Definition
The ratio of the apparent load supported by an airplane's wings to the airplane's actual weight, expressed in multiples of the force of gravity (g). In level unaccelerated flight the G factor is 1; in a steep turn or pull-up it increases, meaning the wings must support more than the airplane's weight.
Plain English
How many times heavier the airplane and everything in it feel compared to normal. At 1 G, things feel their normal weight. At 2 G, everything feels twice as heavy, including the load on the wings.
Context Anchor
Seen in discussions of steep turns, pull-ups, stalls, and Mach buffet, where pulling more G can bring shaking or loss of smooth airflow sooner.
Derivation
The 'G' stands for the acceleration due to gravity. Engineers use it as a convenient yardstick: 1 G is what you feel standing still on the ground, so saying 'the airplane is pulling 3 Gs' immediately tells a pilot the loads are three times normal without needing exact numbers.
Why Pilots Care
Knowing the G factor helps pilots stay inside structural limits and avoid buffet or loss of control at high Mach numbers.
Analogy
It is like standing on a bathroom scale in an elevator. If the elevator starts upward quickly, the scale reads higher because you are being pushed harder, even though your actual body weight has not changed.
Grounding Statement
If you weigh 180 pounds and the airplane pulls 2 Gs in a steep turn, you momentarily feel like you weigh 360 pounds, and the wings must lift twice the airplane's normal weight.
Intuition Check
G factor is not a rough feeling or a guess at how hard a maneuver seems. It is a ratio that shows how much load the airplane is carrying compared with its normal weight.
Example Sentence 1
Rolling into a 60-degree bank turn doubles the G factor, so the pilot expects stall speed to rise.
Example Sentence 2
At higher Mach numbers the G factor at which buffet begins is noticeably lower.