Terms

Ackstar
A bomber used as a flying ack defence at an airfield. Its use is frowned upon by serious WarBirders pilots.

Acceleration Maneuver
An offensive or defensive maneuver which is designed to convert potential energy into kinetic energy either for offensive or defensive maneuvering. A low Yo-Yo is an acceleration maneuver designed to decrease the separation between an aggressor and his target. A Split-S is an acceleration maneuver designed to increase the separation between a defensive fighter and the aggressor.

ACM
Air Combat Maneuvering. Any series of individual maneuvers designed to gain a tactical advantage or escape an untenable situation.

Adverse Yaw
When an aircraft applies aileron at high angles of attack, there will be a tendency to yaw away from the applied direction initially until the aerodynamic forces overcome inertia. This effect is known as Adverse Yaw.

AFK
Away from keyboard

Aircraft Axis
Picture three perpendicular lines joining in the exact center of the aircraft, the balance point if you will. The line which extends along the fuselage from nose to tail is the longitudinal axis. Rotation around this axis is expressed as roll or bank. How quickly an aircraft can achieve a given degree of roll or bank is known as the roll rate. The second axis extends through the center of the aircraft parallel to the wings. Rotation around this axis is known as pitch. When you pull back on the stick to raise the nose of the aircraft, for example, you are "pitching up." The final axis extends straight up and down through the aerodynamic center of the aircraft. Rotation around this axis draws the aircraft's nose to the left or right of the direction of travel. This is known as Yaw.

Angle Off
The angle between the longitudinal axis of your aircraft extended along the fuselage in the direction of travel and the axis of the defender's 6 o'clock position. This angle, which is also called track crossing angle, helps you to determine the proper deflection of a gunnery tracking solution.

Angle of Attack (AOA)
The Angle of the wing relative to the forward flight path of the airplane. If you exceed the AOA limitations of the wing design, the aircraft will stall. Stalling involves the interruption of the production of lift, not necessarily stopping the forward momentum of the aircraft.

Angles
Gaining angles is the attempt to set up a gunnery solution based on the turn performance of an aircraft. Energy fighters with good roll rate can also use this to obtain the angle for a gunnery attack, but the emphasis of this term is based gaining as close to the classic stern attack position as possible.

Ant Trail
Seen from the map view while in the tower, this is the effect achieved by radar blips between opposing airfields. The Regia Aeronautica try not to form an ant trail during a protracted attack as arrival in ones and twos is easier to defend against rather than a concentrated force.

Aspect Angle
When your nose is pointed at the bogey, the aspect angle of the target is the reciprocal of the angle off as measured from your aircraft. For example, if your angle off is 30 degrees, his aspect angle is 210 degrees. All angles are measured relative to the nose of the objective aircraft. Angle off is measured from the nose of the aggressor. Aspect angle is measured from the nose of the defender.

Ave !
It was the salute used during the Roman Empire. It was also used, meaning respect, by italian pilots during the WWII.

Away
Moving away after making an attack when in fighter. Bombs released signal when in bomber.
 

BDA
Bomb Damage Assessment. Summary of the effectiveness of a Strike mission in damaging or destroying the objective area based on visual observation or photo-reconnaissance.

Beacon
A light on each plane’s dash. A green light indicates a good internet connection to FreeHost. A yellow or orange indicates an intermittent connect which may result in ‘warping’. A red beacon indicates you have lost contact with the FreeHost server. Contact may re-establish but also may result in a ‘disco’ or disconnection from the server with the FreeHost program quitting.

BFM
Basic fighter maneuvers. These are the building block maneuvers which comprise ACM, from barrel rolls and Chandelle turns to the classic Split-S. Think of BFM as textbook maneuvers. Learning about them gives pilots an appreciation for position and energy transference in a tactical environment, but most ACM engagements do not play out as cleanly as a series of BFMs would imply. Nevertheless, they are a good foundation for further tactical refinement.

Bandit
Any aerial contact which has been positively identified as hostile.

Barrel Roll
To complete a barrel roll, simply push your stick fully to one side or the other while applying forward or aft pressure & a little oppisite rudder. You will corkscrew in the applied direction, clockwise or counter-clockwise, generally losing some altitude as you do so. The most common tactical application of a barrel roll is to avoid overshooting a jinking target while attempting to gain angle on it for a subsequent gunnery solution. Don't hold the maneuver too long however or you will bleed off too much energy and increase your nose to tail separation, thereby affording the enemy an escape or reversal opportunity.

