The EF-24 “Mischief” is…. A difficult plane to fly. As a fifth gen fighter, it doesn’t come with the luxuries of 4th gen craft. That means no G-limit, or flight assist switches. But that’s fine, we won’t need them anyway. This guide is intended for pilots in a PvP environment who are already familiar with the aircraft and its systems. The 24 is a complex aircraft with many different ways for it to be flown. What is in this guide is just a reflection of what has worked for me.* With any luck, this guide should promote you from just another Maverick, to a threat worth watching for.



*It should be noted that this guide was written in the context of Chase's 24/7 BVR Server. While there are recommendations based on the rules of that server, much of this knowledge can be applied elsewhere in the game.

**This Guide has been updated for version 1.12.




The EF-24 is a fifth gen fighter that specializes in BVR and EW combat. Data-link piping live battlefield updates can be used by the pilots to plan targeted strikes on enemies before they know you exist. It is in these precision B/WVR strikes that the EF-24 excels. The 24 is excellent at allowing a pilot to plan around their changing battlefield, but can often struggle when caught in an unexpected situation.



If you're reading this and wondering where to start; go to the "Combat Flight Maneuvers - Missile Evasion" and "G-Pulling" Sections and begin there. The most impactful skill you can learn is the ability to evade missiles. The better you are, the more untouchable you become.

The EF-24 is a big, heavy plane. Which means it can feel sluggish to respond. Increasing joystick sensitivity above 1 can help to negate that sluggishness. I've heard of people using as high as 1.6, though I find 1.2 to be the most comfortable for me. As you get more used to how the 24 responds lowering your sens can be a good way to increase gun accuracy during a dogfight.

For CMS settings, I use 960 Single Auto. The EF-24's engine can easily run 4 thousand degrees C, which makes it very easy to track from IR missiles. The high dispense rate allows you to leave dense clumps of IR flares to outshine that hot (now cooling) engine.
Some 24 pilots pilots force their chaff/flare to a specific side to make a dominant missile avoidance side where breaking locks/ tracking is a bit easier. I recommend setting this to the right side, since orbiting counter-clockwise for best TGP use shows the right side. But it's personal preference.

Wing Sweep was something of an intimidating aspect of this plane to learn. But overall It's pretty straight forward. While some 24 players may scoff at the use of 'auto' mode I'd argue that it's fine 90% of the time. Auto wing sweep will make sure you have enough lift regardless of your speed, plus once you're going fast enough to G-pull they're going to be back anyway. Because Auto wing sweep is relative to your speed, the wings do a pretty good job at being in the right position when you need them there. There is a small transition period when you can go fast enough to pull off your extending wings, but I find that it's a rarity. Pre-setting flaps while the wings are retracted can reduce the workload of transitioning into a merge. Just make sure you drop below ~300kts for the wings to fully lock out.
There is a lot going on inside the cockpit of this plane, and being able to not worry about this task may make learning everything else easier.
With that being said, I've had some success retracting the wings ~90%(around the last large mil line on the sweep indicator) to assist in G-Pulling at lower altitudes. I find the wider sweep helps give you a bit more "grip" on the air, at the cost of increased drag/reduced max speed.


As a general rule of thumb, if a system on the aircraft has a HUD option, I've turned it on. But for every rule, there are exceptions. Turning off the 'Foe' HUD option in the TSD can make you better at target acquisition WVR. The orange 'Foe' indicator has been known to cover up enemy planes, making them more difficult to spot. This is especially true if you don't trust the foe HUD indicator (a good mentality), as the marker can easily obscure enemy after-burners.
The HUD itself contains an incredible amount of information. This can be both beneficial, and problematic. During time-sensitive fights, like in the merge, it is very easy for everything on the HUD to become information overload. Reducing the brightness of the HUD to the lowest readable level can alleviate this issue. By keeping the HUD's Brightness low, it can make seeing things through the HUD much easier. This is something I can strongly recommend if you're pushing for the merge more often than not. If you're keeping fights within the BVR battlefield, lowering HUD brightness is much less of a requirement.

While everyone may argue that their layout it optimal, it's important to remember: So long as you can absorb all the information you need, your setup is working. But here are my recommendations:

• Your TSD and RWR are the most important pages to keep open at all times. You use them for your situational awareness and defensive maneuvers. These pages keep you alive longer.
  
• In order to keep TSD, NAV, and RWR open at all times, I try to keep my window swapping to as little screen space as possible, mostly limited to the center screen.
  
• Putting the RWR on the top right can make it easier to see in your peripheral vision while maneuvering in combat.

The RWR should be open on either the right medium screens, or a full vertical. the more screen space you have on your RWR the easier it can be to identify incoming missiles, and time G-pulls.

