Basic Fighter Maneuvers

Drafted — not technically validated

Module revision 2 · One-versus-one (1v1) basic fighter maneuvers (BFM). Aircraft-agnostic concepts, illustrated with the US Navy's T-45C training syllabus. Defensive and high-aspect BFM and section (2v1) engaged maneuvering are outside this revision.

Learn the geometry first, then how turn performance, the vertical and energy decide what each aircraft can do. Every figure is interactive. Revision 2 adds three-dimensional maneuvers: the split-S, yo-yos and scissors.

Purpose and learning objectives

BFM is the craft of maneuvering one aircraft against another, within visual range, to reach a position to employ weapons or deny the opponent one. The Navy's training text notes that the fundamental tactics and maneuvers of air combat have changed little in the last 70 years. [1, p. xiii]

By the end you should be able to: say who has positional advantage from the 3/9 line, angle off and aspect; choose lead, pure or lag pursuit for a purpose; explain corner airspeed and the difference between a load-limited and a lift-limited pull; describe how gravity changes a turn in the vertical; tell a one-circle fight from a two-circle fight; name the three overshoots; and describe the split-S, the high and low yo-yo and the flat and rolling scissors in three dimensions.

This is a conceptual reference, not a syllabus or an aircraft procedure. Numbers such as 410 KIAS or 7.33 G belong to the T-45C in the source. Your aircraft's corner airspeed, limits and training rules come from its own manual and your unit's rules.

The training frame

BFM training is flown inside rules that keep the fight safe. In the T-45 syllabus, each aircraft is responsible for its own collision avoidance and keeps 500 ft separation from every other aircraft at all times. A "knock-it-off" ends the engagement any time deconfliction is not assured, and for listed conditions including breaking the minimum altitude, G-induced loss of consciousness (G-LOC), bingo fuel and lost situational awareness. [1, pp. 3-2–3-3] A G-warm maneuver precedes air combat maneuvering (ACM). [1, p. 3-2]

The floor is the hard deck: at least 10,000 ft above ground level, or 5,000 ft above an undercast, with a soft deck 5,000 ft above it. [1, p. 3-1] Setups are briefed as PADS: position, altitude (relative to the hard deck), distance and speed. [1, pp. 2-2, 5-9] Head-on missile attacks are not allowed inside 9,000 ft (1.5 NM) and within 20° of the target's nose. [1, p. 3-3]

Geometry: who is offensive?

Positional advantage is judged against the opponent's 3/9 line, an imaginary line through its wingtips, at right angles to its flight path (the "3 and 9 o'clock" line). Behind it is generally offensive. [1, p. 5-1]

Three angles describe the picture. Angle off nose (AON) is how far an aircraft is off your nose. Angle off tail (AOT) is how far an aircraft is off your tail. Target aspect is the angular difference between the bandit's nose and your aircraft. [1, pp. 5-7–5-8] In the figure, target aspect and AOT are measured at the bandit, so they add to 180°.

An aircraft's turn circle is the turn it is actually scribing; the post is the centre of that circle, and the plane of motion is the plane the circle lies in. The bubble is the turn an aircraft scribes at maximum performance. An aircraft cannot turn inside its own bubble, so if you are inside another aircraft's bubble you are, for the moment, safe from its nose. The source uses a typical 3,000 ft T-45 turn radius for the bubble. [1, pp. 5-2–5-3, 5-22] The control zone is a cone-like area 2,000 to 4,000 ft behind a maneuvering aircraft. An attacker who arrives there with range, angles and closure under control can stay there; the defender can no longer deny the position. [1, p. 5-3]

Figure 1 — BFM geometry explorer (plan view)

Move the bandit. You fly north (up the page). The readout updates the angles and tells you where you stand.

Range Bandit off your nose Bandit heading vs yours

Interactive figure unavailable. At the default setting (bandit 3,000 ft away, 20° right of your nose, heading 30° right of yours) target aspect is 170° and you are 10° off its tail: behind its 3/9 line, outside its bubble and in the control zone range band.

