"TV" wrote in message
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Sorry for being quasi-on-topic (seems to be rare now!), but I just
finished reading Larry Bond's Red Pheonix (it wasn't very good- FAR too
many unbelievable coincidences!!). Besides stretching the plot, I believe
he stretches the plausibility of some of the action. So I thought I'd
check with some of the folks here who've been there, done that.

The A-A moments were generally readable, but the first action described is
a nighttime dogfight between F-16s and Mig-21/29s (including guns kills!).
Has there ever been a documented case of a nighttime dogfight? Would
something like that be possible in a -teen series jet? I'm not talking
about an intercept, but a messy, multiplane furball. Seems to me it'd be
a great way to get lots of collisions and blue-on-blue kills.

Goggles would certainly make a night engagement possible, but I'm not sure
how functional they are with significant G on the body ... I'll have to ask
my Bug-drivin' buddies how usable they are in the maneuvering environment.
I do know that simple stuff, tactical formation flying etc, is no sweat.

I've done some night ACM, simple one vs one stuff. Rules were lights on and
A/B engaged so you could see the other guy and have some idea about target
aspect. Of course, if they were really shooting at me, I'd be reluctant to
have anything illuminated that would help the bogies locate me. And a
multiplane engagement would certainly make blue-on-blue avoidance difficult.

One other moment of great implausibility (maybe it happened twice?!) was
when an F-16 finishing a bombing run saw a SAM site, and then turned
towards it and hosed it with his cannon. OK, that's weak, but for those
(Ed and others) who've done Iron Hand/SEAD missions, how often were
cannons used agaisnt SAM sites? I would imagine pretty rarely as they
would be accompanied by AAA. I think it's been said (by Ed if not
others), that dueling ground guns with aerial cannons isn't the best idea
in the world.

I think you're correct. While the gun can do some nice damage (and the
Vulcan with a good sight is a death ray), the range is too close and the
flight path too predictable. An excellent way to trade a multi-million
dollar airplane and one's life for a target valued in pocket change.

R / John