F-14 vs F-15, F-16 & F/A-18 | Mike "Nasty" Manazir (Full)

Summary

Join Mike "Nasty" Manazir as he discusses flying the legendary F-14 against other iconic jets including the F-15, F-16, and F/A-18. With over 3,000 hours of flight experience, Mike shares insights into dissimilar combat training (DAC), basic fighter maneuvers (BFM), and the thrill of aerial dogfights. Uncover what makes each aircraft unique in air combat and learn about the strategic importance of fly-by-wire systems. He also touches upon leadership principles from his book 'Learn How to Lead to Win,' and how they apply both in the sky and on the ground.

Highlights

• The F-14's modification history and its impact on performance in air combat situations. ⚙️
• Head-to-head battle stories with F-15, F-16, and F/A-18 aircraft showing the strengths and weaknesses of each jet. ✈️
• Diving into the details of Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DAC) and Basic Fighter Maneuvers (BFM). 🔄
• Exciting in-cockpit experiences and the physical challenges pilots face during dogfights. 😅
• Leadership lessons learned from aerial combat scenarios that apply universally to life and business. 🌟

Key Takeaways

• The F-14D's upgraded engines provide superior power and maneuverability, especially in slow flying scenarios. 🚀
• Fly-by-wire systems in modern jets like the F-18 Super Hornet enable better control at high angles of attack. 🎮
• Dissimilar air combat training (DAC) is crucial for pilots to learn how to confront various aircraft with different capabilities. 🛩️
• The F-16 is considered one of the best pure fighter aircraft due to its speed, agility, and 9G capability.💪
• Effective leadership principles can be drawn from aerial combat and applied to business and personal growth. 📈

Overview

Wow, what a ride! In this exhilarating interview, Mike "Nasty" Manazir takes us through his adventures flying the iconic F-14 in epic dogfights against the F-15, F-16, and F/A-18. With a whopping 3,000 hours of experience, Mike details the enhancements of the F-14D, particularly its powerful engines which redefine air combat dynamics. Curious how these machines defy gravity and fight at the edge? Stay tuned!

Ever wondered what makes an aircraft like the F-16 so formidable? It turns out, it's all about that 9G capability and the advanced fly-by-wire systems found in jets like the F-18 Super Hornet. Mike elaborates on these cutting-edge technologies that give pilots the edge in high-stakes air battles. Combat training isn’t just about flying straight lines; it's about mastering the physics of flight and anticipating your adversary's moves—a true chess game in the skies.

Beyond the adrenaline of aerial skirmishes, Mike delves into leadership wisdom gleaned from his experiences. His book, 'Learn How to Lead to Win', serves as a canvas illustrating the parallels between dogfighting and real-world leadership. Drawing lessons from high-speed confrontations with F-15s to adapting strategies mid-battle, hear how the skies above offer insights into leading with resilience and strategic vision.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Channel Introduction and Support Options The chapter outlines ways viewers can support the channel. It introduces Patreon subscriptions with four different tiers providing perks like early access and exclusive content. Additionally, there is an option for one-time donations via Paypal. Both methods of support are emphasized as important for sustaining the channel.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Introduction of "Nasty" Manazir The podcast episode introduces 'Nasty' Manazir, featuring a conversation that is highly anticipated and interacts with the audience, promoting regular engagement with the content. The host thanks the audience for their support and donations to their channel Air Curren Interview TV. The setting is an inviting return of Nasty, promising an engaging discussion on topics that are dear to both the host and the audience. The discussion is set to revolve around D or BFA, piquing interest right from the start.
• 01:30 - 04:30: Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DACT) The chapter titled 'Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DACT)' discusses the experience and perspective of flying the F14 against other fighter jets like the F-15, F-16, and F-18. It highlights the nuances of dissimilar combat training, known as DAC or basic fighter maneuvering, comparing different types of aircraft. The conversation touches on the humor found in the aviation community regarding reputations and experiences, which adds a personal touch to the technical discussion.
• 04:30 - 09:00: Comparison of F-14 and Other Fighter Jets The chapter discusses dissimilar air combat training, which involves training against different aircraft. The author has extensive experience with 3,000 hours in the F-14 and compares the engine capabilities of different models, particularly the F-14A and F-14D. The F-14D's F-110 engines are similar to those in later F-16 models, providing significant power even without the use of afterburners.
• 09:00 - 12:00: Advantages of the F-14D The chapter titled 'Advantages of the F-14D' discusses the improved performance of the F-14D aircraft over its predecessor, the F-14A. A key topic is the F-14D's enhanced engine power, particularly when engaging full afterburner, which provides significantly more thrust and maneuverability. The speaker shares a personal account, highlighting the substantial difference in power experienced after transitioning from 2500 hours on the F-14A to additional 500 hours on the more capable F-14D, characterizing it as a transformative experience in flying.
