The TurboExpress is an 8-bit handheld game console by NEC Home Electronics , released in late 1990 in Japan and the United States, branded as the PC Engine GT in Japan and TurboExpress Handheld Entertainment System in the U.S. It is essentially a portable version of the TurboGrafx-16 home console that came out one to three years earlier. Its launch price in Japan was ¥44,800 and US$ 249.99 (equivalent to $ 580 in 2023) in the U.S.
86-559: The TurboExpress was technically advanced for the time, able to play all the TurboGrafx‑;16's HuCard games, featuring a backlit , active-matrix color LCD screen, and optional TV tuner . The TurboExpress primarily competed with Nintendo 's Game Boy , Sega 's Game Gear , and the Atari Lynx . With 1.5 million units sold, far behind its two main competitors, NEC failed to gain significant sales or market share in
172-508: A melee : a fierce, fast-paced battle at close quarters between two or more opponents. The term gained popularity during World War II, although its first use in reference to air combat can be traced to the latter years of World War I. One of the first written uses of the word in that sense was in an account of the death of Baron von Richthofen in The Graphic in May 1918: "The Baron joined
258-474: A 12- to 40-hour lifespan on 4 AA batteries. The TurboLink allows two-player play. Falcon , a flight simulator, includes "head-to-head" dogfight and cooperative modes that can only be accessed via TurboLink. This technology was also used for Bomberman '93 Com-Link multiplayer. Although it was released after the TurboExpress launch, very few TG-16 games offer co-op play modes especially designed with
344-525: A Zero would lock onto the tail of one of the fighters. In response, the two planes would turn toward each other, with one plane's path crossing in front of the other. More importantly, the pursuer would have to follow that path to maintain pursuit, also crossing in front of the American plane's sights. Thus, when the Zero followed its original target through the turn it would come into a position to be fired on by
430-527: A Zero." Even though its engine was rather low in power, the Zero had very low wing loading characteristics, a small turn radius , a top speed over 330 mph (530 km/h), and could climb better than any fighter used by the U.S. at that time, although it was poorly armored compared to U.S. aircraft. A pilot who realized that new tactics had to be devised was Lieutenant Commander John S. "Jimmy" Thach , commander of Fighting Three in San Diego. He read
516-467: A backlit handheld until the release of the Game Boy Light in 1998. Its keypad layout is similar to that of the original Game Boy , with the unique addition of two "turbo switches" that engage two levels of high-speed controller button re-triggering to assist the player. Due to a problem with faulty capacitors (an industry-wide issue in the early 1990s), sound failure is a frequent problem with
602-608: A few exceptions, such as the F-8 Crusader and the F-100 Super Sabre , which each mounted four 20 mm cannons, jets were not designed for dog fighting other jet aircraft. Soviet doctrine called for their interceptors to be strictly vectored towards their targets by Ground Control Intercept (GCI) operators. As a consequence, U.S. RF-101 Voodoo aircraft conducting reconnaissance missions, or F-102 Delta Daggers , F-104 Starfighters performing MiGCAP duties, and
688-564: A hard turn, pulling all the Gs he could. This guy was one fantastic pilot. The war in the air, however, eventually came to a stalemate as fighting ceased between the two factions. Later after the fall of the Soviet Union, Soviet records showed that Russian pilots were indeed in the air. Sometimes in the fury of combat they reverted to the Russian language over the radio. The Vietnam War "was
774-403: A machine which turned beautifully. However, my own was better at rising than his, and I succeeded at last in getting above and beyond my English waltzing partner. ... The impertinent fellow was full of cheek and when we had got down to about 3,000 feet he merrily waved to me as if he would say, "Well, how do you do?" The circles which we made around one another were so narrow that their diameter
860-554: A minute." The first supposed instance of plane on plane combat and the first instance of one plane intercepting another during an aerial conflict apparently occurred during the Mexican Revolution on November 30, 1913, between two American mercenaries fighting for opposing sides, Dean Ivan Lamb and Phil Rader . The story comes from Lamb himself. According to his own statements in an interview two decades later, both men had orders to kill, but neither pilot wanted to harm
946-513: A result, is not capable of saving in this manner. Most games provide a password save mechanism as an alternative. The battery life is about three hours for 6 AA batteries . This is also a problem for other color and backlit or sidelit handhelds of the time, such as the Game Gear at 5–6 hours, the Sega Nomad at 2–3 hours, and the Atari Lynx at more than 4 hours. Nintendo's Game Boy had
