retroaviation wrote:
I'm sure you'll get more qualified, and better, answers here than mine, but I can tell you that often times it just depends on the airplane. For example, when flying that little Cassutt Racer that I took to Reno, it didn't seem to matter much either way. I ended up flying the "close in" method for a couple of reasons....it is easier to see the pylons that way, and since I was so slow, I wanted to be in a predictable place for those who were passing (and lapping) me. In my situation, there was really no reason to fly the wide route.
Interestingly, another former racing airplane, Alley Cat (which was incredibly fast), didn't seem to make much difference either when it came to a tight route vs. a wider route. In it's final design, it had a wing that just didn't seem to "care" whether it had "G" on it or not. However, many times, the faster the airplane is, the less "G" you want to be pulling around the pylons. So it just depends on the airplane (and the pilot) to a certain degree.
Not sure if any of that helps answer your question or not, but there it is anyway.
Gary
Another opposite example would be September Fury in 2008. The wing mods in general and wing tips in particular made the airplane really slow down if pulled hard around the turns. It forced the pilot to fly a wide line and keep the drag / lift bucket in check to keep the speed up.