• 12:00 - 18:00: Features of Fly-by-Wire Systems This chapter discusses the features of fly-by-wire systems, highlighting how these systems allow for aircraft to maintain the same maneuvering characteristics even if they feel like stepping into a different type of aircraft. It introduces the fundamental concept of Basic Fighter Maneuvers (BFM), which are essential for flying and usually familiar to experienced aviation professionals. Additionally, it touches upon Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DACT), emphasizing the importance of understanding and executing maneuvers across different aircraft systems.
• 18:00 - 24:00: F-14D vs. Modern Jets The chapter discusses the experience and tactics of flying an F-14D aircraft against other modern jets such as F-15, F-16, and F-18 during dissimilar air combat training. A notable point highlighted is the F-14D’s capability to perform a loop at 220 knots, which is advantageous in combat scenarios that require slow flying.
• 24:00 - 30:00: Memorable Air Combat Experiences In this chapter titled 'Memorable Air Combat Experiences,' the focus is on the characteristics that make a fighter plane exceptional. Utilizing examples like the F22 and Russian Cobra Maneuvers, the text highlights the agility and maneuverability of these aircraft when engaging in air combat. As the discussion progresses, it points out that most air fights eventually slow down, leading to close encounters where strategic maneuvering becomes crucial. The narrative provides insights into the complexities of aerial combat, emphasizing the skill and precision required from fighter pilots in order to succeed in these intense dogfights.
• 30:00 - 39:00: Air Combat Strategies The chapter 'Air Combat Strategies' focuses on the importance of energy management and slow-speed maneuverability in air combat. It explains how pilots in the F-14A can perform maneuvers like going over the top, or looping, at specific speeds—325 to 350 knots. This allows them to engage effectively by extending away from opponents vertically. In contrast, the F-14D can execute similar tactics at significantly lower speeds, around 220 knots, highlighting advancements in maneuverability and control in slower engagements.
• 39:00 - 44:00: F-15 Fights and the "Cable Guy" Story The chapter titled 'F-15 Fights and the "Cable Guy" Story' includes a discussion about fighter jet maneuvers, particularly focusing on the F-14 and F-18. The narrator describes a scenario where the F-14 is flown in a circular motion with afterburners activated to gain an advantageous position. The significance of the F-14D's capability to perform this maneuver is highlighted. Additionally, the narrator shares personal experience, noting significant flight hours in the F-18.
• 44:00 - 53:00: Realistic Training Scenarios The chapter discusses the unique features of the F-18 Super Hornet, specifically its software designed to assist in flying at slower speeds, which is particularly useful during basic fighter maneuvers. Unlike the F-18 Charlie model, the Super Hornet provides this technological advantage. In contrast, the older Tomcat model relies on manual inputs through hydraulic actuators to control the rudders, spoilers, and differential tails, highlighting the technological advancements in modern fighter jets.
• 53:00 - 60:00: Manazir's Books and Leadership Lessons In this chapter, titled 'Manazir's Books and Leadership Lessons', the discussion focuses on the techniques of piloting advanced aircraft such as the F14 and Super Hornet. A key point is the need to use the rudder instead of ailerons at lower speeds and high angles of attack to maintain desired airplane control and avoid undesired roll-off. This chapter highlights the mechanical aspects of flight controls in these sophisticated airplanes.

F-14 vs F-15, F-16 & F/A-18 | Mike "Nasty" Manazir (Full) Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 if you enjoy the channel and our video content and would like to support us you can do this in a couple of ways you can sign up to our patreon site which is a monthly subscription to one of our four tiers each giving you something different from Early Access interviews up to exclusive unseen footage there's also the option of a one-off donation via Paypal which allows you the option to donate an amount of your choice both options really help to keep this channel
• 00:30 - 01:00 going and to continue putting out regular content for you good folk so please take a look at air Curren interview. TV for/ donate and I thank you in advance thank you and [Music] enjoy we are back with the legend that is nasty and we've got a great episode for you guys today we're here to talk about my favorite subject and I'm sure yours D or BFA and nasty I want to know
• 01:00 - 01:30 what the F14 was like to fly against let's say the F-15 F16 and F18 hey Mike thanks it's great to be back with you and it cracks me up every time you say the legend that's nasty because I you know that just funny to to hear me listen so uh so yeah so dissimilar combat training DAC or basic fighter maneuvering and so if your audience thinks about this when we talk about different SS of airplanes
• 01:30 - 02:00 you know dissimilar air combat training means I'm going to train against an airplane different than the one I'm flying and so in this case today I did I did have a chance so I have 3,000 hours in in F-14 uh 2500 in f14a that had different engines in the f-14d in the f-14d that had f-110 engines which is essentially the same as in an F-16 the later models of the F-16 and the power of those engines in the D was such that at military power that is non- augmentor
• 02:00 - 02:30 or non-a burning the the F uh the f-14d engines had basically more power than the f14a with those Pratt and Whitney engines in full afterburn so you had ex amount so I had 2500 hours in f14a and then I go to fly the D for the other 500 hours and I now have a tom cat that's like a kick in the ass you know now when I go into After Burner it's it's a regime of power and maneuvering I never had in 00 hours of flying Tomcats
