It all started fine and dandy, but then... (new youtube movie by me)

[unreasonable]

Originally Posted by Blackdog_kt

It's also a matter of geometry.

Turning into the attack has the disadvantage of crossing the line of fire, but it creates an angle that's difficult to manage for the attacker: he doesn't just have to follow, he also has to pull lead on top of it to make the rounds connect.

On the other hand, turning away from the attack makes it very easy for the attacker to follow in a low-G lag pursuit curve. He can throw in a low yo-yo to cut into my turn and transition from lag to lead pursuit and then all he has to do is wait until i am in range. He's effectively been given a free firing solution with minimal amount of G pulled (so he retains his energy), which enables him to keep the advantage even if he doesn't get me in one pass.

The problem of crossing the line of fire can be partially solved (there's not 100% solutions here, just making it harder for the other guy to aim but there's no guarantee he won't land some hits) by incorporating a bit of vertical component.

So, instead of rolling 90 degrees flat and yanking on the stick in a pure horizontal break turn, it's a good idea to make it into a yo-yo maneuver which also has the effect of managing your energy better. Especially when flying blue in CoD this can be combined with a feint: roll one way and then take advantage of your ability to pull negative Gs by making it a negative yo-yo or barrel roll in the other direction, followed by rolling into the turn properly to transition to positive G (since neg Gs usually seem to cause a higher energy loss).

I agree with all of this if the attacker is coming in at a distance at angle of about 45% or more off your tail, but in this case the OP is attacked by an aircraft close on his 6 flying on about the same vector. He already has a firing solution he is just missing (just!). Both aeroplanes are low and slow so vertical manouvres are tricky. Plus the OP is in a Spitfire so he wants the 109 in a lag turn - it will never catch him. If he goes low to cut across you pull up and are now above him.