© 1996, Darren Beyer

[VISIT ROCKETMAN'S WEB-SITE] to see the original on-line version of this lecture.  This version has been edited by HaMmeR (with Rocketman's permission) for a smoother flow and easier reading.  All information was left intact and unchanged.

This is the third and final write-up in the Mastering the Merge series. We'll be talking about a positive energy merge.

Many people make mistakes when they have an energy advantage over their opponent. The get complacent. As I discussed in my last lecture, a lower plane must first equalize energy before being able to get a shot. Your goal as a higher plane is to keep your energy above that of your opponent while at the same time setting him up for a shot.

The first step is to determine your opponent's relative energy. Ask yourself "Can I rope him?" We'll get into the specifics of rope-a-dope in a bit.

If you don't have enough energy for a rope, then your goal should be to get enough to do so. Force your opponent to burn energy trying to turn on you while you conserve your energy in low-G maneuvers. Try not to get below your opponent and zoom on him as he turns on you.

Differences in plane's performance might not allow you to get enough energy for a rope may not be possible. If you're in a 109 and I'm in a 51, chances are you'll equalize energy rather than me gain on you. But if I've got a similar climbing plane or better climbing plane, then I should be able to get enough E for a rope attempt by conserving energy in low-G maneuvers and forcing you to do high G maneuvers either evading or trying for a shot on me. Top speed has little to do with this. Climb ability is important here as is zoom ability. This maneuver is really for use against similar or more maneuverable planes. If a lower opponent is less maneuverable, then you want to go in for the attack. Otherwise he will probably run anyway. Once you get enough energy for a rope attempt, you do it.

For a rope to work, you need to get your opponent to come up after you and get slow. Many people in the arena will do this with requiring too much persuasion. One thing I do on almost all my rope passes is to drop the nose and make it look like I'm diving on him. When he sees you dive, he climbs up into you, thinking he'll come over the top and follow you as you go below him but what you do is once you see him commit to pulling up, you pull up in a short, high-G pull. Get your nose high and wait for your speed to drop off.

Once your speed drops, dip your wing and go into a spiral. At this point you spiral up and wait until you see your opponent drop off. I don't start spiralling until about 150 IAS.

The key here is low G. You need to do everything you can to keep your E. Flaps will kill your E fast so avoid them. On many of my spiral ropes in an F4U, I am at 75 IAS, nose high. Your opponent may get a shot on you, but he has less E than you do so it will be a lucky hit at best. He can't maintain. Basically you need to use every ounce of E to its fullest. Pull up until you hit a good climb speed then enter into your spiral. If you see that you may be in trouble, ease out of your spiral and go into more of a climb. If it looks like you've got too much E, then go into a tighter spiral and pull some Gs to get some angles. The reason a spiral works better than a classic rope is that you can use the spiral to match E with your opponent as I just explained.

A couple of things to remember in a spiral rope:

A flat turn can be used at the top of your climb instead of a spiral. If you find yourself with a large energy disparity, you don't want to keep climbing because it will just put you further from your opponent when he falls off. The ideal range for your opponent to be when he falls off is about 750 yards. It's just out of nose-up guns range and when he falls off (if you time it right) you are so close that he has no time to recover. When you're first trying this maneuver, however, try for 1000 yards and work your way down. Fine tuning it takes a lot of practice.

If you find the enemy hanging back just outside of guns range but not falling off, keep spiraling around until you get a decent angle. Once you have a decent angle, convert your altitude into Gs and try to get a shot. It takes a pretty decent pilot to keep up with a nose up spiral. You can drop a bit and try to get him to convert for a shot but this runs the risk of taking some lead in the belly. Do sort of mini-ropes in a rope.

If the plane is hanging and waiting, let him hang and wait. Be patient. Patience is key in positive energy merges. Even if you take a ping or two, still be patient. Many times the lower plane will be coming up for a shot, then will expend everything for a snap shot hoping to get you to come down. Don't come off your roost unless it's obvious he has enough E to get a lot of shots on because when you come off he can follow you down and you'll die quickly unless you've got angles on him or he's fallen off. Once he expends the energy for the shot, he has to fall off and that's when you have him.

Once again, the key concepts are: