On or about Sun, 26 Oct 2003 19:40:41 -0500, vincent p. norris
allegedly uttered:

A common rule of thumb is that the attacking force must have a 3x or
greater combination of quantity and quality to succeed in its attack.
Does this rule apply to air combat?

No. There have been numerous instances in which a single airplane
snuck up on an unususpecting formation, knocked down a couple, and got
away.

Indeed, most air combat is more akin to ground skirmishing than full
up battles. The rule of thumb I'd put forwards is the oldest one.

Whoever spots the enemy first, wins. He who fails to spot the enemy at
all, dies.

Even now the spotting tends to be done by sensors rather more
farsighted than the Mk.1 eyeball, it still remains true.

All IMO as a non pilot.

---
Peter Kemp

Life is short - Drink Faster