there is between you and your target, the farther your
bullets will fall behind. The deflection angle is the second most
important consideration in firing your guns, and it doesn't have
nearly as much effect as flight path.

Holdover Angle
The holdover angle is the effect gravity has on the path of your
bullets. When you fire your guns, gravity pulls them down so they
go lower than your gun sight indicates. In the close ranges you
deal with in dogfighting, however, this effect is so small
compared to the others that it can be safely ignored.

Leading
With most gun sights, you have to adjust for range, flight path,
and deflection angle on your own. To do this, you lead the enemy,
which is to say you aim your gun sight where you believe the
enemy will be after the bullet covers the distance between you.

The single most important factor you need to account for is
flight path. The more g's you're pulling, the farther ahead of
your enemy you must aim to hit. If he has a high deflection
angle, you must aim even further ahead of him. If he is at
extreme range, you have to aim even further ahead. All these
factors require practice to master, and even the best aces aren't
perfect at performing these on-the-fly estimates.

Some gun sights account for flight path and range, others don't.
You have to know what type of gun sight you're using before you
can accurately guess how much you must lead your targets.

Gun Sight Type

World War II
These airplanes had the simplest gun sight possible, it shows
you exactly the direction the bullets fly the instant you fire
them. You have to adjust for range, flight path, and deflection
angle on your own. This type of dogfighting requires the most
leading.

Korea
These airplanes have the ability to adjust for flight path, so
half the battle is solved by the pipper (the circle-shaped
sight). This pipper determines how many g's you're pulling and
moves to compensate for your flight path, but it assumes that the
target is 1200 feet ahead of you. If the target is farther away
than that, you must manually lead the target a little to account
for the increased range. Likewise, if the target it closer than
1200 feet, you must trail the target a bit. Additionally, you
must always manually adjust for deflection angle if appropriate.
(Otherwise, if your target happens to be exactly 1200 feet ahead
of you, in level flight, and flying directly away from you, put
him in your sight and you'll score direct hits.)

Hint: If you display the Target Window (press Shift-3), it tells
you the exact line-of-sight distance between you and your target.

Vietnam
These airplanes have a sight similar to those used in Korea, with
the additional advantage of radar. If your radar is turned on,
the gun sight determines the exact range of the enemy and uses
that in its flight path calculations. The only adjustment you
have to make is for deflection angle. If you do not have your
radar turned on, the gun sight works exactly like those in Korea.


FIGHTER TACTICS

This chapter is about fighter tactics and how to use Air Combat's
controls to your advantage. Some of the tactics described here
are good principles of air combat that fighter pilots have
developed and respected over the years. Other tactics may only
apply to the era you're flying in.

The chapter is divided into sections that describe four phases of
air combat, without which any discussion of air warfare is
incomplete. The four phases are:

*    Detection
*    Closing
*    Attack
*    Maneuver

At the end of the chapter, you'll find more sections with
specific approaches to evading missiles and attacking bombers and
ground targets.

Detection

Locating the enemy before he locates you gives you the
initiative. The cunning pilot knows that early detection lets him
stack as many odds in his favor as time allows, altitude, speed,
relative position, correct weapon choice, giving him a large
advantage over his opponent.

Visual Detection
The View keys are among the most important tools in the game.
F1-F4 can be pressed fairly quickly - you should make a habit of
doing just that when you're not too busy dogfighting. You don't
have a wingman, so keep your eyes open!

The Scan keys are effective, too, especially when used with
Forward View (F1). The Forward View is the only view from which
you can target an opponent.

To get a fast 360-degree scan of the horizon, press F2, and then 
use the right/left arrow keys to rotate your view in a complete
circle. Note, however, that your belly is still a blind spot and
you're vulnerable if you rely only on this means of visual
detection.

Zoom Out When You're Hunting for Targets
You want the widest possible view while searching for targets.
Zooming out to 1 increases your field of vision. Press the minus
(-) key to zoom out. Use it and spot the bandits early.

Zoom In for "Yeager Vision"
If an airplane is too far away to identify, press the plus (+)
key to zoom in. If this feels like cheating, remember that most
aces have above average eyesight. Yeager's, for instance, is
still 20/10, double that of the normal human.

Using the Target Window
When used properly, the Target Window can provide you with more
than just detection information, it contains data that's useful
in all phases of air combat.

