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Old 9th Aug 2006, 18:41
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Wholigan
 
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Join Date: May 1999
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RichardIC
May I draw your attention to this thread from December last year. There are a few interesting points in there for you, including some statistics.

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthr...ht=starfighter

I should just like to say that I loved flying it. It was awesome fun and yes it could be a severe challenge at times. It had a few rules that you really did have to obey and if you failed to do so there was a distinct tendency for the machine to bite yer ass! One specific annoying habit was for it to “swap ends” if you ignored the warnings of shaker and kicker and paddled them off for “just a bit more turn”. “I understand” that it would not be a particularly enjoyable experience and one that you might not necessarily get the opportunity of enjoying twice!

It was – as has been said – extremely fast for its time, being limited to 750 knots EAS, Mach 2, or the “Slow Light” (121 degrees C inlet air temperature) whichever came first. Under some conditions it was quite possible to see over 800 knots indicated, which when you are flying at low level sure makes the ground go past quickly.

No it was not a “turning machine” for sure but then you are not surprised by this statement having seen the knife-sharp 22 foot span wings. These wings are a symmetrical diamond-shape and actually produce no lift when at no angle of attack. However, at high speed and certainly when supersonic, my 7.33G was the same as anybody else’s 7.33G at the same speed. So Rule 1 was “don’t slow down”.

The beast (with me and a great Canadian mate on board 2 of them) had the pleasure of getting the first “non-US” “kills” on some F14s during Navy Miramar’s Top Gun multi-bogey “anybody who isn’t the same type as you is your enemy” phase. Of course we cheated and used sensible tactics (what we used to call Israeli tactics) and we thrashed towards the bull’s eye from about 40-odd grand doing about Mach 1.8 or so and took 2 shots each as we blew through to the far side of the furball. Zooming back up to flight level lots, we turned back in and took 2 more shots each as we then blew back through the other side. Having then run out of fuel, ideas and bravery, we went home for tea and medals. My lasting memory of that “fight” was the deep brown growling voice of the first F14 victim saying “I bet that’s that fu&^ing Zip!!”

Those who have had rides in the two-sticker and comment on the “shaking rattle-trap” qualities of the aircraft – especially in the circuit – are quite correct. However, they would have inevitably been flying the dual model with 4 fuel tanks to have enough fuel to stay and play with the single-stickers. The 104 with just tip tanks was an entirely different beast from one with 4 jugs on board, and generally handled delightfully. Even better was the clean aircraft.

It was particularly nice to fly fast at low level and it totally ignored any turbulence as those tiny, high wing-loading surfaces cut through any such trivialities as though they did not exist.

So to answer your implied question: - fundamentally flawed? - not in my opinion!
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