Bogey
Any aerial contact which remains unidentified as friendly or hostile.

Bounce
To attack another aircraft with the element of Surprise. During WWII, it is estimated that 80% or more of confirmed air victories resulted from a successful bounce.

BNZ or B&Z
Boom and zoom. The characteristic attack method by which a fighter with poor turning ability but good high speed qualities uses to attack enemy aircraft. Charictorised by a series of diving and climbing runs on a lower enemy.

BRB
Be right back

Break Turn
A very basic evasive maneuver designed to maximize the deflection of the gunnery solution of an enemy who has just bounced you. Basically, you roll your aircraft anywhere from 45-90 degrees toward the aggressor (if he is on dead six, direction doesn't matter), then pull back hard on the stick to decrease your turn radius. The advantage of a break turn is that it can be executed very quickly to minimize the reaction time and probability of success of an aggressor's first pass. The disadvantage is that it bleeds energy rapidly. Executing too many consecutive break turns without energy gaining maneuvers between them can leave your aircraft so depleted of residual maneuver capability as to be virtually a sitting duck.

Buff
Big Ugly Fat F**ker. A plane that is specifically a bomber e.g. B25. Not to be confused with a jabo.

Buffer
A bomber pilot

Bugout
To disengage from combat and extend for home base, either due to fuel constraints, completion of the mission or loss of the tactical advantage.
 

Chandelle Turn
To execute a Chandelle Turn, roll your aircraft to between 15 and 30 degrees in either direction and pull back gently on the stick. This is not a defensive maneuver like the break turn. It is a very energy efficient way to gain altitude (potential energy) while reversing direction. You can use this to follow up on a high energy pass against a low energy target to convert for a follow up attack, just be careful not to allow to much horizontal and vertical separation when you do so or you might give the target an escape opportunity.

Clock Code
Positional reference reporting structure relative to the nose of the reporting aircraft in a formation. The nose is 12 o'clock, and reports of contacts sighted in relation to that point usually also include the altitude band they are operating in, high, medium or low.

Closing
Reducing the separation between a target and yourself through cut off tactics and energy conversion.

Closure
Measures the relative speed between two aircraft. In a tail chase, if the defender is flying at 400 mph. and the aggressor is overtaking him at 450 mph., the closure rate would be the difference between the two: 50 mph. If the same two contacts were merging head to head, the closure rate would be the sum of the two speeds, 850 mph.

Combat Spread
See Line Abreast below.

Comms
Term used to indicate “commandos”.

Compressibility
Problem caused by the air around the plane being compressed as the plane approaches the speed of sound. It is often encountered during high speed and high altitude flight, typically around Mach 0.6, or 60% of the speed of sound. Once the compressibility is encountered, the plane would start to vibrate violently, control would be lost, and the plane would often "tuck under" and nose down steeply into a dive.

Con
Contact. Refers to an enemy or possible enemy aircraft.

Corner Velocity
The slowest airspeed at which the maximum allowable aircraft G and minimum turning radius can be generated.

Counteroffensive Maneuvering
Defensive maneuvers which are designed to turn the tables in an engagement and gain the offensive. Rolling Scissors, reversals and defensive spirals are examples of counteroffensive maneuvers.

CR
Combat Ready. A pilot lets the SC know that he will or will not be CR for an upcoming mission so that pilot assignments can be made

Cross Turn
When two aircraft in a Section have sufficient lateral separation, they can turn into each other, going nose to nose, prior to steadying on the reciprocal of their previous heading. Cross turns are applicable when an enemy aircraft or Section has been detected astern, but they are not in engagement range yet, and you want to immediately convert the tactical situation to a meeting/merge engagement.

Cutoff Tactics
Pursuit curves and maneuvers designed to reduce the nose to tail separation between an attacker and defender.
 

Deathstar
See 'ackstar'

Defensive Maneuvering
Maneuvers designed to preclude an accurate gunnery solution. Jinking and Break turns are defensive maneuvers.

Defensive Spiral
A steep dive combined with a barrel roll to grossly complicate a gun targeting solution and either force an overshoot by the attacker if he has a higher energy advantage at the beginning of the maneuver or gain lateral separation from the pursuer if you begin at an equal or relatively equal energy state (to account for the time lag of his reaction to the maneuver).

Deflection
The combination of lead angle, lateral separation and relative speed. The higher the deflection of a gun shot, the more difficult it is to perform.

