re: Is Jester a coward for diving below the hard deck during that first dogfight?

quote:

---

I'll see you both at the Sonic in an hour

---

Yep, Team Maverick and Dottie dropped the ball here!

Not a coward. “Rules” of engagement; he was playing the game. A little chicken shite maybe, but anything is better than losing.

I always took it as they were testing Maverick’s ability to follow orders. They knew he could fly with the best of them, but could he be trusted to stick to the mission.

quote:

---

We weren't below 10,000 for more than a few seconds. I had the shot, there was no danger,

---

“We didn’t hit the ground for more than a few seconds. I had the shot, there was no danger”

that doesn’t really make any sense does it?

Been listening to The Fighter Pilot Podcast. Highly recommend. Former Naval Aviator F-18 pilot hosts. He served as a Top Gun instructor.

Had their current CO on and confirmed it. If you quote this movie at the real Top Gun, you get fined $20.

Technically, from what I've read, diving below the hard deck is the equivalent of slamming your plane into the ground.

Someone did a good write-up on it. Intentionally going below the hard deck is considered an automatic loss, but you get warnings if you get close and a lot of times they just reset the dogfight if it's unintentional.

Basically Maverick chasing him to the hard deck was a race to see who could slam into the ground the fastest.



That being said, they used the hard deck incorrectly - they state that "there will be no engagement below the hard deck", implying it's a safe zone. I guess that's technically true, as your opponent just kamikazed himself to avoid you getting the kill.

quote:

---

joy." In a nutshell, Jester felt like he couldn't see Mav/Goose went below 10k as a safety measure to avoid a possible collision

---

Technically, the hard deck is established to simulate ground level, but also to try to prevent defensive maneuvers that might result in loss of control episodes that might result in unsuccessful ejection attempts. Most tactical military aircraft OOC/Spin Recovery procedures that I'm familiar with call for mandatory ejection if recovery is not established by 10,000' AGL.

So not only is it a training objective to pimp you that you're reaching ground level, it's also designed to keep you from attacking defensive people in an envelope that could cause an extreme reaction and maybe lose a jet.

So real world training, Jester should have acknowledged his bust, rocked his wings and kill removed. Mav/Goose should have leveled off at 10,100' and pumped another Sidewinder into him for good measure.

So was he a coward?

Not necessarily. I morted myself on the rocks many times. But you have to acknowledge that you lost.

Coward? No
Bitch? Maybe