Gunship Academy

by Richard Sheffield

Tutorial 7: Air-to-Air Combat

The Soviet Hind helicopters will be a continuing thorn in your side as you progress to more difficult missions. Learning to use your Sidewinder missiles is a must.

• Since you never know exactly when the Hind will appear, you should start this training mission with weapons practice. Pick a section of the map, make an attack plan, and start your attack.

• At some point during your attack, you'll get a message saying a Hind is airborne. The Soviet helicopter will be coming from the enemy base in the upper right corner of the map (don't destroy this base or you won't have any Hinds to practice against).

• When the blinking dot appears on your threat display, indicating the location of the Hind, you'll have to break off your attack and deal with it. Turn toward the enemy, arm a Sidewinder, and shoot at your first opportunity. If you're sure that the Hind is in front of you and not behind a hill, you can lock onto any ground target to arm your weapons and fire a Sidewinder. It will home in on the helicopter without the TADS system.

• Once you've destroyed the helicopter, you can go back to your attack; another enemy helicopter will be along shortly, though, so be alert. After you take care of the second Hind, finish your attack and return to the base.

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