TSD is your free 5th gen awareness. It gives you a rough idea of the battlefield as it stands. I have this up at nearly all times. Important note: The TSD isn't accurate on anything you or a teammate cannot see. The RWR triangulation can be very accurate, but it's not to be trusted. If you lose sight or lock on someone behind a mountain, the orange indicator continues on their last known trajectory. A good pilot will be going in any direction except the one your TSD tells you. Many 5th gen pilots recommend turning off the foe icon on the TSD's HUD for this very reason. Though I find that the BVR situational awareness is worth having on, and if you know what to look for you can see when the TSD dead-tracks.
When you're setting up your TSD make sure to hit the 'HUD' button on the top right, and enable allies. It'll help with your situational awareness, and your ability to IFF potential targets. If you have this turned on and you see burners without a blue circle over them, it's time to kill.

Keep the Nav map open, even at 40k feet you can be quickly driven to the ground. Having a nearby mountain ridge or valley to tuck away into can be a lifesaver. I find the ability to plan my route through the battlefield with terrain cover, to be invaluable. Though if a screen needs to be swapped for something else, this isn't the worst thing to remove.

It is more than possible to fly the 24 without using the radar. Though I would still recommend having it for use in acquiring targets. I use the radar on one of the vertical panels, but the smaller horizontal ones can work as well. Though it should be noted that you cannot SOI the radar when it's in the small square panels along the bottom of the display. The Radar in the 24 is of special interest, so we'll go more in-depth with it later.

The TGP, or Targeting pod, is a useful tool on any aircraft and 5th gens especially. I relegate it to the smallest of screens most of the time in my cockpit. When I am using the TGP alone I just pick targets already on the TSD to lock. A small screen with the TGP's zoom maxed out is just enough to tell if I have the target locked. If you're looking to scan for targets, I find swapping to head mounted with night mode on helps best. Afterburners will stick out as white dots against a black background. Though it may be a bit blinding when looking at the ground.

This is often something I interact with once in a life, then not until the next. Though I have found use in being able to drop drones during defensive BVR maneuvers. I leave this page in the tabbed in the center display to keep my situational awareness with the TSD when doing drone shenanigans. This also allows me to more easily TSD slave the decoys jamming on specific targets, should the need arise.


This is what my layout looks like:

Many people believe that the EF-24 has the strongest radar in the game. And there's evidence to support that idea.
But I think it's important to draw a distinction between radar power, and radar effectiveness. The 24 can project radar farther than the other planes, this is true, but the 24's radar can be easily avoided. The ground clutter modifier the game uses, while looking below the radars horizon, is effective at hiding planes that you're looking down on. It drastically reduces the effective range of your radar. However, if you look up at targets, the radar is not penalized the same and can pick up planes on the far end of its range. This means that you're going to have to get closer to targets below you, but targets high and far away can be found and tracked easier. Additionally if you're trying to hold a track of lock on someone far away, you can change the direction of your flight to prevent their ability to notch.
The 24's radar may be a brighter lamp, but that doesn't make it better at seeing.

Clicking and holding your right slick with the Radar SOI will engage boresight. This is a useful way of using the radar to track down single targets, without giving your position away with stray RWR* pings. Scanning the skies above me when flying low can be a good way to pick out other 24's flying high. It's also a good way to scan for that pesky 45 flying below the clouds.

If you're trying to kill one particular plane, use the 'Auto-lock' feature on the TSD's Radar option menu(on the top left). Auto lock may be one of the single strongest things about the 24. When auto-lock is enabled, if your target can be seen by the radar it will be locked. The exceptions to this are: 1) If they're too far outside the radar scan box (See with the HUD button on the radar page), 2) auto-lock may track defensive chaff temporarily locking the wrong place.
Auto-lock limits your multi-tasking capabilities, but holds target lock effortlessly. I find this best used when merging and with AIM-7's/54's. Though a small break in the lock will still trash a 54, it's better than being accidentally notched.

*NOTE: enemies at ranges beyond what you can lock will still see the RWR pings.

The Radar Warning reciever speaks its own language. Learn to understand this language. When other planes Track While Scan (TWS) a target on their radar, the tracked person can tell in how their RWR beeps. Someone that's scanning your location with radar, but not TWS'ing you*, won't have short-spaced consistently timed RWR pings. While someone TWS'ing you will create consistently timed, short spaced pings. If another 24 pops up on RWR, and it sounds like they're TWS'ing you: go defensive. The AIM-54 Phoenix does not need a Single-Target Track (STT, or Hard-lock) for target acquisition, and can easily surprise you.
Learning to read and listen to your RWR will save your life.

*The exception to this rule is that the 24 using a 15 degree scan angle pings at the same speed as a TWS. This combined with a sensitive RWR means that you will get RWR pings from someone far outside their targeting range. I always assumes it's a TWS, as being wrong means I get a stealth advantage. Where being wrong about not being seen gets you hit with a hypersonic phoenix.

It's important to be able to read your MWS to determine the types of incoming missiles. You're not going to G-Pull an AIRS-T, and the 54 coming in at mach Jesus cares not for your petty flares. The MWS is not a perfect system with the first limitation being a ~10nm range on missile launch detection. So make sure you're watching for smoke in the air from far away targets. Additionally the MWS on all planes has a blind spot directly above the plane. Should someone fly above you and fire a missile straight down you won't ever get a warning. The good news is that high altitude is the domain of the 24, so this blind spot and range limitation is something you can exploit on other aircraft.