• 02:30 - 03:00 so it's kind of like stepping into a different airplane but with the same maneuvering characteristics and so for instance for your listeners and this is basic stuff in order to fly you know basic fighter Maneuvers so bfm is not this bfm is basic fighter maneuver so the way you the way you fly the airplane so all your guests that have flown they know how to do bfm in their airplane dissimilar air combat train training is
• 03:00 - 03:30 to fight a different airplane dissimilar meaning I'm in a tom cat that other guy is in an F-15 an F-16 or an F18 okay so when i' go go fly every so so things like in the in the Tomcat that was most cool was uh you could go up over the top in a loop in an f-14d at 220 knots and so in a lot of the dissimilar air combat training we do the ability to fly slow is is one of the the uh
• 03:30 - 04:00 distinguishing factors of a really good fighter and you've seen we've all seen the tapes of F22 and Russian Cobra Maneuvers that that sort an airplane hanging kind of like this on its engines just kind of pointing around that's what I'm talking about because eventually every fight unless you get down to the ground and somebody runs into the ground every fight devolves into a slow fight right always one Circle or two Circle wherever you're going you get in close and you're you're maneuvering hard
• 04:00 - 04:30 you're depleting energy you eventually get into a slow fight and so the ability to maneuver slow is huge and so in the f-14a usually about 325 knots 350 knots you you you can go over the top or or The Loop you call it going over the top some people say go vertical but going over the top means the ability to come into a loop and extend away from the bad guy in the vertical so in the D 220 knots now you're slow now you're down there going
• 04:30 - 05:00 around a circle like this like you know I'll do this with the you know you're you're like you know and the airplane shaking like that and you go around Circle pretty soon you're pretty slow in the F-14 down slow you could go into full After Burner and usually wer in full After Burner unload the G for like one potato two potato real quick and then you could go over the top and that was the distinguishing factor in the D okay so I did get an opportunity to fight I also flew the f uh F18 I have about 500
• 05:00 - 05:30 hours in the F-18 the distinguishing factor of the F18 Super Hornet not not the Charlie but the Super Hornet was that it has software that helps you fly slow okay again we're talking about basic fighter Maneuvers not just similar or combat training so in the Tomcat when I push on the Rudders or I push on the stick they're connected through hydraulic actuators to the ruers and the spoilers and the differential tails in the airplane so you put a control input
• 05:30 - 06:00 into an F14 you're doing it in this Super Hornet if I'm down slow and I should be using the ruds to move the airplane around because if you if you try to use aerons uh in in in in a normal airplane you'll get you'll get roll off the airplane will go the way you don't want it to go you need to excuse me you need to use ruers down slow at high angles of attack and so any airplane out there is mechanically driven so the the flight controls and
• 06:00 - 06:30 you're down slow at high angle of attack it could be a cesa 152 it could be an executive Jet and it could be a fighter when you're down a high angle of attack close to you need to be dancing on the Rudders in a in a normally configured airplane in a software configured airplane or a flyby wire airplane like in the Super Hornet if we get down slow and I'm in a in a flat scissors with somebody where now we're going trying to get to each other's tail to fly as slow as possible so so this way I'm trying to fly as slow possible there that way so
• 06:30 - 07:00 that the the the guy goes out in front of me and then I can dump the nose and shoot him you are on the rudder's dancing in the Tom Cat in the Super Hornet you move the stick and the computer says oh you R because were slow and the Rudders would move even when moving the stick because it's all connected okay so um any fly by wire airplane is set up that way all right so when I went to fly the Super Hornet the ability to fly slow is really really
• 07:00 - 07:30 good because even real slow the airplane would do everything possible um to to stay nose high and to be able to maneuver even though you're falling out of the sky and so in a tom cat you you f you go like this and you're you're install and you're like I got to get the shot and then it falls out now you're you're out of control thing falls off and you know if you get like that and go kind of ballistic which called when you're just a falling piece of metal you're G to get shot at you know so if you if you don't don't control your
• 07:30 - 08:00 airplane and you fall off you're going to get shot at and and so you got to maintain you know you're right there on the edge of stall trying to get slow so you can shoot this guy and a a fly by wire like a Super Hornet you're falling Like a Rock you're able to point because of the because of the software fly by wire airplanes so new F-15 ex digital airplane it's going to fly like that and it's got really powerful engine so it's going to be able to kind of hang on its tail and be able to point around you've seen f-22s do this that's why okay so in
• 08:00 - 08:30 a dissimilar air combat training environment when you're fighting something like an f8 an F16 or an F-15 it is a tough tough fight for an F14 tough fight that's when you have to be your very best airplane um the advantages of of the f14d because that was the last one that was flying is that rust that acceleration uh obviously this is all visual now we got a gun we've got a uh heat missile and the benefits of
