Originally Posted by
172_driver
WideScreen,
But there were no defined points or lines in space from which you could build your geometry. The fighters happened to be higher during the course reversal, due to agility and performance I presume, but nothing (I heard) would guarantee that any single fighter wouldn't already be at 500 ft when crossing the path of the bombers?
Yes and no, there are some figures, to at least give you an understanding of the 3D positions in time. Earlier on in this thread, there was the YT video, showing the flights paths as well as the relevant details like altitude/speed/RoD from ADSBExchange.
Of course, this is not "hard data", though when it looks like a duck, squawks like a duck, walks like a duck, it's probably a duck, unless other circumstances strongly suggest otherwise. When needed, use cross-reference data to "calibrate" the ADSBExchange data. Use the data points from that YT video, make a plot assuming the 1000ft and 500ft display lines, and you have the trigonometry.
The relevance is, that, despite the PP critics, the figures of the bombers and figures do only "cross" at the same altitude, when plotted perpendicular on the ground. And there is no crossing at the same altitude, when the plotting is, for example, perpendicular to the plane in which the fighters fly (taking into account that the "altitude" reference will change also and is then relative to the plane of the fighters). IE a translation/rotation of the reference from ground to the plane, the fighters fly in.