Electronic warfare operates in the invisible frequencies that we see through our radar, and occasionally hear on comms. To this day there is much debate about its usefulness in PvP environments. While some people argue for jamming's effectiveness, others believe it doesn't hinder their ability to splash bandits. Jamming pods are also very heavy, affecting the planes flight characteristics as well as opening a new attack vector: Home On Jam (HOJ).

But the truth is more complicated than that. Many of the systems built for EW are designed for PvE environments:Jamming Early Warning Radar and SAM sites. Getting the most out of EW also takes a second person who is familiar with the system, and the way you fly. A good EWO can make you nearly invisible, a Bad EWO can get you killed without warning.

Should you find yourself wanting to do EW, but don't have someone you trust to backseat, there are ways to do it. The best option, is to use the drones. You can use the nav to set flight points in the GPS (Make sure to set it to path!) to position your jamming beacons anywhere you need. I recommend setting them to auto mid-band jam, then fire and forget. They'll make it more difficult for the enemy to use radar, and you can see who's being jammed on the TSD. Plus, using them like this requires no thought during combat.
If you get a moment you can always reposition them or change up what they're doing. Jamming with drones also makes it so you don't have to worry about getting hit with a HOJ missile or HARM.

Have you ever been out on a dark night, and had someone shine a bright light into your eyes? You can make out the bright spot, but not the person holding the light or anyone around them. If you look away from the light your eyes adjust and you can see again. That's (more or less) how Noise jamming works, instead of visible light it's in radar waves. Just remember: If you're shining a light that bright, someone is bound to notice. Noise jamming does not make you invulnerable, it just adds a layer of defense.
Noise Jamming does have the detriment of disabling your radar. While this doesn't have to be a problem, given the power of the TSD, bad timing with jamming has let more than one bandit slip through my fingers. Communicate with your EWO, if radar is important to you as the pilot make sure to tell them not to SOI the radar and keep them updated on when they cannot jam.
Both the Pilot and the EWO can stop jamming at any time by pressing the big, red MRAD button.

Low band jamming has a questionable amount of usefulness. It blocks two things 1) GPS Signal and 2) Comms. Since the missile knows where it is at all times, it does not need GPS; And the effectiveness of jammed comms is situational. It only affects people who are using in-game comms. Quiet players and Discord users are completely immune. That being said, cutting off player comms can make an enemy feel suddenly very alone.

This band of jamming is going to be your bread and butter. Mid band jamming creates static on the targets radar, or anyone within the area of effect. It is within the "shadow" created by that noise that you hide in.     
                                                                                                             Mid-Band Jamming on Radar:
The so-called "poop bricks" on enemy radars can be targets to launch a HOJ missile your way. Lucky for you HOJ missiles fly directly to you, and are quite stupid. Simply turning off the jamming for a short time, and repositioning will defeat most HOJ missiles. The fact that HOJ missiles fly directly to you is important. While they normally fly an intercept path, the HOJ doesn't detect motion just radar noise. As such it will fly directly towards the jamming source. This means that it is much easier to bleed the incoming missile's energy, or escape its current flight path.
The Big Red MRAD button, is your friend if you think a HOJ (or HARM!) is headed your way.

At this point in time, it is believed that High-Band Jamming has no real application in A2A PvP. Some testing is still required.

DRFM Jamming functions in two modes, depending on how it's being used.
The first of which, Search: Will modify the return signal of incoming radar pings to make multiple copies of you appear on radar. These overlapping returns can make enemies question which contacts are real, and which are ghosts. The easiest way to defeat this is a feature on 5th gen planes. If the plane using DRFM jamming leaves their radar on, the TSD will show which contact is giving RWR pings. The ghost images cannot send radar pings. The second is to use the TGP (or EOTS) to get visual confirmation on which is real.

The second function of DRFM jamming is for breaking STT (Single-Target track aka hard-locks). Essentially, when the DRFM Jamming is targeted on someone who has a STT on you, it will modify the radar returns to make you appear further ahead than you are. It will eventually break the lock by doing this. This means than when DRFM jamming breaks a lock, the plane looking for you will be looking exactly where you are about to be. If you don't change course, the missile will just re-acquire the lock on you. For breaking a lock on enemy planes I find mixing in mid-band jamming can help to prevent the lock from being reacquired. It's not always perfect, but it may buy you enough time to get out of harms way. Don't think of DRFM as a way to evade incoming danger, but instead as a tool to force a radar lock to break.

SAS is the disguise kit of Electronic Warfare. It can make you look like any plane that you might want! But be careful, as this is just an illusion. Skilled players know to watch radar contact altitudes and speeds to check if they're being deceived. If you want to look like another plane, you're going to have to act the part. Once the enemy has visual contact, your disguise is ruined.
SAS has interesting potential to change how some players may see the battlefield. Though I find it to be most useful on the drones as opposed to the 24 itself. An important note, is that SAS broadcasts your location to RWR pings, if the power is high enough you'll show up on enemy radar long before any normal contacts.