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#17327717760211032-779: A strong belief that lightly armed, highly maneuverable single seat fighters would still play a primary role in air-to-air combat. Aircraft such as the Nakajima Ki-27 and Nakajima Ki-43 and the Mitsubishi A6M Zero in Japan, and the Fiat ;G.50 and Macchi C.200 in Italy epitomised a generation of monoplanes designed to this concept. The other stream of thought, which emerged primarily in Britain , Germany ,
1118-621: A television screen, not on a small LCD screen. As a result, certain RPGs and adventure games can be difficult to play on the unit. The TurboExpress plays the same game cartridges as the TurboGrafx-16 home console. Some TurboGrafx-16 HuCards save game data to the internal memory of the TurboGrafx-CD unit, TurboDuo , or TurboBooster Plus (a peripheral for the core TG-16 console). The TurboExpress lacks this internal memory and, as
1204-531: A very early production Bristol Scout C., attacked three separate aircraft during a single sortie, shooting down two with a non-synchronizable Lewis gun which was mounted next to his cockpit at an outwards angle to avoid hitting the propeller . He forced the third one down, and was awarded the Victoria Cross . Battles in the air increased as the technological advantage swung from the British to
1290-466: Is a new title in development with a planned release in 2022. Dogfight A dogfight , or dog fight , is an aerial battle between fighter aircraft that is conducted at close range. Modern terminology for air-to-air combat is air combat manoeuvring (ACM), which refers to tactical situations requiring the use of individual basic fighter maneuvers (BFM) to attack or evade one or more opponents. This differs from aerial warfare , which deals with
1376-612: Is an evolution from an earlier Hudson Soft technology, the Bee Card , which it developed in the early 1980s as a distribution medium for MSX software; In July 1985, Hudson Soft approached and pitched Nintendo a new add-on for the Famicom that played games using their patented Bee Cards, which was experimented on the MSX computer. Nintendo liked this concept, as it had the ability to store full games and overwrite existing ones. However, as
1462-518: The Mitsubishi A6M Zero , an extremely lightweight fighter known for its exceptional range and maneuverability. The U.S. military tested the Akutan Zero , a Mitsubishi A6M2 which was captured intact in 1942, advising – along the same lines that General Claire Chennault , commander of the Kunming -based Flying Tigers had already advised his pilots over a year before – "Never attempt to dogfight
1548-551: The PCB while providing enough space inside for radiant heat and, less often, a button cell . The PCB in a HuCard or Bee Card is protected by a rigid, glossy polymer that conducts heat; since the PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 leave one side of the card partially exposed while inserted in the console, heat disperses with less obstruction. Video game developers made new releases on HuCard until December 1994, when 21 Emon: Mezase! Hotel Ō
1634-881: The Sinai and Palestine Campaign ground war on the Gaza to Beersheba line came to resemble trench warfare on the western front, the air war over southern Palestine also came to resemble that being fought over France. After the Second Battle of Gaza in April 1917 and during the ensuing Stalemate in Southern Palestine , the concentration of Egyptian Expeditionary (EEF) and Ottoman Army forces holding established front lines grew, as associated supply dumps and lines of communications were developed. The need for information about these installations fuelled "intense rivalry in
1720-805: The Soviet Union , and the United States was the belief the high speeds of modern combat aircraft and the g-forces imposed by aerial combat meant that dogfighting in the classic WWI sense would be impossible. Fighters such as the Messerschmitt Bf ;109 , the Supermarine Spitfire , the Yakovlev Yak-1 , and the Curtiss P-40 were all designed for high speeds and a good rate of climb. Good maneuverability
1806-552: The Spanish Civil War proved this theory was wrong. At the beginning of the war, new tactics were developed, most notably in the Luftwaffe Condor Legion . Lieutenant Werner Mölders advised abandoning the standard "V" formation used in combat, and pairing fighters in twos, starting the practice of having a wingman at one's side. He advised that pairs of aircraft approaching a fight should increase