The Target Window shows the targeted aircraft as he appears to
you or would appear to you if he were in visual range. Though
subtle, this visual information communicates a lot about his
relative position to you.
1.   You can see if he's moving toward or away from you.
2.   You can tell if he's above or below you by the color of the
     background. If you can see the ground behind the target,
     you're above him; if blue sky is blazing over his airplane,
     he's above you. If the target window is split, the target is
     at a more or less equal altitude.
3.   You can estimate his heading.

Around the airplane view is other useful information, the type
of airplane as well as its location, speed, and range. The
maneuver currently being performed by the target also appears at
the top of the window. Anticipating your enemy's next move is
never easy, so knowing what he's up to gives you a huge
advantage.

Hint: Since this is considered a help feature, you may want to
use F7 and F8 views instead to get a sense of where the enemy is
in relation to you.

Radar
Radar transmits high frequency waves in a 90-degree arc off the nose 
of your airplane. These waves reflect off of objects and return to
your signal receiver, which translates the waves into objects
with specific size, range, and heading. Your radar unit can sense
targets at ranges of up to 60 miles. 

Be careful! Switching on your radar is like lighting a torch in a
dark room. Enemies everywhere are guaranteed to sense your active
radar, and they'll know your position and range, too. Though you
can use radar briefly to detect enemies, you'll need to turn it
on for extended periods when firing radar-guided missiles. Your
lead-computing gun sight also needs radar to calculate the
target's range.

Air Combat's Special Detection
The help windows can give you extraordinary powers of detection. 

The Map Window (Shift-1) shows you the general direction of all
friendly and hostile aircraft around you, it's actually better
than radar because no enemies know you're using it. This is not
unlike modern AWACs.

Direction to Nearest Enemy
You can know the clock direction to your nearest enemy by
pressing Ctrl-Z. His location will appear in the Warning/
Communications line at the top of the HUD.

Closing

There is no golden rule for closing in on a target except that
you want to maintain the element of surprise if possible. To do
this, you want to stay out of sight and move quickly.

Approach From the Target's Blind Spot
Fighter pilots will typically see you if you're anywhere in front
of them, so you should approach them from the rear. The
inexperienced pilot won't be checking his six as often as he
should. The fighter pilot's blind spot is below and behind his
airplane, and this is a good direction from which to close.

If your radar is on, fighters with radar will detect and
instantly know your location. The moral of the story, don't flip
on your radar switch until you're ready to fire, and be prepared
to act if your missile fails to hit.

Bombers can see in all directions, so there's no way to approach
them without their knowing it. 

Slash Attack
It's obvious that the less time you spend closing, the less time
your target will have to spot you. This is one way in which an
altitude advantage is important. Altitude is a reservoir of
energy that can be quickly turned into speed by diving. Not only
do you close in on your target swiftly, the dive leaves you with
a high store of kinetic energy that can be used for other
maneuvers, a Climb, Yo-Yo, etc., or to escape if the odds
aren't in your favor.

Speed is all important in the attack phase. An airplane won't
even need maneuverability if the attack is fast and the pilot is
accurate. If your airplane is very fast but not as maneuverable
as your opponent's, you can use repeated slash attacks to avoid a
dogfight.

Attack

Once the attack begins, there's no going back. As Yeager says,
"If you get an advantage, you've got to press it home."

Gun Attacks
Vulnerability Cones
For fighters with fixed, forward-shooting guns, the "norm" in
fighter design after World War I, a target's angle of deflection
is important (see Gunnery School for a complete explanation).

For fighter pilots in all wars, the maximum angle of deflection
has remained around 45-degrees. At an angle of 45-degrees or less, 
most pilots stand a chance of keeping their sights on their target 
and hitting it. This angle forms the target's vulnerability cone.

Naturally, the smaller the angle of deflection, the better the
attacker's chance of hitting his target. Within a few precious
degrees, the attacker's chance of hitting rises dramatically.
This is the target's lethal cone. Improvements in gun sights have
increased the size of the target's lethal cone from 15-degrees in 
World War II to 30-degrees in Vietnam.

For more on making successful gun attacks, see Gunnery School.

Attacking With Missiles
In Vietnam, the actual kill rate with missiles was very low,
which was one reason why the gun was later installed on the F-4
Phantom. Even so, your Vietnam era airplanes are equipped with
missiles, and you should use them in combat - you have nothing to
lose, and you could score an easy kill with one.

Missile ranges are summarized in the following table:

   Missile      Max. Range      Min. Range
   Sparrow      4 miles         1 1/2 miles
   Sidewinder   2 miles         1/4 mile
   K-13 Atoll   2 miles         1/4 mile

Within the minimum range, your missile doesn't have enough room
to get a lock on the target and detonate properly.

