History Main / AerialCanyonChase

--->'''Finn:''' We some cover, quick!\\

--->'''Finn:''' We need some cover!\\

-->'''Finn:''' We need some cover!\\

** The Millennium Falcon in the attack on the second Death Star in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''. Complete with OutrunTheFireball for extra Tropey Goodness!
** Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon do this in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' during the famous asteroid chase scene. As Solo noted, [[TryAndFollow "They'd be crazy to follow us."]] Unfortunately, Darth Vader is quite a motivator for his troops and they dive in after him.
** And then again in the prequels, on several occasions.

* The winged flyers in ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'' were able to outmaneuver the Decepticon patrol ships by flying through damaged buildings. Due to their size, they would be more than capable of fitting into places those ships couldn't.

* In the original ''Film/TheTerminator'', Sarah and Reese are driving flat-out in a parking garage with Ah-nult just behind them. Sarah spots the wall but Reese is too distracted to listen to her (with the gunfire and all). Sarah slams her car into park, but Ah-nult doesn't react in time to avoid hitting the wall at top speed. Of course, being a cyborg, this is just a minor inconvenience for him.

SubTrope of TryAndFollow. SisterTrope of AirstrikeImpossible. Often includes instances of a WronskiFeint or DodgeByBraking.

* There are accounts of pilots over Paris attempting to lose attackers by flying through the Eiffel Tower. If anyone has definitive documentation of this, please post it.
** [[http://www.warbirdsnews.com/warbird-articles/wwii-veteran-aviator-bill-overstreet-p-51-mustang-berlin-express.html At least one instance.]]

*** It should be noted that an F-15C had joined the fight as well, and was in the process of locking up the Mirage, thus breaking the pilots concentration momentarily causing him to smash into the ground. However, since the "SparkVark" was engaged longer, and was actively maneuvering to avoid getting shot down by the Mirage, the credit went to the EF-111 crew.

* Shows up in several of the space rail shooter missions in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'', likely as a reference to some of the [[TheEmpireStrikesBack source material]].

* During ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'', Tash Arranda tries this through an AsteroidThicket with a Star Destroyer in hot pursuit, not unlike ''TheEmpireStrikesBack'''s scene. The Star Destroyer plows in after her, able to blast asteroids big enough to do it harm, [[spoiler: but was not aware of the space slugs.]]

* Not necessarily a chase scene, but pretty much every ''AceCombat'' game requires the player to do this for some reason. Sometimes, there are enemy planes or helicopters skulking in the canyons or other narrow passageways or tunnels, just waiting to achieve missile lock.

* The canyon level of ''CrimsonSkies: High Road to Revenge'' is pretty much this trope.

* [[AirForceDelta ''Air Force Delta Strike'']] features two missions where the player has to run the length of one very winding canyon.

Sometimes, just fighting head to head in the air isn't enough. When a creator ''really'' wants to showcase the AcePilot's skills ''and'' keep the audience on the edge of their seats, he'll have the character lead the bad guys on a high speed chase through a very narrow area.

!!Examples

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' features this a couple times. Once with no chase in a training stage and then with a chase in the climax.
* The climax of ''Disney/LiloAndStitch'' involved Jumba, Pleakley, Nani, and Stitch flying in a giant spaceship to save Lilo from [[TheDragon Gantu]], who accidentally captured her while attempting to capture Stitch (he escaped), by chasing him down a series of volcano-filled canyons located all over Hawaii. Originally, they were going to go after Gantu by chasing him down with a stolen passenger jet into the capital city of Honolulu, but due to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, the entire scene had to be reanimated into what we see in the final version of the film.

* ''Film/HotShots'':
** Charlie Sheen's character luring enemies into a canyon and [[DodgeByBraking Top Gunning]] them by ''stepping on the brakes''. Yes, he's piloting an ''airplane''. No, that's [[RuleOfFunny not because it's cool]].
** ''[[WesternAnimation/BugsBunny Airbrakes]]!''