• 08:30 - 09:00 the current heat-seeking missile are they're tied there's an a9x for instance and there are other uh missiles out there like the python um there's there's another one uh I I lost it right now uh it's a it's a British version of a heat-seeking missile but they're tied to your helmet now and the and the helmet mounted queuing systems we have in the modern airplanes you now can look anywhere so you can look you can look backwards and you shoot the trigger and the missile will come off and go to where your helmet's looking and before there used to be an envelope
• 09:00 - 09:30 kind of out in front of your airplane and sometimes in the very Advanced missiles they were they were out you know kind of out like this like peripheral vision out here but in the forward quarter and so the game Cher was you're fighting somebody looking over your shoulder and you you could look back at that guy and shoot him when he's behind you um so it's it's almost not fair so so there's when you get in and do da disimilar combat training when when it's called going to the merge when
• 09:30 - 10:00 you merge with somebody that's the merge that's a very dangerous place to be if you're fighting for your life um of course in fun when you're fighting you know your buddies or whatever that's really fun and there's nothing more exhilarating than flying by somebody at 500 feet or a slightly bit closer but the 500 foot bubble is between the two for safety and every once in a while we dust somebody off um and so so you you want to take every advantage and by the way let me let me pause for a second for your listeners when we look at da and
• 10:00 - 10:30 you know people are using the the simulators and looking out there you and we're watching the maneuvering and you're doing the computer thing you are not even close in the environment that that dissimilar combat training is it's hard I mean it's like a Varsity Sport you're pulling G you're looking over my neck still hurts you know this many years later from from being under 6 and a half or S and a half G's in a Super Hornet and turning my head to look here all the way back here like that cuz you can't let the G and and so you know when
• 10:30 - 11:00 you're trying to look back through the Tails and you're you got your you're turn all the way around and the way you do it in the cockpit is you actually get away from the seat by pushing off the cockpit uh or the canopy and and so I'll put my hand right on the edge of the screener you're pushing off real hard you're rolling your shoulders out from the seat and then you're turning your shoulders like this so using your core to turn and you can't ease the G so this under six and a half s and a half G's and F16 nine G's you know so you're under G where your hand weighs you know
• 11:00 - 11:30 the amount of G so eight times six and a half times more than it normally weighs in gravity your head is is eight pounds so eight times you know nine your your your head weighs 72 PBS under N9 G you're moving your head and your neck trying to look and it's it is it's hard so when you're defensive it sucks being defensive because you're looking over your shoulder and you're racing around you're pushing off from the canopy so it is it's really hard to be able to see what the other airplane is doing so the
• 11:30 - 12:00 environment is really tough okay so Maneuvers um uh in in fighting the the uh the F-18 really really really well at at all altitudes down low up high the Tom cat was really good down low really good and of course the swing wi allows you to go you know Mach two and then and then as you pull on the G or slow down the air data computer would come out and the wings would come out and give you give you that that that flat Wing a a a a straight great Wing less Wing sweep is
• 12:00 - 12:30 good for turning um a more sweat back uh Wing sweep or a or a a more narrow Wing is good for Speed right so the Tomcat was optimized to be a an Interceptor a high altitude high speed Interceptor and so it could go fast really well shoot long range when you get into a fight so um the first first times I I flew and fought against f-15s I was in an f14a and the F-15 wants to keep you High his
• 12:30 - 13:00 his wing is optimized for being up high so turning fight as one of your prev previous guests talked about it's a two Circle fight so it's a it's what's called a rate fight your turn rate how how fast the the nose is tracking across the Horizon and it's not turned R like how it's small so a4s and airplanes like that they they turn little tiny circles that's called a radius fight my radius in the circle is smaller than yours here's your radius I can obviously turn inside you that's a radius fight the Tomcat was
• 13:00 - 13:30 optimized for a rate fight the F-18 and F15 are optimized for a rate fight we'll set aside F16 for a second um F18 F-15 F14 optimized for a rate fight so in dissimilar air combat training when you get to the merge and you realize that's an F-15 or that's an F18 I'm going to do a rate fight I'm going into a two Circle fight okay so basically you're turning a away from the guy as he goes around this
• 13:30 - 14:00 way he might redefine that fight he might turn towards you and now you're in a one Circle the next time you pass while gaining angles on them you want to Red fight and turn away but it's a it looks like a figure eight when you draw both airplanes okay that's because you're optimizing the the ability of the turn rate of the Tom Cat and so the Tomcat best rate you know is about 5 to 10° nose down full After Burner 6 and 1 12 G's which was the the maximum G for the airframe it's called limited by