The AIM-54 Phoenix is a long range, lofting, radar guided missile. While it’s easy to compare the phoenix to the 120D it’s important to note that these missile fill different yet similar roles. The phoenix shares it strength with the 24 itself, speed. In the best possible conditions a phoenix can exceed the hyper-sonic threshold, and reach speeds beyond mach 6. Though I've found many of the 'real-world' shots I've made impact around the mach 4.5 mark.
Due to the phoenix's large inertia, from it being a super-heavy phone pole, its turning radius can be underwhelming. This can make the 54 annoyingly easy to dodge by skilled pilots. Its internal radar seeker isn't the strongest and can be notched or avoided much easier than the 120. Additionally if you lose lock or tracking on the target too early into its flight the missile won’t enable its own radar and goes dead. While these missiles may feel inconsistent, learning to use them will make you a deadlier pilot. To help you along here are some strategies I’ve picked up over time.

1. The aim-54 burns for ~30 seconds. Where it lofts into thinner atmosphere to reach farther with faster speeds. The faster you’re going, and the higher you are, the less energy the missile spends on climbing. A shot from angels 40 on a target at 20 can reach Mach 5.
2. The long burn time of this missile means it’s also good at chasing down targets that have gone cold. While it’s possible to g-pull a missile from the rear, it can be quite difficult to do. Evading missiles costs energy too, which may help you close the distance on your target.
3. Home on Jam. The aim-54 is capable of home on jam. Against pilots and EWO’s that don’t shut off their jamming this can be brutally effective. I find this to be very situational, as it really depends on who you’re fighting.

While I the love the phoenix, I will say that using it becomes more of an art than a science. It flies different than other missiles, which means that you can use it to play mind games with the pilots you're fighting.



Firing and lofting the AIM-54 Phoenix:



Important note: Learn the sounds of your RWR, consistent pings coming from an enemy 24 may mean that a phoenix is inbound at mach Jesus!


The AIM-120D is the same AIM-120 you’ve come to know and love from the F-45. It’s a versatile AMRAAM, capable of taking any targeting data you give it. Using the TSD and Targeting pod, a 120 can be launched optically and approach its target without notice. Unless they see the smoke coming your targets first warning will be just as the missile goes pitbull on them. But be careful, 120’s are bloodthirsty, and they don’t care whose blood they spill. Firing one too close to a teammate is an easy way to make a bad situation worse.

The 120 is a very capable force multiplier, with complete fire and forget capabilities. A handful of these can be used to force a handful of planes defensive while you pick off a single target. If the 120s you fired off land a kill, then that makes cleaning up that squadron that much easier.
While 120s can be extremely potent killing machines on their own, I find their hands-off approach to be a less interesting play-style; really only using them as support tools to force opponents into repositioning. Though a good portion of that utility use-case comes from playing against people who can reliably G-Pull a 120. If your target can't G-pull, a 120 is usually just a free kill.

Like the AIM-54, the 120 is capable of reaching hypersonic speeds. At the very least when they're launched from a high and fast 24, they can. Though the AIM-120 can reach those speeds in much less time due to its smaller size, and greater acceleration.


When I first started playing this game I thought the AIM-7 was ridiculous, since you had to maintain a lock from launch to impact. I now know how foolish I was. The AIM-7 is incredibly deadly in the right hands. They're much slower than their Fox-3 counterparts, and cannot turn as sharply. But as they require lock from start to finish, they never go off course. They will never pitbull to your allies. While the AIM-7 normally isn't a very fast missile, you can launch it from 40 thousand feet while going Mach two directly on top of someone. All while picking that pesky 45 off your wing-mates tail. The Sparrow is an instrument of precision. Though remember it's not got the best ability to turn, when you're going fast enough it's turn radius may be measured in miles.

The sparrow also excels as the opening move into a merge. To keep a lock on a single target you may have to bleed quite a lot of speed. But if your target is going defensive you may be able to come down from a heavy angle on them, and transition into ACM.

The AIRS-T is, without a doubt, the best IR missile in the game. It is good in every situation with the 24. It's extreme glide distance means that you can fire the missile from well outside your target's RWR missile detection range. Sending silent heat-seeking assassins to unsuspecting victims. The AIRS-T is also a bit of a one-hit wonder, being the only IR missile that will reliably kill with only one missile. The AIRS-T can be such a reliable weapon that I often switch off it if my enemies are struggling to deal with it.

The AIM-9+ is the standard IR missile for the 24. It is often overshadowed by the AIRS-T, but is capable of many of the same feats. While the 9+ is capable of great things, it sometimes needs a little help. Launching these in pairs can help to reduce the chance of hitting your target, with them shrugging it off.
These heaters are my go-to. While the AIRS-T has a much higher pK (percent chance of Kill) on average, I find that the AIM-9+ forces me to be more conservative with my shots and selective with my targets. I also find that it makes fights more interesting, as they are capable of being flared. Understanding how to use these can be valuable, as many of the competitive game-modes remove the AIRS-T due to how easily they kill.