Bubble circles use the source's 3,000 ft typical radius. The control zone is drawn ±30° either side of the bandit's tail for illustration; the source gives its range, not its width.

Pursuit curves

Where you point your nose, or your lift vector (LV), relative to the bandit sets the pursuit curve. [1, p. 5-4]

Lead pursuit: nose or LV in front of the bandit. Use it only to employ weapons or when you need to close nose-to-tail distance, then follow it with lag to reduce closure and AOT.
Pure pursuit: nose or LV on the bandit. Used to employ weapons; it collapses range moderately and increases closure.
Lag pursuit: nose or LV behind the bandit. Used to manage the range, angle and closure problem; held too long, it can give away the offensive advantage.

Figure 2 — Pursuit curves against a turning bandit (plan view)

Pursuit Lead Pure Lag

Interactive figure unavailable. Closest approach in this illustration: lead 337 ft, pure 1,125 ft, lag 1,921 ft, each at 12.6 s; after 24 s the ranges are 3,117, 3,205 and 3,289 ft.

Kinematic illustration only: both aircraft hold 350 kt; the bandit flies a 3,000 ft circle; the fighter starts 6,000 ft away, 45° off the bandit's tail, and turns at up to 15° per second toward a point 1.5 seconds of bandit flight ahead of it (lead), on it (pure) or behind it (lag). Energy, G and closure control are not modelled. Select Play to watch it develop: lead collapses range fastest and lag keeps it.

Turn performance

An energy–maneuverability (E-M) diagram outlines an aircraft's turn performance in a level turn in the horizontal plane. [1, p. 4-2] Lift depends on the lift coefficient, which rises with angle of attack (AOA) to a maximum; in the T-45 that maximum is at 21 units AOA, in heavy buffet. [1, pp. 4-1–4-2]

Two limits meet at corner airspeed. Above it, a maximum-performance pull is a load-limit pull: 7.33 G in the T-45 above 5,000 ft. Below it, it is a lift-limit pull at 19–21 units AOA, the rumble of buffet. [1, p. 4-3] T-45 corner airspeed is 410 KIAS: it gives the best instantaneous turn performance but also the highest bleed rate, about 8 knots per second in a maximum-performance pull. [1, p. 4-4]

T-45C BFM airspeeds [1, pp. 4-4–4-5]
Airspeed	KIAS	Why it matters
Corner	410	Best instantaneous turn; highest bleed rate (8 kt/s)
Best sustained turn rate	240–330	Where specific excess power (P_s) is zero: the turn sustains energy
Minimum radius band	140–180	All altitudes
Minimum vertical	300	Listed by the source; see the vertical below
Tactical vertical	350	Listed by the source; see the vertical below

For acceleration, unload to 0 G with military rated thrust (MRT). A compromise pull eases a load-limit pull by 1–2 G, or targets 17 units (light buffet) instead of a lift-limit pull, to keep good turn performance without maximum-performance bleed. [1, p. 4-4]

Figure 3 — Airspeed bands and a level turn

Airspeed Load factor

Interactive figure unavailable. At 410 KIAS and 7.33 G the level turn has 82.2° of bank, a 2,050 ft radius and a rate of 19.3° per second: corner airspeed, inside the 3,000 ft bubble radius.

Level-turn model: bank φ = arccos(1/n); radius r = V² ÷ (g√(n² − 1)); rate ω = g√(n² − 1) ÷ V, with V the true airspeed and g = 9.80665 m/s². It treats the indicated airspeed as true airspeed (sea level, standard day, no instrument or compressibility error), so at altitude the real radius is larger. Worked example: 410 kt (210.9 m/s) at 7.33 G gives √(7.33² − 1) = 7.26, r = 210.9² ÷ (9.807 × 7.26) = 625 m ≈ 2,050 ft and ω = 0.338 rad/s ≈ 19.3° per second.