• 14:00 - 14:30 airframe LBA so 6.5g LBA the Super Hornet 7.5g LBA limited by airframe obviously I can't remember what the F15 is might be 7.5 the F-16 is 9g LBA okay but the Tomcat so your best turn and by the way you do this without looking inside and so when I when I would train people to fly Tomcats I train them to fly about 325 knots about 5 to 10 degrees nose down full after burer 6 and2 G and you feel
• 14:30 - 15:00 the airplane doing that that shake I mean it had a shutter and so I say hey you feel that you feel that shut that's where you are so now when you're looking over your shoulder that way you don't have to look inside except for quick check and see where your a speed is real fast and and you can see it and right about 300 to 325 you're watching the air speed indicator and and you keep the G on but if you want to get gain a little air speed you put the nose down a little bit and the and the plane accelerates if you want to lose a little air speed you kind of roll away and put up a little bit and you
• 15:00 - 15:30 when you lose that air speed you're also because you're lessening your speed you're minimizing your turn radius as well even though you're maximize it for rate so the slower you go obviously the turn radius is smaller but you're not raing through in a tomcat you're not raiding through the air to maximize your ability for turn rate F15 wants to keep you high his wing is optimized up there and so what I would try to do is drag the F-15 down low that feet over the ground the Tom Cat with its big wing and
• 15:30 - 16:00 afterburner especially the D is a better airplane now that's F15 A's and C's back in the day when I was uh stationed at NAS Oceana we would fight the Langley f-15s all the time and most of those guys come ah Tom cat's a grape it's all good until they met met a d and I would fight a one Circle fight against an F-15 a one Circle fight a radius fight CU we get to that m and I'd go one Circle and dig
• 16:00 - 16:30 really hard nose down in with those big f10s and I could really honk on the G and start to point at him pretty fast it's surprised a lot of guys and so uh so oh okay and then once they figure that out that the D is a really really maneuverable airplane now now we kind of now they're redefining the fight into a two Circle as best they could so f14a against an F-15 not going to do so well now you're flying airplane hope that guy makes a mistake and then and then F if D versus an
• 16:30 - 17:00 f-15c really really good fight of course the bvr Beyond visual range weapons are good anybody with a helmet and a9x is good you know you can look across a circle and shoot the guy so generally when we do dissimilar air combat training like that we just we we validate the shot every you need to train to every weapon you have you want to train to that a9x shot where you can get it look over there shoot him you know get a radar lock or get a helmet lock you need to have a radar lock to get to slave the or a helmet lock and then skew the weapon
• 17:00 - 17:30 over to the helmet you need to have a lock to do that so we would train to those but generally just hey good shot you know fo Fox uh Fox 2 continue you know because you you just try to do the gun thing get into a gun solution which is real pure uh basic fighter maneuvering towards a dissimilar air combat solution right so most times uh and for your for your listeners when we would brief um heat seeking missiles and guns we called it stick sticks and stones and so we'd go hey Sticks and Stones
• 17:30 - 18:00 today and everybody knows what that is all right Sticks and Stones guns and and rear quarter heater shots or or uh or or heat seeking missile shot so so F-15 is like that F-18 um same thing when you fight an F18 and a tom cat that F18 wants to get slow he's going to drag you down to a one Circle fight so that you're pulling hard one Circle the optimum fight is a two Circle for both airplanes he's going to drag you down into one Circle so he's going to get you slow and then the top tom cat is going to be less maneuverable down slow
• 18:00 - 18:30 because of the controls and the Fly by wire and you got to be a really good pilot with really good Rudder skills in a tom cat and the Super Hornet he can he can use that fly by wire and just kind of you know turn around right here and so generally fly slower um and and um and and it operate inside of where the Tom kit is I had it my uh one of my final flights no my my final flight on nits I was I was fighting the airwing commander trim Downing very very good
• 18:30 - 19:00 fighter pilot Tomcat guy f-18c guy Super Hornet guy and so I'm fighting him in two F14 uh F18 super horn it's both e models off the ship so we get down flying slow because that's what you do you get in there and pull real hard after a couple of turns now we're flying slow and I'm I think I'm doing really really really well at9 he's at 40 40 knots okay and he's just falling out of the sky he's at 409 and I I don't even know how to fly the airplane to 40 knots and he he is shooting me all day
• 19:00 - 19:30 long so you can get in there and fly really slow with with those airplanes okay so let's let's take us to the F-16 the F-16 is the world's best pure fighter aircraft pure fighter it has good capabilities you know it can drop bombs and and attack and of course it goes really fast um it has great a a capabilities but when you get down to fighting if you were to ask me hey if you if you were good in an F-14 and F5 f8 and F16 and you were down in the
• 19:30 - 20:00 visual Arena what would you want to have F-16 all day long um one because a fly by wire two because it goes really fast three it's got 9g capability yeah and that 9g capability allows you to just turn that thing inside its own butt I mean it just turns um and what used to happen so I fought the Top Gun f16s out at myar uh I have fought Fleet f-16s all loaded up you know with tanks and everything else which they are grapes when they're like that but a purely clean F-16 um