The Original Sidewinder, the AIM-9E, can be quite fun to use. But keep in mind that this missile will only lock targets from the rear (or if they're on fire), and is the easiest to flare. The 9E is also the only heater that cannot head track. Meaning that you must get behind a bandit to splash them.
I often take these in pairs of two, as it's likely that just one won't splash your target (Rule #2: Double Tap). If I'm hunting elo on Chase's ranked server, I like to pair these with AIM-9+'s, where the 9+ hits first to make them full aspect (on fire) and they finish my targets off for that sweet elo.

I wouldn't use the 9E without an incentive from the game mode I was playing, unless I'm just fooling around. With that said, learning the positioning and situational awareness required to get 9E kills will make you a deadlier pilot.


* As a side note for the 9+ & AIRS-T, leaving on caged mode will allow you to use the heater to track IR signatures without expending a missile.

To be honest, I'm not sure there's much I can say about the 24's Gun. It's the same rotary cannon used by the 26, and 55. While it's rate of fire is high, the per-bullet damage isn't very high so targets may shrug off the occasional bullet. The Vulcan is an up-close and personal weapon, with bullets expiring after ~1nm of travel. I've had some success "rescuing" teammates in dogfights, doing mach 2 flyby's to pick off slow targets.

Most of the time that I use the gun is when I'm entering a merge with my target. Using the Radar or TSD/TGP* will create a firing solution and PIP to guide your shots. Though using the gun funnel to aim can be a useful skill.

(NOTE: To use the Gun Funnel, place the enemy plane between the two lines. The Target is lined up in the funnel when the wingtips span the gap between the lines.)

Gun Funnel Lineup:

(IMG: T-55 "Tyro" Manual)

*The pipper generated by using the TSD/TGP aren't great at accounting for target velocity. So make sure to lead your shots when using a non-radar guided pipper.

The decoys given to the 24 are extremely powerful. An EWO who can play the decoy RTS is more than capable of keeping the enemy guessing as to who and what is real. They also offer the ability to jam targets without putting the 24 in direct harms way.

The MALDs are, in my opinion, the best way for a solo pilot to compete in the EW space. How many you bring will depend on your goals, I've found 2-4 can be very useful. When using a small number, I'll set their cruise location and altitude to be somewhere in the area I think the enemy may scan with radar. This allows for triangulation from the enemy radar pings hitting the decoys. If I have room for a couple extra I'll throw them up with auto mid noise jamming to create a bit of a noise wall for me to hide behind.
Launching a MALD with high speed and altitudes are a great way to get them to exceed their fuel's 8 minute burn time. In matches with a lot of deaths, I've gotten as many as twelve active on the battlefield. Though you cannot control any MALDs from a previous sortie.

MALDs may also be set to SAS jamming, however most experience pilots can tell the difference between unmanaged drones and planes. The SAS functionality can be used to pull missiles off of the 24. If you're able to break the lock and deploy the drone, the missile appears to pull onto the stronger radar return, which should be the MALD. I've also had some luck with rolling the 24's belly towards the missile and deploying the MALD so that it's in-between the incoming missile and myself. Deploying the MALD in this fashion has lead to instant lock-removal from the missile, in my experience. Though more testing of this technique may be required.

Given their intrinsic nature in the information warfare space, the applications of MALDs are only limited by your imagination.

When a Missile is Fired at you, it uses your current position and speed to estimate where it needs to travel to hit you. This spot, that the missile believes you will eventually be in, is called the Projected Impact Point (PIP). The missile uses the Planes guidance to update the PIP, and adjust its trajectory. If it's a Fox-1 style missile, it uses the planes guidance all the way through impact. If the missile is a Fox-3 it will switch to an internal seeker and guidance around 10 seconds before impact (Under the right circumstances, it may not pitbull until the last possible second).

Example of the Leading done by radar guided missiles to meet their PIP:

Radar can't see through mountains, and missiles can't fly though them. By putting big rocks between you and the enemy you become much harder to hit, and see! Effective terrain masking reduces the possibility that a missile gets fired at you, let alone hits you. This is easily one of the best ways to avoid missiles. I have had individual rocks eat missiles for me. I cannot understate the utility of a well place mountain or valley.

The idea behind notching is to blend into the ground. Radar "sees" by sending out a beam of light, anything caught in that beam can be seen by your radar. When there's nothing near the target plane, this works fine. Radar sends out a pulse, and sees the light reflected back at you. The shape of this 'return' is what allows radar to determent what plane it's looking at.
However, when you're looking down towards the ground the radar picks up all the rock and trees. All of this ground clutter generates a lot of noise. One of the ways radar can tell planes apart from trees, it motion. Since the ground will all be moving in the same direction, relative to the scanning radar, anything not moving with the ground is likely going to be a plane. By moving at the same speed as the ground, relative to the scanning aircraft, you can blend into the radar noise generated by the ground.

Notching is a very simple maneuver, that is capable of making you disappear from radar view. While I wouldn't trust it on its own to break a lock, it's often the right position to be in when trying to do so.
The first requirement for a notch is to be below the targeting aircraft. Ideally you should be concerned about rocks in your intake, lower is better. The second is to be beaming (at 90° relative to) the scanning craft. The easiest way to line this up is by using your RWR, and placing the RWR icon that you want to notch at the 3 or 9 O'Clock position.
It should be noted that the chaff is only effective at breaking lock, not a TWS. Notching without chaff may be enough to break a TWS, if not see Terrain Masking.