Using the vertical

E-M diagrams only show level turns, so they say nothing about gravity in the vertical. [1, p. 4-5] The source separates the load factor the pilot pulls from gravity, and calls their combination radial G, the total turn performance. With a constant 4 G pull in a loop, gravity fights the turn at the bottom (about 3 radial G) and helps at the top (about 5), so the turn is tighter there. In a nose-low maneuver the effects reverse: at constant G, turn rate decreases and radius increases as the nose comes through the bottom. [1, pp. 4-5–4-7]

Figure 4 — Radial G around a loop (side view)

Pitch around the loop Load factor

Interactive figure unavailable. At a constant 4 G: 3 radial G at the bottom, 4 pointing straight up, 5 inverted at the top.

Radial G = n − cos θ, where θ is the pitch angle around the loop (0° at the bottom, 90° straight up, 180° inverted at the top). With n = 4 this gives 3 at the bottom and 5 at the top, matching the source. The drawn loop is a circle for clarity; with constant G a real loop is tighter over the top.

The deck and the 10% rule

Going nose-low costs altitude. Flown at maximum performance (19–21 units), a T-45 needs about 6,000–6,500 ft to complete a pure nose-low maneuver; slower airspeeds give a smaller radius and need less. [1, p. 4-7] As a conservative rule of thumb for recovering to level flight above the deck, the maximum degrees nose-low is 10% of the altitude above the deck in feet: 50° at 5,000 ft down to 10° at 1,000 ft. [1, p. 4-8]

Figure 5 — Maximum nose-low above the deck (side view)

Height above the deck

Interactive figure unavailable. 4,000 ft above the deck: no more than about 40° nose low.

Vertical scale only; the line shows the attitude, not a flight path.

One-circle and two-circle flow

In two-circle (2C) flow, also called a nose-to-tail, rate or energy fight, the angular advantage usually goes to the aircraft with the higher turn rate at its corner speed. In one-circle (1C) flow, a radius or nose-to-nose fight, the aircraft with the smaller turn radius has the advantage and turn rate matters little. [1, p. 5-6] In 2C flow the two turn circles are centred over different points, so misaligned circles can bring the attacker's nose to bear through geometry alone. [1, p. 5-6]

Figure 6 — Flow after a pass (plan view)

Two-circle: after the pass both aircraft turn toward each other. Each flies its own circle in the same rotational sense, so they chase nose-to-tail and turn rate decides who gains angles.
One-circle: after the pass one aircraft turns toward and the other away, so they share a circle in opposite directions and meet nose-to-nose again; the smaller radius wins.

Unverified here: how each flow arises from the turn directions at the pass is standard BFM geometry, but it is not stated in the source pages reviewed for this revision.

Overshoots and energy

An attacker who carries too much angle or closure overshoots. The source names three. [1, p. 5-5]

Figure 7 — The three overshoots (plan view)

Flight path overshoot: the attacker flies through the defender's flight path. It should happen within or aft of the control zone.
In-close overshoot: a flight path overshoot with high AOT close behind the defender, within about 2,000 ft.
3/9 line overshoot: the attacker passes forward of the defender's 3/9 line, and the roles reverse.

An energy excursion is the conscious sacrifice of airspeed for angles, accepted to take or deny a shot or turning room. [1, p. 5-7] In the flat scissors, airspeed (kinetic energy) is traded for altitude (potential energy) to control airspeed and downrange travel; a source rule of thumb there is that your airspeed minus 100 is the maximum usable angle of bank, about 30° at 130 KIAS. [1, pp. 5-13–5-15] On the offensive, the source's T-45 guidance is not to let airspeed fall below 300–330 KIAS except during an energy excursion for a shot. [1, p. 5-24]

Maneuvering in three dimensions

Fights are not flat. Pulling the nose above or below the horizon trades airspeed for altitude and back, changes how gravity helps or hurts the turn, and takes you out of the opponent's plane of motion. Figure 8 draws five maneuvers as wide ribbon arrows: each aircraft's path is a band as wide as its wings, lying in its wing plane, so the band twists as the aircraft rolls. Every maneuver is shown in a fixed perspective view and two flat views, so nothing needs rotating.