• 20:00 - 20:30 especially with a with an a9x or other advanced heat seeking missile on it is is badass and so what you would do is you get in a fight with F-16 you're already going fast he's going to do a two Circle or a one Circle fight he's going to turn across your tail and and by the way we tried to get as many angles as we could so every time you pass the airplane uh the other airplane you're you're you're pulling to get some kind of angle so what I used to do is right before the merge right for you start to pull in whatever Direction you
• 20:30 - 21:00 want and you start to gain those angles even the smallest bit of angle gaining is what you want to do so you're pulling hard to get that angle on somebody and often times I would as long as the the bad guy didn't disappear belly before we even merged I'd be turning okay so you just want to make sure you're watching them because if you're trying to do a two if you think you're doing a two Circle fight you know you turn across his tail and and and he reverses and you don't see him reverse now now he might after turning later he
• 21:00 - 21:30 might come inside your turn in a one Circle fight so you have to watch him but you want to gain those angles early and every time you merge you want to keep gaining those angles a lot of fights will the the angles gained and then the the bad guy will take them away and and you do the pass so there's no lateral separation so as close as you can and and they'll be neutral again so a really good fight all the passes are neutral because every the everybody in the airplanes is regaining their you know whatever Advantage the bad guy had to take it away You Yank
• 21:30 - 22:00 R and then let go right as you go buy him and and you get those G there so what would happen in the uh in the f-16s and I talked to pilots who flew them all the time uh as adversary aircraft they'd go to the merge and they' just go they pull the N9 G's you know count count one potato three potato you know whatever and then they let go and there's the other airplane the thing would just disappear we called it a vapor ball wow it would just do a vapor ball would just disappear big cloud of whoop like that and now the guy he's pointed at you he's
• 22:00 - 22:30 like right you just did this turn you went 180 out with him and you're coming around the corner looking at him and he's pointed right at you and okay can't do anything about that but the one thing the F-16 has that is a degrader is called an AOA limiter and it it doesn't allow and I don't fly the F-16 so I don't know exactly how it's mechanized or or why it's there but it limits the angle of attack it'll actually you know not a g limiter but the angle of attack on the
• 22:30 - 23:00 airplane and if the pilot hits the AOA limiter he's pulling hard he's doing something with his throttles and he hits that limiter the airplane would just stop turning and it just arcs and that happened to me one time in a Top Gun Fight um when I was a Top Gun student in 1985 I fought an F-16 and I was fighting hard and I got some angles on in an f14a and I'm coming out he's pulling hard and all of a sudden it's just like he let go you're ae's pulling hard it's turning and you can see the airplane nose coming
• 23:00 - 23:30 across when you're fighting somebody you can see him tracking and you can evaluate their nose you can see where the nose is moving it's coming at you it's good it's away I mean you can um evaluating the the nose attitude of the other airplane is absolutely critical in a fight and and he's he's we're over the desert out of near Yuma Arizona he's tracking across the desert I can still see it and and I'm kind of in turn kind of gaining on him a little bit and all of a sudden his airplane just stops turning and it just arcs and so if you were arcing through
• 23:30 - 24:00 the sky that's bad because now you're just turning and it's easy to see where you're going to go and you're going to get shot and hard all you just it the airplane like go and it just starts arcing like that which allow me to pull inside the turn and shoot him and it was a it was a gunshot and I I knew about the limiter and I was like oh that's what it looks like and so fighting an F16 if he gets on the limiter or he allows himself to get on the limiter and and the pilot made a mistake and he was pulling too hard with maybe he he
• 24:00 - 24:30 modulated the throttle or something and the AOA was allowed to get to that point where the limiter um you know kicked in now what you have to do if you're in a in a h situation and you've now buried it into a stall got an AA limit or if you got anything that has got you below the capability of airplane you have to unload the G you have to let go and now you're not turning anymore you have to unload and then hopefully with an airplane the F-16 or the F uh 18 F5 f14d
• 24:30 - 25:00 you unload for a second you're already in full blower full After Burner you one to and then pul now you're back into it so hopefully it's a little you recover the thrust put you back in the regime you're supposed to be and then you're right back into the fight and and that's kind of how you got to do it just like that so um so fighting fighting really capable airplanes and these extend I've never fought Uh Russian Advanced airplanes uh MC 29s or suco I've never fought those those airplanes
• 25:00 - 25:30 but I've watched demonstrations of them and they're they're pretty they're really really good so those fights that are that you learn in America to fight an F-15 an F18 or an F-16 they're going to set you up to be able to fight those those Advanced Russian airplanes as well most of those airplanes um are are the characteristics that help them a lot are they are they are they have lots of thrust their engines are very very very very powerful so so they got lots of thrust they'll be able to shoot out of a hole and of course you you've seen him do the Cobra things and so the ability
