Originally Posted by
gzornenplatz
Having spent 15 years flying both, one snippet might help. The Avengers, flying F5s reckoned that when they did a head-on pass against an F4K/M it had accelerated out of Sidewinder range by the time it was in their gunsight, unlike the J79 F4, which was still in range.
The hotter J-79 exhaust might have been a factor in extending the detection range of the Sidewinder.