Figure 8 — Maneuvers as ribbon arrows (perspective, plan and side views)

Interactive figure unavailable. In the figure's model a split-S from 250 KIAS at 15,000 ft, pulled at the lift limit, takes about 6,440 ft and exits at about 340 KIAS; a high yo-yo from 450 kt climbs about 1,320 ft and arrives about 2,900 ft behind the bandit, where the same pursuit without it closes to 650 ft.

Reading the ribbons: light where you see the band's canopy side, dark where you see its underside; numbers are seconds from the start, at the same times on both aircraft; the arrowhead is where the drawing ends. Blue is you, black and white the bandit; a dashed line is the same start flown without the maneuver. Ribbons are drawn wider than to scale. Model: each aircraft is a point mass flying at the end of its lift vector, with gravity; thrust balances drag at 1 G, and pulling harder bleeds energy at a rate set so that a 7.33 G pull at the 410 KIAS corner bleeds 8 kt per second, the source's T-45 figure [1, p. 4-4]. The G available grows with the square of indicated airspeed up to the 7.33 G limit at corner. The split-S is flown at 15,000 ft (true airspeed is about 26% above indicated there; at sea level the same pull would take about 4,050 ft). The yo-yos are flown at sea level against a bandit holding a level 350 kt, 3,000 ft turn. The scissors are fixed shapes that illustrate the geometry; they are not solved fights.

Split-S

From level flight, roll inverted and pull through the bottom to level flight on the reverse heading: a pure nose-low, wings-level maneuver. A T-45 needs about 6,000–6,500 ft of altitude to complete a pure nose-low maneuver (split-S) at maximum performance, 19–21 units AOA; slower airspeeds need less. [1, p. 4-7] The aircraft does not bleed energy in an extreme nose-low maneuver: it comes out faster than it went in. [1, p. 4-6] Before going nose-low, check the 10% rule above.

High yo-yo

The high yo-yo is "a lag pursuit maneuver designed to reduce angle off and closure rate". It prevents an in-close, low-to-medium angle-off overshoot and controls nose-to-tail separation. When you recognize excessive closure or a potential overshoot, quarter-roll away from the bandit's maneuvering plane and pull the nose up, trading airspeed for altitude; then roll back toward the bandit and pull back down into pursuit. "A low-angle overshoot at range is far better than a high angle overshoot in-close." [2, p. 28] P-1289 gives the same idea at the perch: to prevent an in-close overshoot, ease the pull or roll 45° up and out of plane momentarily. [1, p. 5-23]

Low yo-yo

When you overshoot the control zone, or cannot manage the turn rate to bring your nose to bear, a low yo-yo is an option. Pull the nose down toward the inside of the bandit's turn and position it well in front of the bandit (lead pursuit); approaching the desired weapons range, work the nose back up toward the bandit, avoiding heavy buffet. If that builds excessive closure, use a high yo-yo. [2, p. 27] P-1289 is cautious: when following a bandit's nose-low maneuver, "Do not perform a low yo-yo type maneuver to make up angles as this will only result in a loss of altitude advantage." [1, p. 5-25] As an illustration only, not evidence: in the figure's simplified model, against a bandit holding its turn, the low yo-yo also costs altitude without gaining range.

