BlackSheep wrote:
I'm a fighter pilot in World War I, I sight the enemy as he made. We are in even position on each other. I know to have much more fuel. What I do? I rush in since HeadMMoid says that fuel has no tactical value or I try to use my fuel to gain a better tactical position? What should you do? Attack immediately! You obviously have the gift of omniscience and should have no difficulty knowing where he is going.
Your proposed encounter is a work of meaningless fiction. Except in a very few special cases, it is not possible for a pilot to know the fuel state of an enemy aircraft. I grant that in World War II a Spitfire pilot who has been hovering over London for twenty minutes may safely guess that he has more fuel than the Me.109 pilot in the distance. A SPAD XIII pilot patrolling over the front who meets an Albatross has no such assurance. Fortunately, however, as the SPAD pilot you do know that if you are still within the planned parameters of your patrol you have sufficient fuel to engage in combat and return home -- and you would expect that your opponent has planned correctly and is smart enough to be in a similar situation. |