The idea of cranking is to place the target on your radar all the way to the left or right edge of what your radar can track. By doing this you may force their missile to take a longer path to meet you (Trigonometry, baby!). Cranking is best practice for BVR fights, as it can put the enemy missile in a bad energy state. But that's going to be situation dependent. I find Cranking to be best practice, as it sets you up for a clean G-Pull on their missile, which can then position you on their flank. At the very least you've successfully closed the gap, and may be in range for an AIM-7 or heater.


Dragging is the act of pulling the missile behind you, until it runs out of energy. In other words, Turning cold and running. Due to the 24's exceptional speed, it is more than capable of dragging an incoming missile all day long. Wiggling left and right while you're dragging a missile can bleed its energy faster, getting you back into the fight sooner. Flying through thicker air in lower altitudes can also help to sap the missile of energy, or reduce its max speed.

You can use SAS jamming on drones to be you, so why not to eat a missile for you? I find that this works best when you break radar tracking (from missile/and or bandit) and launch the drone back into tracking. You can preset a nav point and launch them During G-Pulls too, though the success rate drops when the missile can see you and the drone. Some clever flying and timing can push the drone into the missile's vision between you or right as you escape it. While I've has success with this alone, I find this tactic best used when I have someone in my backseat.

G-Pulling in the 24 is an art unto itself. It will take some time to learn, but can allow you to pull of feats that may greatly frustrate your opponents. Once you get a feel for the basics, start experimenting.
The 24 does not have a g-limit switch to disable the limiter, so you'll have to bypass it another way. The easiest way to do this, is with speed and the rudder. The faster you're going the safer you are. You don't have to risk a g-pull if you can outrun or terrain mask the missile. Though that's not always possible. Sometimes you have to G-pull.

G-pulling is a bit of a misnomer. The goal of G-pulling is to make a turn that exceeds the turning rate of the missile. This is most easily measured with the G-meter on the HUD of your Display. A turn of about 10+ G's is required to dodge most radar guided missiles. Though situations vary, so more can be better. But be careful, pulling G's bleeds energy. Slower is in fact, not better.
The optimal G-Pull forces the missile into a position where it needs to make a turn faster than it can. The best way to do this is to turn into the missile, where the idea is to put the missile's PIP behind it.

G-Pulling should put you just inside (or outside) of a missile's turning radius:

To best pull a missile you need to be going at least ~m1.5, though faster is always better for g-pulling. There's a little wiggle room on the speed, but that can be very situation dependent. When the missile shows up on the RWR, try and put it at the 10 or two O'Clock positions for best results. The timing for when to G-Pull depends on the missile, it's speed, when it was launched, etc. A good rule of thumb is to pull just before the red circle touches the plus in the middle of the RWR. Getting the timing right is going to take some practice. Remember, the 24 is a big heavy aircraft, so it may take a second before the pull really sets in. You can prep for a pull by setting in full rudder a couple seconds early to shorten the time you have to pull for.
Proper Stick position for G-Pull:

As for the actual pull, pull all the way back on the stick, and roll into the missile. "DO A BARREL ROLL!", literally. The way you bypass the G-limiter is 1-speed, and 2- rudder. I cannot understate the importance of using full rudder. The rudder is what makes G-Pulling possible. If you're struggling to G-pull, either your timing is off, you're too slow, or you're not using enough rudder.
Missiles can be pulled from any direction, but can be the most difficult when coming from 12 or 6 O'Clock.







GPull Example:
https://youtu.be/-SBy6Ci2N0Y

When G-Pulling make sure your wings are swept back, as anything above 9 G's will break them off when extended. Though playing with wing sweep may let you find a sweet spot to make GPulling better for you. When done correctly it is possible to dodge even the most obnoxious of AMRAAM-SPAM.

AMRAAM-SPAM dodging:
https://youtu.be/K0WR-t5jg7w

G-locking in VTOLVR doesn't work the way people think it does. Whenever you are fully red or blacked out you are still in full control of the aircraft. The G-Lock effect is effectively only a visual and audio filter.
This means that you can continue to hold a pull well after you've blacked out. It also means that you can reverse the G-Pull after you've blacked out to force a G-lock in the other direction, giving you a brief moment of vision. While it's not advisable to have to hold a g-pull for that long, and instead spacing the turn out to regain some energy, sometimes you have to avoid AMRAAM-SPAM.

Sometimes you get caught with a rear aspect missile headed you way. When launched close enough you may not be able to drag the missile effectively, and may need to pull it instead.
The reserve G-Pull can be significantly more difficult to time consistently. By utilizing the 1 mile of DAS(TL;DR it auto-detects everything within line of sight), you can time the pull consistently. Zoom the TSD all the way in, and when the missile is appears in the circle you pull. I find prepping the rudder in position beforehand makes this easier. If the roll you pull into is too tight the missile won't need to turn enough and if the roll is too wide you won't be able to pull enough G's in time. There's a sweet spot that will take time to learn.

