Dogfight facts for kids

A dogfight is a close air battle between fighter planes. It often involves planes turning, climbing, and swirling around each other in the sky. Pilots try to get into a good position to shoot down the enemy plane, while also avoiding being shot themselves.

The Start of Dogfights

Dogfights first began during World War I (1914-1918). At that time, fighter planes did not have many weapons.

The First Air Battle

The very first air battle happened during the Battle of Cer in August 1914. A Serbian pilot named Miodrag Tomić was flying a mission to look at Austro-Hungarian positions. He saw an Austro-Hungarian plane. At first, the pilots waved at each other! But then, the Austro-Hungarian pilot fired a revolver at Tomić. Tomić quickly pulled out his own pistol and shot back. Tomić managed to get away safely. Within a few weeks, all Serbian and Austro-Hungarian planes were given machine guns.

Why Dogfights Were Important

In those early days, advanced weapons like homing missiles did not exist. Planes could only fight each other using machine guns. Since machine guns only worked at a very close range, planes had to fly very near to each other to fight. Pilots had to perform many tricky moves to avoid being shot and to get a good shot at enemy planes. This new way of fighting in the air was called "dogfighting." Fighter planes built especially for this kind of combat were sometimes called "dogfighters."

During World War II, many fighter planes had autocannons. These fired small, explosive artillery shells. Planes could fight from a bit farther apart, which helped them avoid being destroyed too quickly.

Dogfights Today

In modern air combat, there are many long-range weapons. These can be used before planes even get close enough for a dogfight. For example, homing missiles can be fired from much farther away than machine guns. These missiles automatically try to follow their target.

Because of these advanced weapons, dogfighting is less common now. However, modern planes still have Gatling guns. These are very advanced types of machine guns. This is because dogfighting can still happen sometimes, even with all the new technology.

Images for kids

• 

  F/A-18 Head-up display during dogfight simulation

• 

  Fighter contrails overhead during the Battle of the Philippine Sea

• 

  Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero chases a North American B-25 Mitchell during simulated combat.

• 

  Gun camera photo of a MiG-15 being attacked by U.S. Air Force F-86 Sabre over Korea in either 1952 or 1953. The Sabre is piloted by Capt. Manuel "Pete" Fernandez of the 334th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing.

See also

In Spanish: Dogfight para niños