Quote:
Originally Posted by Varyon
I sit corrected, then. GURPS stats for fighter jets are largely missing (apparently there are a few in a Pyramid issue I don't have), and given they usually rely on catapults to launch from aircraft carriers, I assumed they would have less than 1G thrust.
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An F-16 with nothing but a couple of hundred lb air-to-air missiles loaded has a take off weight roughly equal to it's maximum thrust _with_ the sfterburner in use. No afterburner means 2/3rds of that thrust.
Launch catapults for carrier aircraft are more about the stall speed rather than thrust. If your airplane isn't travelling faster than its' stall speed you have inadequate lift and probably impaired control as well. Airspeed also affects thrust as most aircraft don't get maximum power at zero airspeed. You need something like the enormous turbofan on a Harrier to do that.