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* ''Comicstrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' parodied this. Or explored [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1992/01/12 the origin]].
[[/folder]]

* At the Ride/Universal Studios parks:

* In the ''CrimsonSkies'' wargame, one of the maps supplied is of a canyon, with several hexes marked as impassable. Planning your move wrong so you crash into one of these can be surprisingly easy.
* Altitude in ''[[Warhammer40000 Aeronautica Imperialis]]'' is rated on a scale of 1 to 9, with 0 being the ground and 10 being orbit. Seriously tall mountains can reach altitude 6, which allows for the construction of maps designed for this fairly easily.

%%* this trope happens at least twice in ''Film/TheBlueMax''.

* This happened in RealLife, as shown in an episode of Dogfights on History Channel, "[=MiG=] Alley". USAF F-86 Sabre pilot Robbie Risner and his flight encountered a flight of 4 [=MiG=]-15s in [=MiG=] Alley and engaged them. Risner shot off the lead [=MiG=] honcho's canopy, prompting the Soviet pilot to take [[SuicidalGotcha dangerously evasive action]] with a Split-S maneuver at low altitude. The [=MiG=] pilot miraculously survives and the chase descends into a dry river bed. The honcho brakes and accelerates but can't shake off the Sabres, which inflict a bit more damage. After rolling over a small mountain, both the [=MiG=] pilot and Risner again race through the river bed side by side. The [=MiG=] breaks off and leads the chase to his base in China, hoping AA fire will shake the F-86s off his tail. It fails and Risner gets another shot, setting fire to the [=MiG=]'s wing. The [=MiG=] pilot tries to land in desperation, but the Sabres are still after him and shoot him down over the runway. The burning [=MiG=] crashes on to a row of parked [=MiG=]-15s, destroying them all, to end what was an [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome incredibly awesome]] real-life chase.

* During the 1971 war between Pakistan and India, a Pakistani destroyer was caught in a MacrossMissileMassacre. Because he had zero effective air defense, he attempted to pull this ''with his destroyer'' by hiding among merchant vessels and using the much larger vessels as targets for the incoming missiles. After running out of merchant vessels, he proceeded to do the same thing with dockyard facilities. By the time the Indians were finished shooting at him, the port and all of the merchant vessels were destroyed, but the destroyer was still afloat. While it was commented that he should have been court marshaled, the skipper [[AwesomeMoments remarked "one has to be alive to be court-martialled."]]

-->-- '''Luke Skywalker''', ''[[Franchise/StarWars Star Wars: A New Hope]]''

* This is used as one of the big action scenes in ''WesternAnimation/ShrekFourD'', with Shrek, Donkey, and Dragon going into a canyon in order to outrun an evil stone dragon.

** The Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse loves this in general. If a book has "[[XWingSeries X-Wing]]" in the title (and even occasionally if it doesn't), expect there to be at least one of some sort. X-Wings are actually somewhat slower and less maneuverable than TIE fighters, but there are a few reasons why the canyon trick can work. TIE fighters, with those square wings, have greater air resistance, and those pilots who haven't trained in atmosphere often don't compensate for that. And an X-Wing can turn on its side and use its targeting computer to get through a gap only a handful of meters wide, while TIE fighters are almost as wide as they are tall. As ''Iron Fist'' showed, a TIE interceptor can pull off a similar maneuver due to it having a narrower profile than a TIE fighter.

* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianDawn'' features this in an FMV cut-scene showing off the Orca VTOL attack craft. In-fact, the song used in the scene is officially called "Canyon Chase" by Frank Klepacki.

** ''[[Characters/BugsBunny Airbrakes]]!''

* ''TheTrumpetOfTheSwan'': "DANGEROUS CURVES AHEAD."
* Used repeatedly in the XWingSeries, using canyons, buildings, asteroids, and tall trees. Whatever's available. It helps that our heroes are usually in X-Wings or TIE Interceptors, while their opponents are either in more Interceptors or TIE fighters. Each of these fighters has a different profile, a different height or width, so some can slip through a gap by turning sideways while others can't. Also, [=TIEs=] and Interceptors have those large square wings, which get snagged by the wind if they make certain maneuvers in atmosphere. Some pilots can compensate for that, some can't.
** During ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'', Tash Arranda tries this through an AsteroidThicket with a Star Destroyer in hot pursuit, not unlike ''TheEmpireStrikesBack'''s scene. The Star Destroyer plows in after her, able to blast asteroids big enough to do it harm, [[spoiler: but was not aware of the space slugs.]]