Disco
Disconnected. The beacon light will be red, all other planes will disappear and no new radio messages will be received. A pilot may sometimes be able to keep flying and get reconnected but it is usually better to quit and reconnect.

Disengage
Break off the current attack either to extend for home (a permanent disengagement) or to re-position for a better tactical advantage for subsequent re-engagement.

Dot
Refers to an unknow aircraft.

Dunno
I Dont’ know.

Dweeb
A new pilot. Often used as a derogatory remark.
 

Egg
Bomb

Element
A formation of two aircraft, also known as a Section.

Engagement
Tactical maneuvering designed to defeat an enemy aircraft or Section. An engagement involves both offensive and defensive maneuvering by opposing aircraft and continues until one side is either destroyed or disengages.

Envelope
The flight parameters of an aircraft as expressed over the entire altitude band. For example, the turning radius of a given aircraft varies based on speed, but it also varies based on altitude due to differences in atmospheric pressure. Although this data can be displayed graphically, good pilots understand the flight performance envelope of their aircraft as readily as they do their own names, and the best one's continually push the envelopes of their airframe to gain tactical advantage.

Extend
To use an acceleration maneuver to increase the separation between your aircraft and any pursuing aircraft. Extensions are used to disengage, even if only temporarily. Also after a bomber has made a bomb-run over the target, the bomber may extend for a distance before returning for another bomb-run.
 

FAU
Term used to indicate a V1 rocket.

Fangs Out
Slang term for when a pilot is spoiling for a fight. Sometimes it also includes "with his hair on fire." Aggression is a good trait, but most pilots are wary of those who fly with "fangs out" because they tend to forget their other responsibilities to the Section or Flight.

Flight
A formation involving four aircraft, two Sections of two aircraft.

Fur ball
Slang for an engagement involving many aircraft performing angles combat in a small piece of the sky.
 

Grabn
Gaining altitude

Gyroturn
A method used by experienced bomber pilots to return to the target in a shorter time than is usually possible rather than by waiting for the norden sight to become ‘green’ of its own accord.
 

Hard
Using back pressure on the stick to increase your turn rate and pull more g's in the process.

High Yo-Yo
To complete this maneuver, stay wings level and pull back on the stick to pitch your nose up slightly. After a few seconds, push forward on the stick so your plane pitches back nose down to complete the parabolic arc. High Yo-Yo's can be used offensively when you want to slow the closure rate between you and a target in your forward hemisphere (assuming a nose to tail aspect) and counter-offensively to quickly convert on a bandit attacking astern with high closure rate. You will likely only get a snapshot out of the latter maneuver before he moves out of range, but it also gives you a chance to subsequently reverse and extend.

HLP
Help

HVY
Heavy. Indicates that a fighter plane is loaded with bombs and/or rockets.
 

Icon
The letters/numbers seen above all planes. An icon is the colour of that pilot's country. An enemy's icon shows the plane type and its range in hundreds of yards eg. d5=500yds. Friendly planes show the pilot's name and his range. Pressing the F2 key will cycle through various icon settings.

ICQ
A free program obtainable from http://www.mirabilis.com that has several features. One of its uses is to establish a realtime text chat session with many pilots.

Imol & Ien
iMagicOnline & iEntertainment Network. The owners of Warbirds.

Immelmann
Turn To complete an Immelmann Turn, keep your wings level pull back on your stick sharply to enter into a vertical loop. At the top of the loop, roll from an inverted position to wings level. You are now on the reciprocal of your previous heading at a higher altitude. This is best used as an offensive maneuver to gain energy state and position prior to an attack run. An alternative to the basic Immelmann is the oblique variant of the same maneuver. Instead of staying wings level at the beginning of the vertical portion, roll from 15-30 degrees then pull back on the stick. This is like a Chandelle turn in the first half of the maneuver but instead of following through the turn, you will again roll out on top to retain the altitude gained. Oblique Immelmanns are useful when you want to increase or decrease the horizontal separation between your aircraft and the target prior to subsequent maneuvering.

In
Commencing an attack
 

Jink
A series of quick aileron, rudder and stick movements in an unpredictable manner designed to complicate a tracking gunnery solution by an opponent in firing position astern.
 