Radar-Guided Missiles
The Sparrow is guided by radar waves emitted by your radar and
reflected back off the target. Your radar must be on and you must
maintain a target lock while the missile is in flight. Note,
however, that you can select a new target while the missile is in
flight. The new target must be within the missile's seeker in
order for it to track.

Since Sparrows have a longer range than heat-seeking missiles,
you should use them for long-distance attacks (from any
direction) and save your Sidewinders for in-fighting. Because of
the sensitivity of the seeker on the missile, it's useless to
fire a missile in a turn greater than 3 g's. 

Heat-Seeking Missiles
Sidewinders and K-13 Atolls are fire-and-forget weapons, once
they're launched, they either hit or they don't. Nevertheless,
you should not fire until you have a target lock. You must be
behind your opponent and in full view of his engines. Because of
the sensitivity of the seeker on the missile, it's useless to
fire a missile in a turn greater than 3 g's.

Heat-seeking missiles can be distracted by other heat-emitting
object such as the sun and tropical jungle floors. Hitting
targets below the horizon or in the sun can be difficult.

Tracking Another Opponent While You Attack
If you're closing on two enemies, chances are they'll break in
opposite directions when you attack. You want to press your
attack on one of the planes while keeping an eye on the other.
Here's a trick. Target the opponent you AREN'T following. Once
you've shot down the untargeted plane, the target marker will
tell you where to find the other plane. 

Let Yeager Be Your Wingman
When you're concentrating on your attack, it helps to have a
wingman who can check six for you. Let Yeager alert you to
bandits on your six. Press Shift-4 to turn the Yeager Window on
and off.

Maneuver

When an initial attack fails and the element of surprise has been
lost, each pilot performs a series of maneuvers and
counter-maneuvers until one opponent successfully disengages or
is shot down. This maneuvering phase is what's traditionally
known as the dogfight, the relatively but intensely active
period in which each pilot twists and gyrates in an attempt to
get into his opponent's cone of vulnerability.

Though air combat is complex, random movement will not win the
day. At any given point in a dogfight, there are good and bad
maneuvers, a wrong response to a situation can spell a pilot's
death if luck isn't on his side. Nonetheless, no air combat
scenario is scripted from the start. It's the individual pilot,
with his own experience, awareness, and ability to handle his
equipment, that makes every air combat encounter unpredictable.

Pursuit
Pursuit can be difficult once the target has moved off of the
screen. Here are some ways to overcome this difficulty.

Using the Target Marker
Whenever a targeted opponent is not in forward view of your
cockpit, that is, he's above, below, off to a side, or behind
you, a small X (the target marker) indicates which direction you
need to travel in order to get back into a firing position. This
direction is the shortest possible route between the nose of your
aircraft and the enemy plane. Note that this is not necessarily
the best route, at low altitudes, you could auger in following
the shortest route to your target!

If your primary objective at the moment is to bring the enemy
into view, bank until the target marker is at the top of the
screen, and then pull back on the stick until the marker is in
the center. Once you get him into your sights, let him have it.

Using Plane -> Target View to Pursue
If your opponent is nearby but off of the screen, you can use the
Plane -> Target view (F7) to continue following him (remember, the
opponent must currently be targeted). With this view, you'll know
immediately if he reverses direction.

Using Up 45-degree View in a Turn
When you're hard on your opponent's tail and turning with him,
you can use the Up 45-degree view to quickly see how close he is. 
If he's real close, you may want to drop air brakes or flaps to
bleed off a little speed, this will give you a tighter turn and
pull him into your gun sights. 

Note: You could ease off on the throttle, but flaps act more
quickly. You also don't have to waste time later bringing your
engine back up to speed.

Altitude vs. Speed
You always want to have enough speed to maneuver in any
direction. Too much speed means that you can't turn quickly,
you're barreling along but you can't pull the g's. Too little
speed means that you can't climb or turn at all, all you can do
is peter along in level flight.

It helps to imagine a fighter's speed as a limited resgurce, just
like its fuel. Climbing and hard maneuvering "cost" the pilot
speed as his airplane fights gravity and drag. The engine gives
you back some of this lost speed, but you may be maneuvering too
hard to get it all back. You begin losing speed at a faster rate
than you replace it. What do you do?

In air combat, an airplane's "energy state" is more important
than its speed. Your energy state is the comb