[Krakenup]

Originally posted by geoschmo:
In fact, an aircraft in an atmosphere theoretically could turn at a sharper angle because it can change the angle of attack of it's wings and bank into the turn. This will add the wings lift to the thrust of the engines in changing vectors. It's not a big difference, and it takes a lot of skill and a really well designed aircraft. But a viper in a vacuum would have no such assistance. It would have only it's engines for forward thrust and some kind of reaction jets or moveable thrust cowling for direction changes.

(Btw, I am not an aeronautical engineer, but I play one on T.V. )

Geo

It's not a big difference, it's a HUGE difference. For example, an F-16 can perform a 9-G turn (until the pilot blacks out) using aerodynamic forces. Its thrust-weight ratio, however, is generally less than one so its acceleration using just the engine is less than 1 G.