The WWII vets description does not match the video.
He seems to be describing throwing the aircraft into an extreme skid and firing as the pursuer overshot. Feasible but you leave yourself vulnerable, and its sheer good luck not skill if the pursuer flies through your line of fire.
The video instead shows the plane spinning once and then recovering. Seems unlikely.
On the other hand the red tails shot looks to me more like half a wing-over. A real wing-over would occupy a lot more vertical space and slow you down a lot, again leaving you vulnerable.
More importantly these are three entirely different maneuvers.
All a bit suspect, however it is worth noting that Luftwaffe ace pilot Hans Joachim Marseille was renowned for using spins to quickly and safely exit his attacks on allied Luftberry circles. So deliberate spinning in dogfights is not unheard of.
Last edited by WTE_Galway; 02-14-2012 at 11:03 PM.
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