The SU-27 is with no doubt amongst the most maneuverable fourth generation fighters ever built, the SU-27 displays a combination of good nose pointing and AOA (angle of attack ability) as well as an incredible 28 degree per second sustained turn rate on roughly 30 percent fuel load and clean, a turn rate only rivaled by later fifth generation fighters such as the F-22, and followed closely behind by the F-16C block 30 in terms of 2 circle performance in both the vertical and horizontal regime of a rate fight. the early SU-27s display slightly better sustained turn rates than their later predecessors due to higher wing loading from added weight of thrust vectoring components. in a dogfight, the SU-27 would be the last aircraft you would want to merge with. the SU-27 can also preform its best sustained turn at much lower speeds than a plane like an F-16, or F-15 which require at least 80 knots more in order to preform their maximum sustained turn rate meaning the SU-27 has a smaller turn radius than both as well as a superior turn rate. i am using data from a video of an SU-27UB (a heavier 2 seater variant!) preforming a 360 degree turn in less than 13 seconds travelling at roughly 295 knots , which means the aircraft was pulling approximately 7.5Gs at just under 300 knots, any faster and the SU-27 will become less maneuverable than its western counterparts (although the F-15 will need a lot more speed than the F-16 in order to preform its best turn rate) the SU-27s maneuverability can be credited to its combination of extremely low wing loading, high aspect ratio wings and fuelselage, lifty design, and high thrust to weight ratio. this is a simplification of the SU-27s sustained turn rate as seen in the video posted below.
"SU-27UB turn rate 360" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MNaUZNiSrM (skip to 0:28 for the reference point) the SU-27s turn radius in this video is just 1039 (180 degrees) completing a full diameter turn in 2078 ft. (360 degrees) im also going to note that the Chinese J-15 flanker (the navy variant) has even lower wing loading than the base SU-27 variant, and higher thrust to weight ratio whilst still only being 2000 lbs heavier than the SU-27S meaning that the J-15 is likely the most maneuverable SU-27 variant in terms of sustained turn rate, likely reaching 29-30 degrees per second sustained (on low fuel obviously) oh and one more thing, i hate DCS world, they gimped the SU-27s flight model beyond comprehension and it is an incomplete under-preforming garbage flight model. who ever designed the SU-27s flight model in DCS needs to be fired lol there is clear evidence that the SU-27 should be FAR more maneuverable than it is in game. i wont play DCS until the SU-27 is the best rate fighter in the game (which i doubt they will do, because eagle dynamics doesn't want the F-15, F-16, and tomcat fanboys to whine all day[DW tho, F-14 is still my beloved :D])