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#17327717760211892-634: The 109 did not appear, and not wishing to tempt the gods of fate further, I pushed my stick forward, entered the protective cover of the clouds, and headed home. During this time, three new Russian fighters, the LaGG-1 , the Yak-1 , and the MiG-3 were just coming off of the production line. The Soviet Air Defense Force had been fraught with problems since World War I. The German Barbarossa offensive on June 22, 1941, destroyed more than 2000 Soviet aircraft on
1978-505: The Game Boy, but stated that the NEC handheld "gobbles power like crazy ... almost forcing players to immediately purchase an AC adapter ". The magazine nonetheless praised its compatibility with TurboGrafx games, and concluded, "to see this machine in action is to fall in love with it". Entertainment Weekly praised the new 16 bit computer architecture of the system and the graphics of
2064-620: The Germans, then back again. The Feldflieger-Abteilung or "FFA", observation units of the German air service, consisted in 1914–15 of six two-seat observation aircraft each. Each unit was assigned to a particular German Army headquarters location, and had a single Fokker Eindecker aircraft assigned to each "FFA" unit for general defensive duties, so pilots such as Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke began as lone hunters with FFA units, shooting unarmed spotter planes and other enemy aircraft out of
2150-583: The Japanese planes, the Chinese planes were much more maneuverable, and many dogfights ensued, resulting in high losses reported on both sides. Reports of dogfights that made it to the U.S. military provided valuable insight into the Japanese tactics and their plane's flight characteristics. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor , the United States entered the war. The Japanese used, among other aircraft,
2236-614: The MiG flashes by you. Quickly closing the brakes, you slide onto his tail and hammer him with your "50s". The Chinese were very competent in a dogfight, and large swirling battles were fought in the skies over Korea. However, it was highly suspected by many U.S. pilots that some of the opponents they faced over Korea were in fact well-trained Soviet pilots, whom the Americans referred to as "hanchos", (a Japanese word, meaning "bosses"). Major Robinson Risner recalls, Seeing one another about
2322-647: The MiG-17s and MiG-19s (J-6s) made the remaining 37 kills, from their 90 total, with their 23 mm, 30 mm and 37 mm cannons. As part of the North Vietnamese triad system of defense, surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) had become an ever-increasing threat. U.S Air Force Brigadier General Robin Olds describes a typical encounter with surface-to-air missiles, which during a period of time in Vietnam
2408-552: The NVAF MiG's 37 gun kill figures. Approximately 612 radar-guided AIM-7 Sparrow missiles were fired during the war, scoring 56 MiG kills, while 454 heat-seeking AIM-9 Sidewinders were launched achieving 81 aerial victories. During Operation Rolling Thunder 54 AIM-4 Falcon missiles were fired, obtaining five kills. By contrast, NVAF MiG-21s obtained 53 air-to-air kills with their AA-2 "Atoll" missiles, from an unknown number of launchings. At least three MiG-21s, and all of
2494-634: The NVAF with enough missile-firing MiG-21s to allow the North Vietnamese to routinely engage U.S. aircraft, and to rely less and less on their aged MiG-17s, although many North Vietnamese pilots still preferred the MiG-17s agility and easy maintenance. With the arrival of the additional MiG-21s, and by 1969 MiG-19s (J-6s) imported from China , engagements between U.S. and NVAF jets became generally divided into two arenas; MiG-21s engaged at higher altitudes, while MiG-17s and MiG-19s would try to give battle at lower altitudes where their cannons were more effective. At
2580-596: The SAMs and AAA batteries. This triad defense system of GCI-controlled MiGs, Missiles (SAMs), and AAA enabled the North Vietnamese MiGs to utilize their aircraft's design capabilities as their designers had intended, that of, in the vernacular of the time, making "one pass, and then hauling ass", which was, in practice, quickly firing at their targets and then speeding away. By 1967 the Soviets had supplied
2666-461: The Soviet Union . As a result, air combat methods known by fighter pilots since World War I became all but lost as veterans from WWII and Korea retired and didn't pass them on to succeeding generations . American fighter pilots would meet in the skies in secret to engage in mock combat to try to maintain some level of proficiency. It wasn't until TOPGUN was established for the Navy in 1969 and Red Flag
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2752-465: The Soviet Union during a massive war in Europe . Over the skies of North Vietnam, U.S. aircraft would be attacking the "most formidable and most heavily defended targets in the history of aerial warfare". By this time, dogfighting techniques had fallen out of favor in U.S. training doctrines, as missiles were considered to be all that was necessary to shoot down the big bombers expected to be deployed by
