In battle, this ability to rapidly pass through the observation-orientation-decision-action loop (the Boyd cycle) gave the American pilots a slight time advantage. If one views a dogfight as a series of Boyd cycles, one sees that the Americans would repeatedly gain a time advantage each cycle, until the enemy’s actions become totally inappropriate to the changing situations. Hence, the American pilots were able to “out–Boyd cycle” the enemy, thus outmaneuvering him and finally shooting him down.
