Situational Awareness
Situational awareness in both of the scissors is critical, as flight paths become very predictable to an outside observer, and an unseen enemy could easily approach this mentally demanding situation and attack with near impunity. Also, particularly in the rolling scissors (due to the vertical component of the maneuvering), awareness of the ground and other obstacles must be maintained while most of the pilots' attention is demanded by the close and hard maneuvering required of the scissors engagements.
As stated above, the modern fighter pilot is well advised to avoid the scissors engagements, as they do not favor the characteristics of many modern fighter aircraft: aircraft with medium-to-high wing loading, powerful engines (and attendant high rates of climb allowing for significant maintained vertical maneuvering capabilities), and long-range missile weapons. The scissors are also very physically and mentally taxing on the pilots involved, and can lead to a dangerous loss of situational awareness due to fixation on the one other enemy aircraft involved, leading to vulnerability to other enemies that may be flying in the area unobserved, or ground threats such as surface-to-air missiles.
Read more about this topic: The Scissors
Famous quotes containing the word awareness:
“Introspection is self-improvement and therefore introspection is self-centeredness. Awareness is not self-improvement. On the contrary, it is the ending of the self, of the “I,” with all its peculiar idiosyncrasies, memories, demands, and pursuits. In introspection there is identification and condemnation. In awareness there is no condemnation or identification; therefore, there is no self-improvement. There is a vast difference between the two.”
—Jiddu Krishnamurti (b. 1895)