Rolling scissors

The rolling scissors (the "roller") is a fight with both aircraft inside each other's bubble for as long as it stays neutral; offensively, finding yourself in one means you have made a mistake. [1, p. 5-18] In the training set it starts from a wings-level pull that forces a vertical overshoot. [1, p. 5-19] A key to winning is getting your nose up while you are at the bottom, with enough airspeed to force a vertical overshoot but not so much that you flush downrange. Over the top, roll to put your lift vector above the bandit, about 60° angle of bank, in a lift-limit pull. A full iteration normally needs 4,000 ft of turning room above the deck. [1, pp. 5-20–5-21] It ends when one aircraft gains enough advantage to pull for a shot, or the fight is redefined: overbank in your current direction, trade altitude for airspeed and transition to two-circle flow. [1, pp. 5-20–5-21]

Flat scissors

The flat scissors ("flats") is a slow-speed, high-AOA radius fight that typically follows an in-close overshoot. Both aircraft try to reduce their travel downrange with a series of S turns, transferring airspeed into altitude, with the lift vector typically placed aft of the bandit's control zone. [1, p. 5-13] A rule of thumb is to pull 40–50° nose-high at first and begin recovering at 150–160 KIAS; simply flying as slowly as possible, wings level, with no energy left to maneuver, is not the answer. [1, pp. 5-14–5-15] To work in phase, turn aft of the bandit's 3/9 line before the flight paths cross. [1, p. 5-15]

Guns employment

The source contrasts two gun reticle modes. The lead-angle-computing mode is for non-maneuvering targets at 1,000 ft and is not used in its syllabus; the real-time gunsight (RTGS) is for tracking a maneuvering target by keeping the pipper ahead of it. [1, pp. 5-8–5-9] In the snap shot drill, adjust the pull until the bandit fills three-quarters to all of the pipper (about a 1,000–1,500 ft shot) and squeeze the trigger as the bandit crosses the canopy bow, holding it until he passes through the head-up display. If the shooter would violate the 500 ft bubble, either aircraft calls "skip it". [1, pp. 5-9–5-12] For training kill assessment, two valid snap shots, or one second of cumulative tracking, equal a kill. [1, p. 2-5]

BFM terms

3/9 line: An imaginary line through an aircraft's wingtips, at right angles to its flight path (the “3 and 9 o'clock” line). Behind it is generally offensive.
Bubble: The turn an aircraft scribes at maximum performance. An aircraft cannot turn inside its own bubble, so an opponent inside it is, for the moment, safe from its nose.
Post: The centre of the turn circle an aircraft is actually scribing.
Plane of motion: The plane in which an aircraft's turn circle lies.
Control zone: A cone-like area 2,000 to 4,000 feet behind a maneuvering aircraft. An attacker who arrives there with range, angles and closure under control can stay there, and the defender can no longer deny the position.
Target aspect: The angular difference between the bandit's nose and your aircraft.
Lag pursuit: Nose or lift vector behind the bandit, used to manage the range, angle and closure problem. Held too long, it can give away the offensive advantage.
Lead pursuit: Nose or lift vector in front of the bandit, used only to employ weapons or to close nose-to-tail distance, then followed by lag to reduce closure and angle off tail.
Corner airspeed: The airspeed where the load limit and the lift limit meet. It gives the best instantaneous turn performance, but also the highest bleed rate.
Radial G: The combination of the load factor the pilot pulls and gravity, the total turn performance. With a constant pull in a loop, gravity fights the turn at the bottom and helps it at the top.
Energy excursion: The conscious sacrifice of airspeed for angles, accepted to take or deny a shot or turning room.
Two-circle flow: A nose-to-tail rate or energy fight, in which the two turn circles are centred over different points. The angular advantage usually goes to the aircraft with the higher turn rate at its corner speed.
One-circle flow: A radius or nose-to-nose fight, in which the aircraft with the smaller turn radius has the advantage and turn rate matters little.
Split-S: A pure nose-low maneuver. Flown at maximum performance, a T-45 needs about 6,000 to 6,500 feet of altitude to complete one, and comes out faster than it went in.
High yo-yo: “A lag pursuit maneuver designed to reduce angle off and closure rate.” The attacker quarter-rolls away from the bandit's maneuvering plane and pulls the nose up, trading airspeed for altitude, then rolls back toward the bandit and pulls down into pursuit.
Low yo-yo: Pulling the nose down toward the inside of the bandit's turn and well in front of it (lead pursuit), then working it back up toward the bandit approaching weapons range. An option after overshooting the control zone, or when turn rate cannot bring the nose to bear.
Rolling scissors: A fight with both aircraft inside each other's bubble, rolling over the top of each other, neutral for as long as it lasts. Offensively, finding yourself in one means a mistake has been made.
Flat scissors: A slow-speed, high angle-of-attack radius fight that typically follows an in-close overshoot. Both aircraft fly a series of S turns, transferring airspeed into altitude, to reduce their travel downrange.
Hard deck: The training floor, at least 10,000 feet above ground level or 5,000 feet above an undercast, with a soft deck 5,000 feet above it.