2838-482: The TurboExpress in mind. TurboVision is a TV tuner adapter for the TurboExpress converting the TurboExpress into an handheld television . The accessory was available at launch for US$ 100 (equivalent to $ 230 in 2023). It allowed a player to either watch television, or go back to playing games with the flip of a switch; in other words, one may use the TurboExpress as a video monitor. It includes an RCA audio/video input for external composite video signals. Due to
2924-475: The TurboExpress was not widely recognized or adopted by consumers. In addition to NEC's marketing issues, the handheld was initially released for $ 249.99, significantly higher than popular competitors. Because of this price tag, it was labeled as the " Rolls-Royce of handheld systems". On the other hand, the ability to run the same software as its console counterpart meant that additional portable system specific software did not have to be purchased if already owning
3010-443: The TurboExpress, sometimes even in new systems. The screen used in the TurboExpress was another source for problems, though it was state of the art when it was released. The LCD technology used was still fairly new and the rate of pixel failure was very high. Brand-new TurboExpress systems often had several bad pixels. Text is also difficult or impossible to read in certain circumstances, as many times fonts were written to be seen on
3096-399: The Vietnam war. Another effective maneuver used by the U.S. pilots was a simple break , which consisted of turning sharply across an attacker's flight path, which worked well in part because the large nose of the Zero tended to obstruct the pilot's view. Still another good tactic was a high-side guns pass , which consisted of diving upon the Zero, shooting in one high-speed pass, and using
3182-412: The air". Aerial reconnaissance patrols were regularly attacked, so all photography and artillery observation patrols had to be accompanied by armed escort aircraft. These special EEF patrols grew into squadrons, attacking hostile aircraft wherever they were found, either in the air or on the ground. However, the technically superior German aircraft shot down numbers of EEF aircraft during dog fights. By
3268-583: The air. General Wolfram von Richthofen noted that these guns were equally destructive when used for ground fire. Adolph Malan compiled a list of aerial combat rules that were widely taught to RAF pilots. The Bf 109 and the Spitfire were some of the most common fighters used in the European theater. A typical dogfight is described by an unnamed pilot: Pulling up into his blind spot I watched his plane grow larger and larger in my sight. But this German pilot
3354-586: The attack while at the same time covering the other pair. Thach made a diagram of the idea and showed it to other pilots, but in trial-runs people like Butch O'Hare found it difficult to make the shot while, at the same time, evading the two friendly planes coming at him head on. Thach later faced the A6M Zero during the Battle of Midway , in June 1942, for the test of his theory. Although outnumbered, he found that
3440-449: The blood rushed from my head. Fighting every second to overcome this blackness about me, I pulled back on the stick, further and further, so that the enemy would just show at the bottom of my ring sight to allow for the correct deflection. We were both flying in a tight circle. Just a little more and I'll have him. Pressing the [trigger] I waited expectantly for the 109 to explode. I've hit his wing. A section two-feet long broke loose from
3526-587: The conclusion of the air war in 1973, U.S. airmen had downed 202 communist MiGs, including two downed by B-52 tail gunners from their quad .50 caliber machine guns; this at a cost of 90 U.S. aircraft to NVAF MiGs. The USAF claimed 137 MiGs while the USN/USMC brought down 65 in air-to-air combat. From these figures, the USAF had 40 gun kills, and the USN claimed eight cannon victories. This number approached parity with
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3612-446: The console, resulting in a (oftentimes substantial) cost savings. The screen is sized 66 mm (2.6 in.), the same as the original Game Boy . It can display 64 sprites at once, 16 per scanline , in up to 481 colors from a palette of 512. It has 8 kilobytes of RAM , and it runs a HuC6280 CPU at 1.79 or 7.16 MHz , same as TurboGrafx-16. The TurboExpress had a backlit display. Handheld market leader Nintendo did not have
3698-603: The distance between them instead of holding tight formations, a precursor to the combat spread maneuver. He also started the practice of training pilots to fly at night, and with instruments only. Using the new tactics, and flying the newest Bf 109 fighters, the Germans shot down 22 Spanish Republican fighters within a five-day period, suffering no losses of their own. During the 1930s two different schools of thought about air-to-air combat began to emerge, resulting in two different trends of monoplane fighter development. In Japan and Italy especially, there continued to be
