[Krakenup]

Originally posted by geoschmo:
Aircraft almost exclusivly change directions by use of aerodynamic forces. I didn't mean engine thrust there at all. Or if I did I was nuts. I was trying to differentiate in my mind between the amount of vector change that is a result of manipulating the control sufraces, and the amount of vector change that is a result of banking so that the lift of the wing surface is pushing the aircraft in the direction you want to turn. But it's all so interrelated you would need to know a whole lot more about it than I do to separate those two elements.

I was trying to contrast that to a space ship in a vacuum where the "control surface" is a retro, and there is no lift. Got my self a little tied up. Thanks for pointing that out Krak.

Geo

The main wing control surfaces, the leading- and trailing-edge flaps, are used at low speed (takeoff and landing) to increase the wing's effective camber (curvature) to increase the lift. The other control surfaces are used to control the direction of the aircraft. At speed, vector change is accomplished by using the control surfaces to reorient the aircraft so that the wing lift provides the required force. In space, you would just use thrusters to reorient the main engine thrust vector and fire. It would take huge engines to maneuver effectively (dogfight) in space.