The 24 is capable of rate fighting with the other planes. Though it's not the 24's specialty. Should you find yourself in a merge, set the wings to forward and the flaps down. Merge speed is 280-320kts, with rate fights happening around 300kts. Be very picky about where and when you merge, as a bad merge will get you killed.
(NOTE: Merging with a 45 will always be a bad time, since it can VIFF (Vectoring In Forward Flight) and sit inside your turn circle.)

It is very possible to lose control of the 24 in a stall during a dogfight, so make sure to keep the plane under control. Practice makes perfect, so make sure to take some time to get used to hoe the 24 flies at lower speeds.
If you're in a bad spot the 24 is capable of running from fights, but if your opponent still has heaters they're gonna make you wish you hadn't run. If you decide to run from a merge, the first thing you need is something between you and whomever is chasing you. You're going to be bleeding lots of energy as you jink incoming shots, so they're going to be behind you for much longer than you might otherwise think. If you're trying to leave a merge without winning, the most important thing you need is a teammate.
Should you find yourself pushing for the merge, some time spent practicing the transition from supersonic to dogfight speeds may need some work. Looking down to adjust wing sweep, and flaps may give the enemy the opening they require. Failure to get set up for a fight can set you up for a bad merge. Planning for the fight in advance can help keep everything flowing smoothly in tight situations.

The art of Dog-fighting often comes down to being able to read the movements of the bandit. Spending time in 1v1 lobby's learning how to dogfight in the 55 or 26 will build skills and habits that can transfer to the 24.

If you're looking for more in-depth information on BFM in the 24, I highly reccomend Rosey's 24 PvP Guide; Which can be found in the reference list at the bottom of this guide.

Merge Ex: 1
https://youtu.be/Ftjk2HcUFQo

Merge Ex 2:
https://youtu.be/2Zq2d5UC1UM

Most common play-styles for the EF-24 will push you into what it does best: Going fast and Going High. Once you're above 30k ft ASL the air becomes thin enough for you to exceed mach 2 with ease. Though it should be noted that the soft-cap for flight is at 75k ft ASL. At those extreme altitudes and speeds your weapon systems can often go far beyond the indicated range on the DLZ (Pictured Below) The DLZ doesn't accurately account for altitude and speed for many of the weapons DLZ's. Weapon systems that have been known to fly far beyond their DLZ are the: AIM-120, AIM-54, AIM-7, and AIRS-T. (This is not an exhaustive list, and many of the 24's weapons can be more deadly from farther away.) When fired so far outside their maximum range, these missiles will be smokeless making them much more difficult to spot and avoid. Experimenting with all of these weapon systems so that you know their limitations will make you a more lethal pilot.

*Reminder: Missiles fired from far enough away will not generate a MWS alert when fired.

These scenarios, while initially frustrating, have become my favorite. There's nothing like pushing back an entire enemy team all on your lonesome. I'd recommend running 120's and AIRS-T's, no tanks, half fuel. The lower your weight the easier it will be to take off and get up to speed. You won't have time to get up in altitude and if you can you won't have any energy, so don't try. Low and fast is best, terrain mask to displace from the airfield. Once you're in the air: Fire 120's and AIRS-T's at anything that moves. I recommend 2 missiles per target with ~5 seconds of spacing on shots to drive them to the ground and/or splash. If they've survived the initial volley use an AIRS-T to secure the Kill. Once the enemy is pushed far enough back from your spawn, return to normal activities :).

Unlike in the F-45, losing all of of your teammates does not make your situational awareness go down the drain. The ability to deploy MALDs means that you can bring your own teammates wherever you go! I find that bringing 4 MALDs when I have no (or a small) team can go very far in planning routes through the battlefield. 4 MALDs is enough to create some areas of jamming to hide in, while leaving 2 MALDs behind for RWR triangulation. Once you've deployed all your MALDs make sure to drop their pylons to lower your radar cross-section (RCS). I would recommend putting all of your weapons on the wing pylons, with the MALDs on the belly pylons to keep your RCS as small as possible. This makes it easier to hide in the noise, and notch people/missiles. Once you're in the air keep your radar off and fly low in valleys. The MALDs will figure out where your enemies are so that you can sneak up on them.

Loadout:
1x MALD
2x AIM-9E
7x AIM-120D

"Deploy the decoy with mid-band jamming into the enemy team, using the noise for radar cover. Stay far back from the enemy front lines to keep hidden better. If you want a jammer can be swapped in for a 120, to let you pretend to be a decoy. Using the 120's pick people off around your selected target to single them out. Once they are alone you can swoop in for the 9E kill." -Brefdage

*Brefdage's grindset relies on airspace control for saftey. By using 120's and a jamming MALD you're more than capable of keeping an eye on your airspace without using radar. This grants you a level of stealth that can leave you appear places just like the 45, and get that sweet sweet ELO. While this strat was designed to grind Elo in Chase's BVR server, it can still be quite useful elsewhere. Just swap the 9E's for something else (Like an AIRS-T or AIM-9+), and you can dominate your airspace

Loadout:
4x AIM-7
4x AIM-9E
2x AIM-9+

"Fly high, fly fast. Shoot SARH, eat ass.
No TGP, no tanks. For extra spice, 90% fuel.
Use the aim 7's as a high aspect option, or to force a notch and give up the head on.
Aim 9+; shoot to wound, then execute the wounded with an aim 9E" -DannyCOTW

*Employing this tactic is a double-edged sword, as the elocoaster demands. Using the AIM-7's to force a non-hot merge aspect with the bandit sets you up well for the rear-only 9E's; and the 9+'s ability to set a plane on fire is great at getting 9E's off of flares as well. However, pushing this battle plan into enemy lines can often leave you open to every enemy plane. If you want to make this work, G-pulling and terrain masking best be something you're comfortable with.

