Chapter 63: Leading the Target in Shooting

Chapter 63: Deflection Shooting

When the Type 95 fighter dove to a height of 500 meters above the ground, Zhou Zhihan abruptly pulled up, climbed, leveled out, flew straight, and then dove and pulled up again. Repeating this multiple times, he further mastered the basic maneuvering capabilities of the Type 95 fighter.

After flying level for a while, Zhou Zhihan first performed a few simple warm-up maneuvers, and then, following the prompts in the flight manual, practiced the sharp turn into a half-roll maneuver.

The crux of this maneuver lies in seizing the optimal timing for the half-roll immediately after the sharp turn, and knowing how to quickly recover after the roll. Upon recovery, one can either shake off the enemy aircraft's entanglement to quickly disengage from the dogfight, or seize the initiative during the melee to launch a preemptive strike against the enemy.

After practicing the sharp turn into half-roll maneuver dozens of times to grasp the essence of the half-roll and explore the aircraft's optimal recovery moment, seeing that his fuel was running low, Zhou Zhihan pushed the control stick forward, sent the Type 95 fighter into another dive, and then landed smoothly.

Five minutes later, Zhou Zhihan settled into the cockpit of the P-26 fighter.

The functions of the instrument panels in the two fighter cockpits were roughly similar, and the startup procedures were also basically the same.

Turn on the power switch,
turn on the cockpit instrument lights,
start the engine.
"Boom!"
The P-26's R-1340-33 engine erupted with powerful force. Seven or eight seconds later, the engine's vibration gradually subsided.

All instruments were normal.
Release the parking brake,
apply a light touch of throttle,
the aircraft slowly taxied forward,
advance the throttle with the steady pace of an ant,
the forward speed reached 10...
Pull back gently on the control stick,
push the throttle forward to increase acceleration and increase fuel supply.

Pull the control stick further,
"Whoosh!"
The nose of the P-26 fighter pitched up, its front wheels bouncing off the ground twice before the rear wheels left the ground as well, climbing upward.

The P-26 was a biplane. Its takeoff angle of attack was slightly smaller than that of the Type 95 fighter, and its diagonal ascent speed was also very fast, so its initial climb rate was comparable to that of the Type 95.

After passing 700 meters, Zhou Zhihan increased the P-26's pitch angle, climbing upward with high power and high speed.

Due to its relatively light weight and biplane design, the P-26's service ceiling could reach 7,200 meters. However, just like the Type 95, at this altitude, both the airframe and the engine endured tremendous stress.

At 7,200 meters, the airframe vibrated violently. Zhou Zhihan pushed the control stick forward, and the nose of the P-26 easily recovered into level flight. A moment later, he dove down to 2,600 meters, leveled out the nose, and practiced various maneuvers.

Two hours later, Zhou Zhihan landed the P-26 fighter smoothly, though its landing stability was inferior to that of the Type 95 fighter.

Zhou Zhihan had also gained a deep understanding of the P-26 fighter. Although the P-26's 530 horsepower fell far short of the Type 95's 810 horsepower, its wing drag was lower, its empty weight was lighter, and its turning radius was smaller, giving it a slight edge when performing various maneuvers.

Recovering from aircraft states during maneuvers was also slightly easier in the P-26 than in the Type 95, though in terms of raw power, the former lagged behind the latter.

The power of the Type 95 fighter was already considered top-tier among contemporary fighters; it was just that its ceiling capability was not as formidable as legend suggested. Its maximum service ceiling did not exceed 8,000 meters. When continuing to climb upward past 6,000 meters, its power output was clearly insufficient. Below 5,500 meters, however, the power output of this aircraft was exceptionally brilliant.

The shortcoming of the Type 95 fighter was perhaps its monoplane wing configuration. Fighter technology was accelerating and changing with each passing day. No matter how outstanding a monoplane fighter was during takeoff and landing, its overly large turning radius in a dogfight was a major weakness. Its aerial maneuverability was also constrained by the high drag of the monoplane wing, lacking the agility of a biplane—a helpless drawback indeed.

A rapid climb followed by a diving attack was the trump card of the Type 95 fighter, but these three strikes were far too simple. If it encountered an experienced biplane pilot, just a few rolls or a small-angle lagging maneuver would be enough to neutralize the Type 95's high-altitude diving advantage.

If these two fighters climbed above 6,000 meters, they could only sustain flight for a short time, mostly for launching diving attacks or climbing to disengage. It was difficult to conduct air combat or dogfighting at that altitude.

Zhou Zhihan's four hours of flight were equivalent to two hundred hours for others. Flight experience had been accumulated, but it also required slow digestion and reflection.

Upon exiting the "Overlord of the Skies" manual, Zhou Zhihan collapsed onto the bed, exhausted.

System: "Following this period of flight practice, the host has reached the realm of a quasi-ace pilot in terms of flight technique mastery, but is still a long way from an ace among aces.

Next, the host's primary task is to refine the techniques, knowledge, and experience learned during this period, engaging in more flight practice and contemplation.

Once the host completely masters all intermediate maneuvering techniques, we will move on to study the most crucial component of air combat—the use of airborne weaponry.

The host must understand that in life-or-death air combat, no tactical skill is entirely correct, rational, or invincible. However, the host can find relatively correct and invincible combat techniques within the 'Overlord of the Skies' manual, synthesize all learned skills and tactics, and devise your own unique, invincible air combat techniques.

The host must continuously accumulate the flight experience, attack and defense techniques, ballistic techniques, shooting techniques, and offensive and defensive maneuvering techniques learned in the 'Overlord of the Skies' manual, deeply comprehending them so that upon returning to the country in the future, you can impart them to domestic pilots.

The prerequisite for achieving all of the above priorities is that, in the skies of engagement, the host must possess unmatched courage.

If a pilot lacks sufficient courage, even if he performs exceptionally well in routine flight training, shooting training, and situational awareness training, he will only become target practice for the enemy on a life-or-death battlefield.

In air combat, sometimes courage and composure can compensate to a great extent for deficiencies in flight technique and aircraft performance.

Future lessons will focus primarily on the employment of airborne weaponry in air combat.

Exquisite flight technology ensures that the host completely dominates when facing an enemy, while exquisite airborne weapon shooting technology delivers the final decisive blow.

Shooting technology includes the application of gun sights, effective shooting ranges, reasonable aiming movements, the most rational relative positioning between the attacking and attacked aircraft, which also encompasses head-on firing and trailing firing.

Both head-on firing and trailing firing require establishing a deflection angle.

Deflection is extremely important; first, one must learn how to anticipate the flight trajectory of the enemy aircraft.

Among all air combat shooting techniques, deflection is crucial to the outcome of the firing.

Once the host masters air combat shooting technology, the system will summon the consciousness of world-renowned ace pilots to pilot fighter jets and conduct simulated live-action combat exercises with the host. These will include:
The principles of defensive maneuvering using airborne weapons in air combat;
The shooting principles of aviation cannons and their relationship with ballistics in air combat;
Offensive and disengagement techniques in air combat;
Tracking and counter-tracking in air combat;
Various defensive and offensive maneuvers in actual combat, and so on.

However, all these practice flights, simulated combat flights, and ammunition for airborne weapons require a large amount of Air Combat Coins for support. Therefore, the host must find ways to earn more Air Combat Coins, and the host may also accept and complete system tasks to earn them.

The host must bear in mind that in the skies of the future Chinese War of Resistance, the performance of the host's fighter aircraft will consistently remain at a disadvantage compared to the constantly updated fighter jets of the Japanese. To compensate for the performance disadvantage of the aircraft, the host will need more Air Combat Coins to upgrade aircraft performance."