Lead Pursuit
A pursuit curve where the nose of your aircraft is continually pointed ahead of the enemy in his direction of travel. Lead pursuit curves are adopted to maximize the rate of closure on a hard maneuvering bandit to obtain the angle for a gunnery solution. They are also known as cut off tactics. You would not maintain a lead pursuit curve to its ultimate conclusion because if you did, you would actually end up in front of the bandit. Instead, when you achieve gunnery range, you roll your aircraft in behind the enemy in a saddle trail to take the shot.

Line Abreast
A tactical formation for a Section or Flight where the aircraft are aligned side by side, instead of at an angle like in Echelon, at a pre-determined separation. Two aircraft in a Line Abreast at a separation of one turn radius is also known as a Combat Spread.

Line Astern
A tactical formation for a Section or Flight where the aircraft are aligned nose to tail in the same axis at a predetermined horizontal separation. This is also known as being in "Trail."

Line-of-Sight
As it sounds, this is the bearing of the target relative to your aircraft from your perspective.

LLL
Left (direction)

Loading/Unloading
Refers to wing loading. Increasing the angle of attack (AOA) increases the number of G's exerted on the airframe. Decreasing the AOA "unloads" the number of G's.

Loc
Location. "My loc 1,2,5". Loc xxxxxx? is a request for xxxxxx's location

LOL
Laughing Out Loud. It’s often used meaning a big laugh.

Longitudinal Axis
See Axis above.

Loop
Generally a maneuver better exhibited at air shows than in combat, the loop involves pulling back on the stick while wings level and holding it throughout an entire 360 degrees of travel, such that you end up traveling on the same course as before. The energy transference during the maneuver isn't one for one, so you generally come out of a loop at a slightly lower altitude than where you started the maneuver.

Losing the Bubble
Slang for overloaded situational awareness. When pilots get caught up in a furball, for example, it is impossible for them to keep track of all the tactical factors simultaneously. This is called losing the bubble and the only way to compensate for this reduced SA is to narrow your focus to the nearest threats until you can extricate yourself from the situation.

Low Yo-Yo
This is the reverse of the High Yo-Yo (see above). Instead of pitching back first, you pitch forward first then back. The Low Yo-Yo is an offensive maneuver designed to close the lateral separation between an aggressor and his target.

Lufberry
Any engagement which has stagnated into a pure angles duel with neither fighter having a tactical advantage. When you are assessing threat priorities, Lufberries can be discounted. Also, if you are disengaged, enemy fighters caught in a Lufberry are prime targets because most of their maneuvering energy has already been depleted.
 

Merge
When two opposing aircraft complete a meeting engagement in the forward hemisphere. This may or may not be in a classic head to head pass.

Mutual Support
Coordination and cooperation between two or more aircraft or Sections to enhance both offensive and defensive capabilities.
 

Norden
The bombaimer’s sight in bombers. For accurate bombing, the norden must be showing a ‘green light’ achieved by the pilot being in the bombaimer’s position on a steady flightpath allowing the norden’s gyros to settle.

NP
No problem.
 

Otto
Term used to describe the automatic gunners available in some aircraft.

OTR
On the runway. Signifies readiness to takeoff.

OTW
On the way. I’m going to…

Overshoot
A condition where the attacker fails to curtail his closure rate before completing a gunnery solution on the intended victim and flies out of the engagement zone. In the worst case scenario, the attacker's momentum carries them into the defender's engagement zone and the roles are reversed.
 

Perkele !
Our Squad motto. Ask to our finnish comrades to know wich this term exactly mean.

Poof
Used in a pilot's last radio message before quitting Warbirds to let others know he has left the arena.

Popeye
Flying in and out of clouds to track an enemy formation while minimizing your own chance of counter-detection to hopefully maintain the element of Surprise for a subsequent attack. This is also known as "Porpoising."

Post Hole
Slang for the defensive spiral maneuver. He was "digging a post hole."

Primary Force
The group of aircraft to which fighter escort is being provided. These forces are mission critical and defending them is your primary responsibility.

Pure Pursuit
Keeping your nose pointed at the objective aircraft while turning to close your range to that aircraft (See also Lag Pursuit and Lead Pursuit).
 

RDY
Ready

Reversal
Inverting the roll of your aircraft 180 degrees suddenly to change the direction of your turn. This is a counter-offensive rolling maneuver generally designed to gain angle on a aggressor that has overshot, but it can also be used in Section tactics like Bracketing and Half Splits.

RGR
Roger. Acknowledgement of message received

Rock
Rocket

Roll
Simply applying a right or left pressure to the stick without moving the stick forward or back. The plane will roll around its central axis not changing corse in any direction.