3784-441: The early reports coming out of China and wrestled with the problem of his F4F Wildcats being relatively slower and much less maneuverable than the Japanese planes. Using matchsticks on his kitchen table, he devised a defensive maneuver he called "beam defense position", but commonly called the " Thach Weave ". Thach reasoned that, because the Zero had fabric wing-covers that tended to "balloon" at speeds above 295 mph, which made
3870-465: The end of the war, the underpowered machines from just ten years prior had been transformed into fairly powerful, swift, and heavily armed fighter planes, and the basic tactics of dogfighting had been established. Airplane technology rapidly increased in sophistication after World War I. By 1936, dogfighting was thought to be a thing of the past, since aircraft were reaching top speeds of over 250 miles per hour (400 km/h). The experiences of
3956-645: The era include radar and air-to-air missiles . Enemy pilots were construed as weak and evil. For example, in World War ;II, describing the Soviet tactics, the Luftwaffe claimed that, "The characteristic feature of the average Soviet fighter pilot were a tendency toward caution and reluctance instead of toughness and stamina, brute strength instead of genuine combat efficiency, abysmal hatred instead of fairness and chivalry...." After World War II,
4042-458: The first tactical formations in the air. The Germans responded by forming Jagdstaffel or Jastas , large squadrons of fighters solely dedicated to destroying enemy aircraft, under the supervision of Boelcke. Pilots who shot down five or more fighters became known as aces . One of the most famous dogfights, resulting in the death of Major Hawker, is described by the "Red Baron", Manfred von Richthofen : I WAS extremely proud when, one fine day, I
4128-421: The first 'modern' air war" in which air-to-air missiles were the primary weapons during aerial combat, and was the only confrontation between the latest aerial and ground defense technologies between the Soviet Union and the United States . If U.S. air power could successfully conduct war against Soviet doctrine and equipment in the skies over North Vietnam , then it could expect to successfully operate against
4214-484: The first day, and more than 5000 before October. With great desperation, the Soviets fought in dogfights over Leningrad , Moscow , and Ukraine for more than a year. Fireteam , a triple of aircraft ("troika"), has been the main tactical unit used in battles since the beginning of World War II. The analysis and synthesis of fighting experience resulted in a conclusion that group tactics should have been rejected and replaced by action pairs. However, ramming an opponent
4300-446: The first pilot to ram his plane into an enemy spotter aircraft. In October 1914, an airplane was shot down by a handgun from another plane for the first time over Reims , France . Once machine guns were mounted on the airplane , either on a flexible mounting or on the top wing of early biplanes , the era of air combat began. The biggest problem was mounting a machine gun onto an aircraft so that it could be fired forward, through
4386-478: The first synchronized, forward-firing fighter plane. On the evening of July 1, 1915, the very first aerial engagement by a fighter plane armed with a synchronized, forward-firing machine gun occurred just to the east of Luneville , France . The German Fokker E.I was flown by Lieutenant Kurt Wintgens , who shot down a French two-seat observation monoplane. Later that same month, on July 25, 1915, British Royal Flying Corps (RFC) Major Lanoe Hawker , flying
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#17327717760214472-633: The games, but warned that the small screen is a downgrade for those used to playing the games on a big screen. XGP HuCard The HuCard ( Japanese : ヒューカード , Hepburn : HyūKādo ) (Known as the TurboChip in regions where the PC Engine was marketed as the TurboGrafx-16 ) is a ROM cartridge in the form of a card, designed by Hudson Soft for NEC 's PC Engine and PC Engine SuperGrafx video game consoles , which were originally released in 1987 and 1989, respectively. The HuCard
4558-469: The greatest tacticians of the Soviet Air Force who showed his worth during World War II. His famous motto sounded as "Height, speed, maneuver, fire!". It became popular in the air armies and was adopted by pilots. Struggling with morale problems, the Soviets slowly and methodically began to regain air supremacy after the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943. This theater is notable for including
