What is a combat turn?

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#1

Reading a book on Soviet WWII fighter aircraft, the altitude gain during a “combat turn” is mentioned, not as a measure of climb, but as a “virtue” (some English close lost in my dusty vocabulary) in itself. It would typically be 800-900m (-3000ft) for 1941 prototypes to 1500m (5000ft) for the late war Yakolev prototypes.

A 1500m height gain for a late war Yak would take at least a minute.
A 360deg turn would take about 18seconds (conditions not specified.

This leaves me with few clues to what a COMBAT TURN is…

#2

Sounds awfully like an Immelman turn… Just without the politicaly unsound German name!

#3

I don’t know if it’s the Immelman, it may just be a wording issue. Anyways, anyone know what a “cobra” maneuver is? :slight_smile:

#4

If it’s the one they use to demo the Su-27, google is your friend: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pugachev’s_Cobra

#5

Combat turn usially was meaning the VErtical 180 degrees turn of aircraft from horzontal flying with maximum speed in single plane with increasing altitude i.e at up

#6

Yep, that’s known as an Immelman turn to the rest of the world after the German what invented it :smiley:

#7

Is the combat turn a useful measure of anything; I thought the Immelmann turn was about gaining an immediate tactical advantage, not climbing away for a minute and then head back and see how it´s going…?