I tend to ignore any station at the moment over 1000Ls away from the main star of the system as it's usually not worth my time
It goes surprisingly quick.
I had a trade route between two stations, with one jump between systems. The pickup was about 3000LS and took a few minutes to travel (about 4 mins in total), but the flip was only 200LS and the net result was almost 200,000 Cr in under 12 minutes, round trip.
It can be worth your time...
The trick is to avoid the 100,000LS ones. I think it was Alpha Centauri where the nearest station was over an hour of travel time. I have a screenshot somewhere of the speedo reaching about 1800C!!
But seriously how the hell do you achieve such turn rates, are these even achievable in a Viper?
Also does mass affect turning rate significantly?
Mass affects it, in that the bigger ships often handle like dead cows. Having a lot of stuff equipped and/or having a load of cargo does also increase your mass.
Generally, the Eagle is the most manoeuvrable one in the game, with the Vulture only one point behind.
Turning speed is a factor of several things... Firstly, set your throttle slider to the middle of the blue zone. You are at your most manoeuvrable here. You can go faster, but you won't turn as quick.
Secondly, max your power to engines. The more power, the higher your top speed and the higher your blue zone will be.
Thirdly, add in some of your manoeuvring thrusters. If you're pitching upward to pull a 180º, start by strafing down, then switch to strafing up. It's a matter of balance and timinmg as to when you use each one, but you'll get the feel soon enough.
Fourthly, once you hit your maximum turning rate, take Flight Assist off and you'll turn faster and tighter. Drop it back on when you're coming online with your target.
Get all these working together and you're almost spinning on a dime!
Another trick is to turn while boosting/afterburning, but that is another balancing/timing thing and not every ship can turn like that even with boost.
You will also find handling improves with things like upgraded thrusters. For purely combat, cutting out things you don't need (such as FSD Interdictor or Cargo Scanner) will lighten the ship and improve your handling.
Blue zone as mentioned is important, if you're outside it you'll not be pitching at max capability. Note that just because your throttle is in the blue zone your actual speed might not be. Sometimes you need to over throttle then back off to get more time 'in the zone'.