4644-584: The handheld market. The TurboExpress's codename was Game Tank . A working prototype was revealed in the April 1990 issue of VG&CE . It was eventually released in December 1990 in both Japan and the U.S. Its price in the U.S. was briefly raised to $ 299.99 in March 1991 due to higher costs of the display, before dropping back to its launch price of $ 249.99, and lowering the price again to $ 199.99 in 1992. Regardless of its technical advantages upon its release,
4730-427: The mêlée, which, scattering into groups, developed into what our men call a dog fight". On March 21, 1918, several British newspapers published an article by Frederic Cutlack in which the word was used in the modern sense: "A patrol of seven Australian machines on Saturday met about twenty of this [i.e., von Richthofen's] circus at 12,000 feet. Ten of the enemy dived to attack our men. A regular dogfight ensued for half
4816-610: The only female fighter aces in history, Yekaterina Budanova and Lydia Litvyak . The Second Sino-Japanese War began on June 7, 1937, between China and Japan. The Japanese used the Mitsubishi A5M ; the predecessor of the famous "Zero", which was a very lightweight and maneuverable fighter. The Chinese mainly used Russian biplanes similar to those from WWI, such as the Polikarpov I-15 and early monoplanes such as I-16 . Despite being much lower in power and speed than
4902-413: The other, so they exchanged multiple volleys of pistol fire, intentionally missing before exhausting their supply of ammunition. Dogfighting became widespread in World War I. Aircraft were initially used as mobile observation vehicles, and early pilots gave little thought to aerial combat. The new aeroplanes proved their worth by spotting the hidden German advance on Paris in the second month of
4988-516: The plane very hard to turn, he could use high speed and a formation of four planes, consisting of two pairs of aircraft, flying line-abreast (side by side at the same altitude). Keeping the leader of each pair in close formation with their wingman , the pairs could fly about 200 feet (61 m) apart (the turn radius of the Wildcat) and adopt a weaving formation when either or both pairs fell under attack by Japanese fighters, allowing each pair to evade
5074-409: The propeller, and aimed by pointing the nose of the aircraft directly at the enemy. French aviator Roland Garros solved this problem by mounting steel deflector wedges on the propeller of a Morane Saulnier monoplane. He achieved three kills, but was forced down due to engine failure down behind enemy lines and captured before he could burn his plane to prevent it falling into enemy hands. The wreckage
5160-583: The question began to rise about the future usefulness of fighter aircraft. This was especially true for the U.S., where the focus was placed on small, fast, long-range bombers capable of delivering atomic bombs . The Korean War began in June 1950, and the North Koreans were outmatched by the U.S. Air Force . The war was nearly over by October, with the occupation of North Korea when, on November 1, Chinese MiG-15s attacked. The Chinese began supplying North Korea with troops and provisions, and
5246-473: The radar-ranging gunsight and hydraulic controls. Colonel Harrison R. Thyng remarked: Suddenly you go into a steep turn. Your mach drops off. The MiG turns with you, and you let him gradually creep up and outturn you. At the critical moment you reverse your turn. The hydraulic controls [of the F-86] work beautifully. The MiG cannot turn as readily as you and is slung out to the side. When you pop your speedbrakes,
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#17327717760215332-410: The right wing as the machine gun cut like a machete through it. Too low, a little more rudder and the bullets will find his cockpit. I could see occasional strikes further up the wing, but it was too late. The 109 , sensing that I was inside him on the turn, slunk into a nearby cloud. Straightening my plane, I climbed over the top of the bank, and poised on the other side, waiting for him to appear. But
5418-444: The same time, the MiG flight and my flight dropped [our extra fuel] tanks.. He was so low he was throwing up small rocks. I dropped down to get him, but to hit him I had to get down in his jet wash. He'd chop the throttle and throw out his speed brakes. I would coast up beside him, wingtip to wingtip. When it looked like I was going to overshoot him, I would roll over the top and come down on the other side of him. When I did, he'd go into
5504-572: The sky. During the first part of the war, there was no tactical doctrine of air-to-air combat. Oswald Boelcke was the first to analyze the tactics of aerial warfare, resulting in a set of rules known as the Dicta Boelcke . Many of Boelcke's concepts from 1916 are still applied today, including the use of sun and altitude, surprise attack, and turning to meet a threat. Brigadier General Hugh Trenchard ordered that all British reconnaissance aircraft be supported by at least three fighters, creating
