One Good Turn Deserves Another: the Basics of Learning to Turn as Relates to Air Combat
Learning to turn well in a fighter aircraft is something that’s much easier said than done. This will not be a definitive, doctorate level dissertation on the subject. I’ll go over the basics here and hopefully help get you on the right track. This discussion is geared toward the F-16 Fighting Falcon. However the principles discussed are just as valid for any fighter aircraft.
First we’ll look at Turn Rate & Radius, then corner airspeed and then how to lead turn. Energy Management also plays strongly into turning well. We’ll hit that up at the end of this lesson.
Turn Rate: The rate at which an aircraft can turn or rate it’s nose while turning. In other words if you’re pulling a circle, rate is a definition of how fast you get around that circle. Don’t just think of rate in terms of complete circles though. I give that as an example to help you visualize and understand rate.
Turn Rate is usually expressed in reference to instantaneous and sustained rates and is measured in degrees a second. Instantaneous is exactly what it sounds like…. How much rate you can command from an aircraft immediately as you turn. Sustained is the rate you can sustain through a turn. The F-16 has a 26 degree/sec maximum instantaneous turn rate. I haven't found reliable figures for the Vipers max sustained turn rate. In the Tac Ref in F4 it states 13 degrees/sec. I promise you I can pull significantly better than that, right around 18 deg/sec. Coincidentally several reputable online sources state 18 deg/sec sustained rate.
Of course you’ll need to be at the right airspeed to capture the best rate, both instantaneous and sustained. It’s important to realize that the F-16 is one of the very, very few (in all probability the only operational) aircraft able to pull a sustained 9 G turn. This fact, along with the F-16’s extraordinary sustained turn rate capability, are among the things the Viper is most legendary for. In Falcon 4 we have to deal with the fact that the
First we’ll look at Turn Rate & Radius, then corner airspeed and then how to lead turn. Energy Management also plays strongly into turning well. We’ll hit that up at the end of this lesson.
Turn Rate: The rate at which an aircraft can turn or rate it’s nose while turning. In other words if you’re pulling a circle, rate is a definition of how fast you get around that circle. Don’t just think of rate in terms of complete circles though. I give that as an example to help you visualize and understand rate.
Turn Rate is usually expressed in reference to instantaneous and sustained rates and is measured in degrees a second. Instantaneous is exactly what it sounds like…. How much rate you can command from an aircraft immediately as you turn. Sustained is the rate you can sustain through a turn. The F-16 has a 26 degree/sec maximum instantaneous turn rate. I haven't found reliable figures for the Vipers max sustained turn rate. In the Tac Ref in F4 it states 13 degrees/sec. I promise you I can pull significantly better than that, right around 18 deg/sec. Coincidentally several reputable online sources state 18 deg/sec sustained rate.
Of course you’ll need to be at the right airspeed to capture the best rate, both instantaneous and sustained. It’s important to realize that the F-16 is one of the very, very few (in all probability the only operational) aircraft able to pull a sustained 9 G turn. This fact, along with the F-16’s extraordinary sustained turn rate capability, are among the things the Viper is most legendary for. In Falcon 4 we have to deal with the fact that the