Suppose I take off in an F-14 and wish to intercept a commercial airliner as fast as possible. How do I slow down when near the airliner so as not to overshoot it? When should I begin slowing down from 100% throttle?
Note: assume I’m on the Casual server.
In IF or in real life, would a fighter use spoilers to slow down in this situation? Flaps? S-turns? What tricks and/or combination of settings would be used?
I wouldn’t ever go 100% throttle with a fighter in the Expert Server. 10 seconds of not showing attention, and Casper will be with you.
Slow and steady. If your far, go about 50-60 KIAS faster than the airliner. The closer you are, the slower you want to be. Never go 100%. In the F-14, when you get close, make sure you have Flaps 5° and spoilers in flight mode for maximum control.
And make sure not to overcorrect. Small movements to line up with the airliner.
Thanks. That’s helpful. But quick follow-up question…
If the USAF needed to intercept a plane ASAP because they believed it was headed toward somewhere with the objective of crashing and killing tons of people, wouldn’t they go 100% throttle?
MaxSez: For a pass, Sprint to intercept/catch up. On Approach to intercept note target radar tag speed/alt/heading, Approach from astern, match tag, 050 below target alt 1-5 mike’s in trail , slide into the 6 for a missile/gun pass, Zoom up away, split S go for another pass. Intercept for inspection: from the 6, 5 mikes in trail, slowly match speed of target, approach target left side, stabilize match alt/speed/heading from tag, spoiler/speed brake to flight. Fly abrest, match alt/speed. Good Luck, Max
@DJU… Correction; procedure noted above for F-14, Above 010AGl above 250IAS USE DELTA WING Below 010/250 use unfolded/straight wing. Regards, Max
This type of activity is quite fun and I have done it quite a bit. What I have to be the best (not most realistic or even close) method is as follows: Go full afterburner for the majority, or at least to about 3 nm. From here maintain about 50% throttle, then pass by the airliner in a parallel line. You should be going roughly 650 KIAS. Pass the airliner, then shortly after passing, pull a loop with a lengthy overhead to get back on the tail. Besides slowing you down, this allows a decent form of visual ID.
Of course, you can always do a slower closure rate and just pull up on their tail, but where’s the fun in that?
@DJU… On actual wartime intercept, full burner intercept. The command ""Target/BOGIE/alt/speed heading/ missile free “BUSTER” (Buster indicates max performance). Hijack/Terrorist “Missile hold”. (Hold= request authority to engage). Max
Maxsez because Maxknows…at least in the F-4 !!!
Dont go 100% throttle for extended periods of time. Its not needed lol
I never knew McGarrett ever flew a fighter…but in any case… Book em… Danno !!!
Like if you can relate :)
I was flying in Southern Florida from KTPA to KMIA until a F-16 intercepted me. He would not leave and followed me until I landed. It is kinda annoying when your trying to have a good time flying and someone just comes and intercepts you for no reason. It is kinda unnecessary. Its pretty funny though
I was trying to escort a A380 and he thought I was trying to to “shoot him down” so he tried to do evasive maneuvers. I was like “the hell are you doing?”
Haha Lmfao :) I should have done that
You never mentioned what type of aircraft you were in…but as a rule… mil fighters follow strict protocol… so it is unlikely the F-16 would have attempted an interception without a good reason…if it was an airliner or turboprop for that matter …it is possible that the pilot requested a pass by or following to the dest airport …if he needed to be ressured that there was no outside appearance of a potential mechanical problem that was reported by his cockpit avionics…
True, but he was clearly intercepting me for fun. Not trying to judge a book by its cover but he was grade 1 and had no experience. This is IF. There is no reason to check if there is a potential mechanical problem cause that doesn’t happen in IF :)
“Woop woop” “Bank angle” haha
I simply approach at mach 2, when I’m close (1nm) just cut throttle spoilers out and turn 360 as sharp as I can twice. Down to 200 knots after that