5590-640: The speed to climb back above the fight to dive again. By 1943 the U.S. began to produce planes that were better matched against the Japanese planes, such as the Grumman F6F Hellcat , and the Vought F4U Corsair . Technology advanced extremely fast during World War II in ways that would change dogfighting forever. Jet propulsion had been demonstrated long before the war, by German engineer Hans von Ohain in 1934, and by British engineer Frank Whittle in 1937. The Messerschmitt Me 262
5676-558: The strategy involved in planning and executing various missions. Dogfighting first occurred during the Mexican Revolution in 1913, shortly after the invention of the airplane . It was a component of every major war after that, though with steadily declining frequency, until the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s. Since then, longer-range weapons such as beyond-visual-range missiles have made dogfighting largely obsolete. The term dogfight has been used for centuries to describe
5762-492: The strike aircraft themselves, such as F-105 Thunderchiefs , A-4 Skyhawks , A-6 Intruders , F-4 Phantoms and B-52 's flying over North Vietnam were met by MiG-17s (or Chicom J-5s), MiG-19s (Chicom J-6s), and MiG-21s being vectored directly to them by GCI operators who worked in conjunction with surface-to-air missile ( SAM ) crews. U.S. aircraft which successfully made it through the NVAF MiGs were then confronted with
5848-448: The target's wingman, and the predator would become the prey. His tactic proved to be effective and was soon adopted by other squadrons. The Thach Weave helped make up for the inferiority of the US planes in maneuverability and numbers, until new aircraft could be brought into service. This tactic later morphed into the more fluid and versatile "loose-deuce maneuvering" that was to prove useful in
5934-476: The technology for it was expensive, and that they would have to pay royalties for each card sold, Nintendo instead decided to pass on Hudson Soft's proposal. This eventually led to the partnership between Hudson Soft and NEC. The Bee Card is an EEPROM device that is slightly thinner than the HuCard. It has 32 connectors whereas the HuCard has 38. Most video game cartridges have a large plastic housing to protect
6020-641: The time. The Englishman could not help falling. But the jamming of my gun nearly robbed me of my success. My opponent fell, shot through the head, one hundred and fifty feet behind our line. Despite the Germans' early lead in combat tactics and their 'Dicta Boelcke', the Allies were quick to adapt and develop their own tactics. The Royal Flying Corps' Albert Ball was one of a band of pilots who liked to fly solo and he developed 'stalking' tactics for going after enemy two-seaters. He even used his Lewis gun in its top-wing adjustable Foster mounting to fire upwards into
6106-425: The underside of unsuspecting enemy aircraft. Other RFC pilots such as James McCudden and Mick Mannock emphasised mutual support and the advantages of attacking from height. Mannock expressed this in a list of aerial combat rules that were similar to Boelcke's. During 1916, aerial reconnaissance patrols were usually unaccompanied as there had been few if any aerial disputes between the belligerents. However, just as
6192-664: The war occurred during the Battle of Cer (August 15–24, 1914), when the Serbian aviator Miodrag Tomić encountered an Austro-Hungarian plane while performing a reconnaissance mission over Austro-Hungarian positions. The Austro-Hungarian pilot initially waved, and Tomić reciprocated. The Austro-Hungarian pilot then fired at Tomić with his revolver. Tomić managed to escape, and within several weeks, all Serbian and Austro-Hungarian planes were fitted with machine-guns. In August 1914, Staff-Captain Pyotr Nesterov , from Russia , became
6278-464: The war quickly resumed. At 100 mph (160 km/h) faster, the MiG-15 was more than a match for the U.S. P-80 Shooting Star , using the same dive and shoot tactic that the Americans found so useful against Japan. The U.S. jets had inferior weaponry, and suffered from problems with production and parts. The U.S. resorted to using mainly the more maneuverable propeller driven fighters during
6364-630: The war, such as the P-51 ;Mustang which was carried over from World War II. To combat the MiGs, the F-86 ;Sabre was put into production. The U.S. pilots had a number of major advantages over the Chinese, including the G-suit . Chinese fighters were often seen spinning off out of control during a hard turn because the pilot had lost consciousness. Other technological advantages included
6450-502: The war. Enemy pilots at first simply exchanged waves, or shook their fists at each other. Due to weight restrictions, only small weapons could be carried on board. Intrepid pilots decided to interfere with enemy reconnaissance by improvised means, including throwing bricks , grenades and sometimes rope , which they hoped would entangle the enemy plane's propeller . Pilots soon began firing hand-held guns at enemy planes, such as pistols and carbines . The first aerial dogfight of