• 25:30 - 26:00 to slow down and maneuver and basically hang and just sit in there and all they'll do is Point At You So if you're trying to get away it's like a you know it's like a dog trying to chase a cat and the C sits there with its claws out the dog can't get close right and the dog's trying to race in and get well that's kind of what it's like you know so there's the cat and he's going to just whack you if you get close enough so those those AES sit in pure wet and pivot and they'll just wait until you fly into the weapons envelope or wees weapons engagement Zone and they'll shoot you and so so they're very very
• 26:00 - 26:30 hard fights and so what you do with those is once the guy gets slow and he's like that as soon as his nose is off of you you extend out really hard so you extend away and you and you you do what's called redefine the fight so now if you can you know the guy makes a mistake or gets buried or something like that you know and now we're slow if you have the opportunity to add you know add power go back into full After Burner and extend away before his nose comes on and so when a tom cat for instance
• 26:30 - 27:00 backseater say all right I'm extending tell me when his nose is 30° to go so so the backseater is looking through the Tails okay you know 20 degre you know 90 degrees to go 60 degrees to go 50 degrees to go okay pitch back in now you're coming back in against this guy and now you're redefining that fight you create another merge okay so you can you can put energy back on the airplane the secret to all of these fights is to fly your best airplane you have to to keep energy on your airplane so that that corner rate
• 27:00 - 27:30 turn in a tomcat 300 to 325 knots no less than 300 knots nose down pulling six and a half G's you got to keep the energy on your airplane if you don't manage your energy right you're going to lose the fight okay long narrative I'll pause there take a breath see if you got any questions I mean yeah it sounds amazing but uh is there one aircraft that uh was more memorable to fight even in the aod was the one you're like the apart from the F-16 let's take that aside but there's one aircraft you're
• 27:30 - 28:00 like okay this is kind of fair but still a difficult fight F-15 yep right F15 and there's a there's a story in my book which is really really really fun um learn out a lead to win chapter 18 is called the Cable Guy and uh I'll let the readers uh you know get that chapter but it it's it talks about a person I met earlier in my in my life and a couple you know third a little over a decade later I'm fighting him in an F15 and I'm in an
• 28:00 - 28:30 f-14d um that F-15 is a really really really capable airplane and that's the one you go up against okay this is going to this is going to be awesome it's like you know two boxers totally evenly matched and it literally is I can fly my best F14 that pilot has to fly his best F15 and we'll see what happens and in in our fights and this one you know uh described in the book you know we did a bvr Beyond visual range approach and we went into a merge you know from 100
• 28:30 - 29:00 miles away went into a merge full fight he gunned me the next fight we set up a beam uh 15,000 fet mile of beam 300 knots go I gunned him and then the third fight was all the way down to the deck neutral and so I fought a better airplane in the second fight he fought a better airplane in the first fight and then and then we tried our hardest on the third fight looked a lot like the Top Gun 2 movie but not as close with oh yeah spiral on the the third fight going down kind of looking at each other right
• 29:00 - 29:30 it wasn't it wasn't like right between like me me and you but it was close enough to you know go down like this in the other airplane like I said you get slow and you start you know when you transition on somebody your your nose is down to keep the speed up doing that and eventually because of either the ground itself or the soft deck eventually both airplanes have to pick their noses up and then you end up in what's called a horizonal or flat scissors and now you're slow trying to get behind the other guy like this and so yeah f is is the most memorable fight I have
• 29:30 - 30:00 not gotten a chance to to uh even experience the F-15 ex it's a total flyby wire airplane has big engines on it I I'm sure that that airplane fights really really really well I mean that's awesome one thing it's just a bit of a side note here so when you were saying you were up with the F-15 like that did anyone snap any pictures cuz they would have been amazing you know like from your cockpit or anyone like that would have been incredible uh yeah not while we're
• 30:00 - 30:30 fighting uh you know both in a tomcat both air crew are are you know fighting hard and we never went out and went okay I'm going to we're going to do this just to get pictures there are there are plenty of real life pictures out there there's some great footage of old old top gun fights that you you see airplanes going by each other you know they've got cameras mounted or something like that or they got a something in the cockpit there's a lot of imagery out there actually a real you know real world DAC uh training just from people taking pictures but I I never did and most of
• 30:30 - 31:00 the time you look out there and you can see the whole airplane and stuff you take a picture you got like a picture of the cockpit you know the other guy right you only got like this much airplane so it's like ah okay well that doesn't look like what I was looking at but it's okay yeah yeah so just one last question here so you mentioned the F-15 uh I'm guessing that was a c version did you ever go go up against a Strike Eagle the ease um if we did I I did but it was in a a large uh strike scenario
