Originally Posted by
Bob Viking
Quite aside from the fact that the F15 would not accelerate to Mach 2 immediately, I have also mentioned how Mach 2 would be incredibly unlikely in the aircraft fit illustrated. There are not many (if any) aircraft that could actually reach Mach 2 at or near to sea level. The pilot would also not want to arrive in the vicinity at Mach 2.
So assuming an acceleration to supersonic, a climb to a reasonable transit height and then a descent to intercept the Q400, even ten minutes would be a stretch. 15 minutes from airborne to intercept is my guess and that is still perfectly respectable.
I’m not sure what else I can say to convince you and the issue is in danger of sidetracking the conversation.
BV
To add a little bit this conversation. As part of their investigation, the 9/11 commissioners asked the U.S. Air Force to provide information regarding the top speed of the F-16s and F-15s that were on alert in 2001.
The top speed for the F-16s was Mach 1.3 and Mach 1.2 for the F-15s. It should be noted that the F-15s that scrambled out of Otis were carrying all three external fuel tanks as opposed to two external fuel tanks on the F-16s. I don't recall if those speeds are for a specific altitude