Rolling Scissors
A series of vertical rolling maneuvers which usually result from a high speed overshoot where the defender tries to go vertical as well. Each aircraft is rolling in the vertical plane to try and gain a stern attack position. Generally, the fighter which bleeds off energy the fastest is the most vulnerable in this situation, either when he hits the apex of the climb if he is in front, or when the higher energy fighter turns and descends on him if he is behind.

Rotte
See Section below.

RPS
Rolling Plane Set. A method by which planes become available for use in an historically correct chronological order during a three week Tour of Duty.

RRR
Right (direction)

RW
Roger Wilco; free communication software.
 

Sandwiched
Slang for getting caught between a target and his wingman, or other enemy aircraft such that you are simultaneously in an offensive and defensive maneuvering condition.

Scissors
A series of reversals designed to cause an attacking aircraft to overshoot and become the defender. The better turning aircraft usually wins the flat scissors (See also Rolling Scissors).

Section
Two aircraft operating in mutual support as a tactical unit.

Sequential Attack
Multiple aircraft attacking the same target in succession. A Section engaging enemy bombers would be likely to use a Sequential attack to increase their chances of severely damaging or downing the targeted bomber on one pass.

Skid
If you dip a wing then apply opposite rudder, your aircraft will skid and pivot around the lowered wing. You use a skid at the top of a Wing Over maneuver (see below) but you can also use one to complicate an enemy's gun tracking solution.

Slice/Sliceback
An oblique Split-S is also known as a Slice.

Snapshot
A high deflection gunshot (see above) with a low probability of success. Snapshots are tactically important, even if they don't find their mark, because often they will have psychological impact on the one being shot at, making them a little less aggressive subsequently.

Scenario
An organised mission available for all Warbirds pilots to participate in. Takes place in the Special Events Arena and is based on an actual WWII event. Planes available are limited to those that were actually present and other arena settings may also be changed.

Split-S
A Split-S is exactly the inverse of an Immelmann. You begin by rolling inverted then pull back on the stick. At the completion of the maneuver, you will be heading in the opposite direction at a much higher rate of speed and at an lower altitude. The Split-S was the classic escape maneuver for Bf-109's that had been bounced by a Spitfire because the latter could not fly inverted because it did not have a fuel injected carburetor.

Stack
Two or more aircraft or Sections operating in mutual support but separated vertically.
 

TOD
Tour of Duty. Stats are kept of the pilot for each three week TOD. At the end of the TOD all stats are reset. Countries are also rearranged on the map.

Tracking (Guns Tracking Solution)
A very low deflection gunshot from a classic attack position astern of the target with minimal relative motion.

Trail
See also Line Astern. The aircraft farthest back in a formation is known as the "Trailer."
 

Vic
A formation for three aircraft which originated in the First World War. There is a lead aircraft followed by two trailers in triangular formation. The Luftwaffe only used the Vic during the Spanish war, although the British continued to employ it early in WWII as well until the pre-dominance of Section and Flight tactics were established.

Vis
Confirm have visual on a particular target, area or plane.

VV
The same of CC.
 

WB
Warbirds

Weave
When members of a formation cross each other's flight paths in a regular pattern. An offensive example of this tactic is the Thatch Weave.

WEP
An emergency power boost taking engine to 110% for a limited amount of time. Not available on all planes and of different duration on those that do have it. Activated by pressing "F10' Key.

Wingman
The second pilot in a Section, usually but not always the junior man of the two pilots. The Wingman has primary responsibility as defensive lookout for the Section, freeing the Section Leader to concentrate on offensive responsibilities. If subsequent tactical maneuvers place the Wingman in better position to prosecute an attack, the Leader temporarily assumes the duties of wingman for that pilot until the attack is over or the formation disengages.

Wing Over
A Wing Over is performed by applying rudder at the top of a climb to kick the tail of the aircraft around the yaw axis and reverse direction back into a dive. To be done correctly, the aircraft should be at or near stall speed when you begin the turn. Do not do a Wing Over with an attacker in close quarters climbing after you as it makes you an easy shot. The most common tactical application of this maneuver is to set up a follow up pass after a prior diving attack. Wing Over's are energy-based maneuvers.

WRU
Where are you?

WTG
Way to go. Usually sent to a pilot when he gets a kill or sent over the country channel when an enemy field is captured.