American pilots believed that both they and the enemy had such an infinite number of maneuvers at their disposal that aerial combat could never be codified. Air combat was an art, not a science. After simulated aerial combat, a young pilot would be defeated and never know why. Nor could his instructors tell him. They said something like, “Don’t worry, kid. Eventually you’ll be as good as we are.” Either a fighter pilot survived combat and became a member of the fraternity or he died.
