What features turn a fighter plane into a turn fighter or an energy fighter?

Question

I heard these terms thrown around in fighter jet communities alot, and I have a basic understanding of what the differences are (I.E turn fighters are able to turn tighter while energy fighters preserve kinetic energy while turning). But I’m still not sure what characteristics inherent in the plane turns a plane into a turn fighter vs an energy fighter. For example, the F/A-18 and F-14 and Su-27 are all considered turn fighters, while the F-16 and F-15 are energy fighters, but they’re all so different in size and design.

In: Engineering

Answer 1

I don’t have time to write out an explanation, but if you want to research more you can look up one-circle and two-circle dogfights to see where the relative advantages of each aircraft come into play