Quiz: name the term

Check your understanding

The bandit is 2,500 ft away, 150° target aspect. Are you offensive?

Yes, if your angles and closure are under control. A target aspect over 90° means you are behind its 3/9 line, and 2,500 ft is inside the control zone's 2,000–4,000 ft range.

Why not stay in lead pursuit all the way in?

Lead collapses range and builds closure. Use it for a shot or to close distance, then go to lag to control closure and AOT, or you risk an overshoot.

You are at 450 KIAS in a T-45. What limits a maximum-performance pull?

You are above the 410 KIAS corner, so the load limit: 7.33 G above 5,000 ft.

Where in a 4 G loop is the turn tightest?

Over the top, where gravity adds to the pull: about 5 radial G against 3 at the bottom.

You are 3,000 ft above the deck. How far nose-low can you go?

About 30° by the 10% rule.

In a one-circle fight, does a higher turn rate win?

No. One-circle is a radius fight: the smaller turn radius has the advantage.

You are closing fast, low angle off, about to overshoot. Which yo-yo?

A high yo-yo: roll away from the bandit's plane of motion and pull up, trading airspeed for altitude to kill closure, then come back down behind it. A low-angle overshoot at range beats a high-angle one in close.

How much room does a T-45 need for a split-S at maximum performance?

About 6,000–6,500 ft. Start one only with that much room above the deck.

Sources and applicability

[1] Naval Air Training Command, CNATRA P-1289 (Rev. 01-16), Flight Training Instruction, Basic Fighter Maneuvering (1v1), Section Engaged Maneuvering (2v1), T-45. Revision 3 dated 7 January 2016, Change 1 dated 3 March 2021; cleared for public release. Read the publication (cnatra.navy.mil). Inspected 24 October 2026: introduction p. xiii; PADS and kill criteria pp. 2-2, 2-5; training rules pp. 3-1–3-3; aerodynamics pp. 4-1–4-8; offensive BFM pp. 5-1–5-25 (revision 2 adds pp. 4-6, 5-13–5-21 and 5-23–5-25).

[2] US Navy flight training publication P-1218, Tactical Formation, (11-98) Original. Read as transcribed by Integrated Publishing: low yo-yo, p. 27 and high yo-yo, p. 28 (navyflightmanuals.tpub.com). Inspected 24 October 2026. The transcription carries no issuing command or distribution statement, and its host is not yet one the repository's source review can read, so claims cited to it are unverified by that review.

Page-specific excerpts are recorded in the repository review evidence: P-1289 evidence.

Figures 1–8 are original line drawings, not reproductions of any manual figure, and are not to scale except where a caption says so. The level-turn, radial-G, pursuit and maneuver figures use the simplified models described with them.

Applicability: the source is a T-45C training instruction. Its airspeeds, G limit, deck altitudes and training rules are that syllabus's figures, used here as worked examples. This revision is Drafted pending independent source-backed review.