Loadout:
4x AIRS-T
6xAIM-120D

"Fly at an altitude of angels 40 or above. Using the TGP gain an optical track on targets to guide in the 120's with your TSD. Without an initial radar lock, and your extreme attitude, 120's can approach their Pitbull range unnoticed. AIRS-T 's are capable of gliding from extreme distance, beyond even what your HUD might tell you. At this Altitude the AIRS-T can be fired from outside the enemies RWR Missile Warning range, and comfortably glide into them." -JattySkleebs

*This play-style can be very safe while learning the craft, as staying above mach 1.8 can keep you nearly untouchable. I have been on the receiving end of this many times, and can say that it's always a bit frustrating to play against. On the receiving end sometimes you just suddenly die. No warning, no smoke, just splashed.

Loadout:
6x AIM-54 (Drop one in place of jammer with EWO)
2x AIM-120D
2x AIRS-T

"The premise of this is to sit at 50-65k ASL, get up to Mach 1.6+ and sling hypersonic AIM-54s
down onto unfortunate souls. In a lobby that is not extremely well skilled, you can easily use
these missiles to snipe out players not expecting such ludicrously fast missiles. You will catch
some good players off-guard, too. Try and launch your 54s outside of the listed burn range box
on the distance indicator. The missiles are much harder to defeat if they are not burning when
they arrive. This means you need a minimum of 30+ seconds of flight time gap between you and
your target, which takes some situational awareness and getting used to.
Save your AIM-120Ds for high priority targets that are difficult to keep radar track such
as extremely long range enemy 24s, or the F45 if you manage to get it on TSD and track with TGP.
Utilizing the AIRSTs while high and fast can make easy work of high skill players because you launch them so high and so fast, that you can launch them outside of the missile warning radius, and reach out to about 20nm with ease and give them very little time to react. Do not trust the range indicator for AIRSTs. In the 24 specifically the range limit is literally the range of the seeker. Shoot on tone every single time." -AestheticallyRosey

*A well-timed, well-tracked, AIM-54 can go pitbull with less than 3 seconds until impact. Leaving anyone unfortunate enough to not see the lofting missiles coming their way, as a smoking crater in the ground. This strat can be very dependent on getting and holding radar locks (or TWS). Positioning yourself in an oblique angle to oncoming fighters can be a good way to close the gap while being positioned for a safe G-pull and exit.

Loadout:
2xAIM-7
2xAIM-9+
2xAIM-54
2xAIM-120D
2x-MALD

Your initial cruising Altitude is ~30kft, though that will vary. As MALDS triangulate at all times, I've found leaving them in jamming most useful by default. Placing them behind the front lines can help provide your team/spawn from cover, placing them on where you will be provides more cover for you. I like to set them cruising around 15-30k ft, since that's where most people are scanning with their radars. My go-to is to set them at 22500 ft. The higher altitudes can allow them to see down into valleys for better jamming, as well as giving them more energy to stay in flight longer. Once a target is locked for a 54, and the shot fired drop altitude to keep the lock and prepare for incoming missiles. AIM-7's are used in medium ranges, dropped on top of enemies, or used to help out teammates in a bad spot. The AIM-120's are used to keep unwanted fighters defensive while you strike and/or escape.
The purpose of this build is variety. I've found that I often fly against the same people, so by bringing a variety of tools to the fight it can be much harder to predict what I'm shooting (or what I'm doing) at any given moment. Mixing and matching weapons systems also plays into the information overload that limits all pilots. Plus, catching people off-guard with a close-range 54 just feels nice.

*This play-style is designed to keep enemy planes defensive while you push into their lines. As such it promotes being aggressive, and its success may depend on your ability to G-Pull at mid to low altitudes. Weaponized unpredictability may often leave you flying the Kobayashi Maru.


*Italicized text are my thoughts on the strategies

EF-24G PvP Info Dump[docs.google.com] AestheticallyRosey's Info dump on the 24. She's easily one of the best 24 pilots out there right now, so I can easily recommend her doc if you're looking for a deeper dive into the 24.

EF-24G Manual[docs.google.com] *The flight manual for a plane is a great resource to better understand its systems. If there's something about the 24 that you don't understand, this document is worth at least a quick CTRL+F.

VTOL VR Basic PvP Strategy Guide[docs.google.com] *There are useful nuggets of information written here by other members of the community, but I found much of the 24 information to be lacking.

T-55 "Tyro" Manual[docs.google.com]