Fighter Combat - Tactics and Maneuvering

140 ONE-VERSUS-ONE MANEUVERING, DISSIMILAR AIRCRAFT
reflects the maximum lift-to-weight ratio of the fighter, which depends to
a great extent on the ratio of aircraft weight to total wing area, commonly
called the "wing loading." As explained in the Appendix, wing loading
alone can be misleading in this regard if one fighter has a more efficient
wing for producing lift, possibly as a result of maneuvering slats or flaps.
The way in which wing loading is calculated provides a further complication,
as illustrated in Figure 4-1. The wing loading of the F-14 fighter
shown here might be stated conventionally as 97 Ibs/sq ft, based on the
shaded area in the left-hand silhouette. The very broad fuselage of this
aircraft, however, provides a large proportion of the total lift, particularly
at very high AOA, so a more realistic value of wing loading (54 Ibs/sq ft)
might be based on the area shaded in the right-hand silhouette.
Because of these complications it will be necessary to make some
assumptions to simplify maneuver discussions. Therefore, the term low
wing loaded is assumed to denote superior instantaneous turn performance
and slower minimum speed.
Sustained turn performance is a little more complex. The Appendix
explains that sustairied-G capability is the result of a fighter's thrust-toweight
ratio (T/W) in combination with its aerodynamic efficiency, which
may be expressed as its lift-to-drag ratio (L/D) at the particular maneuvering
conditions. But G alone does not make turn performance, as turn rate
and radius are also dependent on airspeed. Lower airspeed at a given G level
improves both turn rate and turn radius. All else being equal, low-wingloaded
aircraft tend to achieve their best sustained G at a lower speed, and
therefore they often have a sustained-turn advantage. It is possible, however,
for a high-wing-loaded fighter to have better sustained turn rate at a
higher airspeed by sustaining much greater G, which, in the case of aerodynamically
similar aircraft, could be achieved with greater T/W. Sustained
turn radius, however, is such a strong function of airspeed that the lowwing-loaded
fighter nearly always has the advantage here, regardless of
T/W. In this chapter a low-wing-loaded fighter is assumed, unless other-
Figure 4-1. Calculation of Wing Loading