• 31:00 - 31:30 where where now you're you're it's not just you versus uh we call them Mud Hens you know a muden yeah mud right so so instead of instead of just being right there one V one da it was generally a large strike so now you're rolling in on somebody and you you have you generally as an adversary have an advantage so I I have been an attacking force on on an F-15 ex strike here here's the other thing too um you brought up a great point there just in me thinking about that when you're
• 31:30 - 32:00 flying in the neutral setup that goes like that in da that's that's to maximize the training capability but generally when you're when you're flying in bad guy country you're looking around and you're you know and the setup is anything but neutral you're lucky if it goes neutral generally as a as a strike and and I flew adversary adversary f18s um when I was in my my last couple operational tour do you're down there waiting for the strike to come in you're down in the
• 32:00 - 32:30 weeds looking up at somebody or you're real high got radar contact or or the the controller saying hey here they come and trying to come from someplace they can't see you so you know uh uh the Red Baron's kills vast majority of them his his uh his kills they never saw him he came out of the sun shot him from behind you know was there was a lot of maneuvering and if there was was maneuvering um he he tried to get away and so if
• 32:30 - 33:00 you're in there doing you know One V one um fights in a real world environment you're not in a good place that's not where you want to be you want to do your best fight one turn try to kill that guy but you're Mo away for two reasons one if you you know now you're fighting that guy and he shoots you that's one thing or you're totally predictable in a single space somebody else is going to shoot you it might be a surface air missile it might be another things you don't want to be either mhm and so most of the really realistic training not da
• 33:00 - 33:30 which is the most fun that's the most fun it's just totally fun because you don't have to worry about anything else you're just going to fight that guy you know go by but mostly realistic training is Strike Force training and if you get down and turning with somebody all my Top Gun debriefs and large Force exercises and Strikes if you're down buried with you're you're going to die somebody is going to kill you and that's generally what happened environment of course that's in real world too so they would they would always train you hey you got buried with you know bogey
• 33:30 - 34:00 whatever and his buddy came out and he shot you and and so you're dead from staying right here so what you want to do is put your best turn on and extend and go away because if you didn't get the bvr first then get out of there and keep going so I want to make sure your listeners understand in world world combat you don't want to be there one V one unless you absolutely have to and then you fight your best airplane to kill that guy or mostly to get away uh otherwise your your odds the longer you stay right there the odds of you
• 34:00 - 34:30 getting shot go way way up I mean that was great and a great insight and I've learned a lot and I'm sure you guys listen to have also learned a lot of things there but H cheers for that nasty but uh yeah can you remind us where we can find your book uh learn how to lead to win and also are you on social media your website Etc yeah so thanks Mike and it's so cool to be here with you I think we're going on like at least our third time maybe the fourth I love talking about this stuff I get all excited about this I start I'm back in the cockpit again and
• 34:30 - 35:00 obviously using my hands and by the way at work I use my hands too and they're like yeah there's nasty again fire pilot but but my book is is sold on Amazon and I got a surprise um so learn how to lead to win is a leadership book I just released the manazer maxims which is if in the back of um learn how to lead to win there are 10 maxims and they and they're like rules that that I use to lead by but we took took each maximum and made it a chapter oh brilliant so this companion book to
• 35:00 - 35:30 learn how to lead to win um goes goes with it to to allow you know your listeners to to experience and and maybe even practice the type of leadership that I think is important um Amazon uh um also uh any of the wholesale uh books there I also did an audio book for learn how to lead to win the maxims is not audio um it's just coming out in in paperback right now there's already an e verion that are out there uh and and my is www.mike manazer do.com and it has a
• 35:30 - 36:00 whole bunch of leadership content and in fact specifically and I think we talked about this last time if your listeners go on the website www.mike manazer docomo will pop say subscribe to a newsletter and every week um the subscribers will get a specific leadership newsletter specific topic free in an inbox and we've taken about a hundred leadership topics which are important to every everybody running a business or trying how to lead and we do a newsletter a week and it shows up in
• 36:00 - 36:30 your inbox free so um yeah website or Amazon for the books and uh I just uh I just hope everybody enjoys the the books and the the books so if if you liked fighter stories there's 33 stories in that book most of them are about flying some are about driving ships uh there's a lot of mistakes and failure in there and then with each chap with each story there's a leadership lesson tied to it and then and then resource is that people can go hey I I like to learn more about that but from a different author
• 36:30 - 37:00 and we give we give other references for people to go to well stuff so it's got something for everyone that's for sure but nasty always a pleasure having you on the show and guys I'll link everything nasty just said in the description but I'm sure we'll meet again but always a pleasure nasty hey thanks Mike this has been great [Music] [Laughter] cheers [Music]