Salute!
Great to hear stuff about something other than Hunters or Bucs or .....
As Lomcevak mentioned, then Beagle, many folks do not appreciate the supersonic climb schedules we had in those old, over-powered beasts. They were slick, low drag designs and most could not turn worth a damn. We still had work to do with all the aero to help "dogfighting", and that was reflected in later birds like the Eagle, Viper, Tiffie, etc. And then the Raptor and new kid on the block - Stubbie.
Most folks do not realize that the father of the Phantom could get to 35,000 feet in about 2 minutes from a standing start at the end of RWY 35. My Voodoo at Grand Forks on a cold day with basic combat loadout, no external tanks, used about 2,000 feet until gear up. Then climb at 30 degrees pitch until 0.9 M, but rarely got there ( the mach) before pushing over and slipping thru the mach. Started back up at 1.3 M to 45,000 feet plus a little. Figure about 5 minutes from brake release. Who hoo for this 22 year old troop, and they were paying me to do it.
I have no doubt the RA-5 was a speed merchant, but never figured it for a good climb. The Viper was really clean, and at 40,000 feet in the A2A loadout we could barely maintain 1.1 M in mil once there and in a slight descent. As Lomcevak pointed out, just a slight bunt to unload really helped. Between 45 and 50,000 feet in the Voodoo, we could hold 1.15 M using min burner on one engine and mil power on the other. God how I miss those days.
Gums sends...