6536-645: The widespread adoption of digital television and the HDTV standard, however, the adapter will no longer function as a television in most places due to the lack of any HDTV digital processing circuitry (the tuner can only process an analog signal for television). Due to this limitation, the TV tuner adapter is now relegated to a collectible for most people, although its RCA audio/video input function will still be operational (albeit limited with its low screen resolution). Computer Gaming World favorably compared TurboExpress to
6622-464: Was brought to Anthony Fokker , a Dutch designer who built aircraft for the Germans. Fokker decided that the wedges were much too risky, and improved the design by connecting the trigger of an MG 08 Maxim machine gun to the timing of the engine. The invention of this synchronization gear in 1915 transformed air combat and gave the Germans an early air superiority with the Fokker ;E.I ,
6708-456: Was informed that the airman whom I had brought down on the twenty- third of November, 1916, was the English [equivalent of] Immelmann.... First we circled twenty times to the left, and then thirty times to the right. Each tried to get behind and above the other. Soon I discovered that I was not meeting a beginner. He had not the slightest intention of breaking off the fight. He was traveling in
6794-609: Was not a primary objective. Immediately following the Spanish Civil War came World War II , during which dogfighting was most prevalent. It was widely believed that strategic bombing alone was synonymous with air power ; a fallacy that would not be fully understood until Vietnam. After the failings in Spain , a greater emphasis was placed on the accuracy of air-to-ground attacks. The need to stop bombers from reaching their targets, or to protect them on their missions,
6880-407: Was not content to fly straight and level. Before I could open fire his plane slewed to the right, and seeing me on his tail, he jerked back on the stick into the only defensive maneuver his plane could make. I banked my 47 over to the right and pulled back on the stick, striving to get him once more into my ring sight. The violent maneuver applied terrific G's to my body, and I started to black out as
6966-410: Was probably no more than 250 or 300 feet. I had time to take a good look at my opponent.... When he had come down to about three hundred feet he tried to escape by flying in a zig-zag course during which, as is well known, it is difficult for an observer to shoot. That was my most favorable moment. I followed him at an altitude of from two hundred and fifty feet to one hundred and fifty feet, firing all
7052-646: Was released in Japan for the PC Engine. It was the last official release for the platform in any region. Hudson Soft, NEC, and other vendors published seven HuCard games specifically for the PC Engine SuperGrafx. Hudson Soft called this enhanced medium the Super HuCard. Atlantean , an independent game released on a HuCard, was made available in August 2014. Jessie Jaeger in Cleopatra's Curse
7138-534: Was started for the Air Force in 1975 that pilots were formally trained in dogfighting again . Both U.S. and Soviet-built jet "fighters" were primarily designed as interceptors : intercepting bomber groups, and then shooting them down with air-to-air missiles. Neither party had a separate designation for interceptor, though: just "F" for fighter; "A" for attack; and "B" for bomber (for the NATO aircraft). With possibly
7224-455: Was still a common practice among the pilots of the Soviet Union. Another successful maneuver was a "Sokolinnyi udar" (falcon punch) when a pilot obtained a speed advantage by swooping down on an opponent, characteristically from the direction of the sun in order to hide their fighter within the glare of the brilliant light before and during the attack. This maneuver and many other tactical principles were introduced by Alexander Pokryshkin , one of
7310-578: Was the first jet fighter to be used in battle, with a speed over 500 mph (800 km/h), and began taking a toll on Allied bombing missions in 1944. The British were testing a jet that same year, the Gloster Meteor , which would later see action in the Korean War. Although U.S. General Hap Arnold test flew the XP-59 A in 1942, the plane was never used in combat. Other prime inventions of
7396-608: Was the primary purpose for most dogfights of the era. Dogfighting was very prominent in the European theatre . While the French Air Force was a major force during World War I, it was inadequate and poorly organized, and quickly fell to the German onslaught. As the first battles between the Germans and the British began, the power of the German's anti-aircraft artillery became readily apparent, with 88 millimeter shells capable of firing 40,000 feet (12,000 m) in
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