page_title: Basic fighter maneuvers
section_title: Split-S
hierarchical_section_title: Basic fighter maneuvers / Maneuvers / Split-S
caption_attribution_description: Schematic view of a Split S,
context_page_description: Basic fighter maneuvers are tactical movements performed by fighter aircraft during air combat maneuvering, to gain a positional advantage over the opponent. BFM combines the fundamentals of aerodynamic flight and the geometry of pursuit, with the physics of managing the aircraft's energy-to-weight ratio, called its specific energy.
  Maneuvers are used to gain a better angular position in relation to the opponent. They can be offensive, to help an attacker get behind an enemy; or defensive, to help the defender evade an attacker's air-to-air weapons. They can also be neutral, where both opponents strive for an offensive position or disengagement maneuvers, to help an escape.
  Classic maneuvers include the lag pursuit or yo-yo, which add distance when the attacker may overshoot the target due to higher airspeed, the low yo-yo, which does the opposite when the attacker is flying too slow, the scissors, which attempts to drive the attacker in front of the defender, and the defensive spiral, which allows a defender to disengage from an attacker.
context_section_description: The opposite of an Immelmann is the Split-S. This maneuver consists of rolling inverted and pulling back on the stick, diving the aircraft into a half loop, which changes the aircraft's direction 180 degrees. The split-s is rarely a viable option in combat as it depletes kinetic energy in a turn and potential energy in a dive. It is most often used to set up a high-side guns pass against a lower but fast moving opponent that is traveling in the opposite direction. Also, the split-s is sometimes used as a disengagement tactic.
caption: Schematic view of a Split S: 180° rollHalf loopExit level
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