Reverse Throttle Hop

The Reverse Throttle Hop was a tactic used in starfighter combat. It was used by attacking starfighters as a counter to a breaking maneuver, allowing them to retain the advantage in a turning engagement. As the defending pilot went into his breaking turn, the attacker would pull up above his opponent and decelerate; as the defender finishes its turn, the attacker would drop back down on his aft, having performed an exaggerated hopping maneuver. The tactic was difficult to execute in that it required split-second timing and a degree of intuition in the attacking pilot; enter the maneuver too early and the defender would simply loop back around and gain the advantage, too late, and the attacker risked overshooting the target.

Baron-Colonel Soontir Fel advised Major Turr Phennir to perform a Reverse Throttle Hop in the closing stages of the Battle of Brentaal IV to avoid being destroyed by Rogue Squadron pilot Tycho Celchu.

Corran Horn, in his undercover role as a member of the Khuiumin Survivors, grew fond of the maneuver, which the unorthodox throttle assembly on the Tri-fighters he flew as part of the Invids allowed him to perform very quickly and with better results than his X-wing was able to produce.

Text and facts from the “Reverse Throttle Hop/Legends” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.