Flat Scissors
This is an article about the ACM Flat Scissors technique, written by "Sensei" Rapier for the Fighter Ace Combat Manual. Reprinted by permission of the author (Rapier) and Microsoft Corporation, publishers.
The Flat Scissors or… How to Snip Your Opponent
By Rapier, Fighter Ace Content Manager–
This sound familiar at all? You close on the tail of a Spitfire and before you can get a good shot, it has initiated a break turn. Before you can get saddled up (see the article on Fighter Gunnery) the enemy fighter breaks into the opposite direction. You immediately reverse the stick and pull in behind them, but before you can fire, they again reverse direction. You might have time to notice that you are closing rapidly and then you go by them. Now YOU are the target out in front. Boom! So, Ace, what happened? You, my friend, are a victim of the Flat Scissors.
I fired and the ‘190 rolled over into a diving curve. Chopping the throttle, I followed, having no difficulty in staying behind him, although his turning only allowed deflection shots . . . All the same, down and around we went and I would try another short burst until we were almost on the treetops. Since having unleashed 300 rounds and never registering a hit using the auxiliary sight, I decided it was now prudent to break off and try another day.
Colonel Hubert "Hub" Zemke
56th Fighter Group, 17.5 victories
The Flat Scissors is really a series of lead turns in which the attacker tries to pull onto the opponent’s tail.
It is not just a contest of turn radius.
The defender tries to force an overshoot by continually turning and increasing the rate of closure. They can aid this increased closure by chopping throttle and in extreme cases even dropping flaps and landing gear.
It can also be done by a combination of slowing down and turning sharper, both of which will decrease travel forward along the straight-line vector that both fighters are traveling (both fighters are zig-zagging to both sides of this vector). The advantage here goes to the plane that turns the best from side to side or tightest. It is not just a contest of turn radius; there are also a number of other factors involved in this equation. Roll rate, or the ability to go from a left to right turn and back again, can be a deciding factor. If you think about it, during the time that the plane is rolling from side to side, it is essentially traveling in a straight line and not turning at all. The longer it stays in this state, the worse it is in the Flat Scissors. Planes like the P-38 should try to stay away from the Flat Scissors, even though they have a good turn rate, because of their poor roll rate. The P-38 pilot can reduce this risk by good anticipation of the opponent’s reversals.
In the case of two planes of equal turning ability, the one that can slow and turn tighter will start to have the advantage until its speed drops down too low and it starts to lose its ability to maintain altitude and speed. As the fighters approach stall speed, the advantage will go to the plane with the lower stall speed and low-speed maneuverability. Of course, that leaves both fighters as meat-on-the-table for faster opponents.
Your flying ability, timing, and good flying technique in your reversals will determine whether you are the winner or loser in the Scissors. Pilots using the Scissors usually have a rhythm working and you must anticipate it and time your reversals to reduce your angle off their tail. The low angle off their tail, or AOT, gives you maximum shooting time and shows that you are being successful in cutting inside their turn. Use your rudder to boost your roll rate and be precise in your control inputs so that your fighter is not slewing around behind the target. In general, early reversals will lead to a quicker advantage over the opponent as long as you don’t get too far out of phase with them. Properly timed reversals will result in you being able to stay "in-phase" longer, and, finally, there will no longer be any overshoot. At this point you should be able to end the engagement with a well-aimed burst.
If you cannot compete in the low-speed turn department, as in a FW vs. Spit match up, then don’t play the other guy’s game. Take whatever shots you get on your pass and then pull up. Rely on your heavy guns to get the kill and take multiple passes if necessary. You can always pull up into a loop and come down on them again, after they have sacrificed all their speed and turn ability by chopping the throttle and slowing down. Good shooting (and a good connect) will reduce the amount of time it takes to get a kill.
One other danger of the Flat Scissors is that it tends to draw the opposing fighters closer together (remember the closure rate?) and there is a great danger of collision. Make sure you watch your rate of closure and speed, and if you look like you are going to crash, move for vertical separation — that is, climb or dive relative to the other plane. It is far better to decide early in the Scissors that you can take the opponent out in a single pass. If you don’t think you can, DON"T follow them in the Scissors. Pull up and off and set up for a better pass.
I slipped over to go after him and lost sight of him momentarily. And that is the trouble: things change so fast in the sky. You have your man, you miss him, you lose him — and maybe you’ve lost the whole world and yourself along with it. It happens while you’re snapping your fingers a couple of times or making one pass.
Then I saw my Zero again, pulling up and heading northwest. I poured wide-open throttle to it and went right after him. Somehow it was the biggest thrill I ever had . . . I got above him, closing the gap a little more and a little more. In the meantime, he’d been doing S turns, and I kept sliding over so he wouldn’t see me. Finally I got up to twenty or thirty yards — just like opening a door and walking into a room, it was so close. Then I fired the shortest burst I ever used, not more than twenty or thirty shots, but they were all smashing right home into him, and he blew up all over the sky. . . .
2nd Lt. Jack E. Conger, USMC
VMF-212, Guadalcanal, 10 victories
From the defender’s standpoint, the Flat Scissors is a good bet if you have a better turn/roll rate performance or an advantage in low-speed turn performance, which is what makes it a good bet for Spitfires, Hurricanes, and Yaks. Remember, it is your turn performance relative to the other guy that makes this work. A Mustang driver might try this against a FW, particularly at altitude, but it would be much more difficult against a Spit. Also, from your standpoint, high closure is a good thing, so chop throttle, drop flaps and gear as you slow, and then throw out the anchor. Just don’t get so slow that you can’t maneuver for the shot when they do overshoot. Keep in mind that this tactic is a risk! You are crossing continuously in front of the guns of your opponent and they will have a shot opportunity each time. A little three-dimensional movement (add up and down movement) or crossed controls as you cross in front of them can complicate their firing solution.
If you have a plane with a relatively good climb rate, you can climb during the Scissors and increase closure rate, or if you really have an advantage, you can generate enough vertical separation to get out of range and pull down the opponent for a guns pass.
On both sides of the equation, it is important to recognize early what is happening, make an assessment of the merits of your plane and the opponent’s, and then decide whether to continue or not. To not recognize the Flat Scissors means you will be led by the nose throughout the fight. Not a good way to win . . .
There are roads that must not be followed, towns that must not be besieged… In the wise leader’s plans, considerations of advantage and disadvantage will be blended together. If our expectation of advantage be tempered in this way, we may succeed in accomplishing the essential part of our schemes. If, on the other hand, in the midst of difficulties, we are always ready to seize an advantage, we may extricate ourselves from misfortune.
Sun Tzu
The Art of War
References
- Brand, Max. Fighter Squadron at Guadalcanal. New York: Pocket Books, 1996; p. 169
- Shaw, Robert. Fighter Combat: Tactics and Maneuvering. Annapolis, MD: United States Naval Institute Press, 1985; pp. 82-86.
- Sun Tzu. The Art of War. James Clavell, ed. New York: Dell Publishing, 1983; p. 37-39
- Zemke, Hubert, with Roger A. Freeman. Zemke’s Wolfpack. New York: Pocket Books, 1988; p. 175
© 1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission from the MSN Gaming Zone.
