Originally Posted by
Tigs2
I believe it was the quickest ever! A pilot strapped to the front of a rocket! Would be great now, but obviously had V difficult missile systems. Somebody told me that in permenant combat reheat you could be out of fuel in 20 mins?? any truth???
B
s. 20 minutes, you must be joking. Even an F4 with 21k would be dry tanks in 10 not including taxi and take-off or 'dead' fuel because the fuselage emptied before the wings transfered.
We used to play with a Mk 6 for perhaps 30 minutes but that was usually against a medium speed cooperative target. As related elsewhere, a Lightning was a manned rocket. Airborne, 41k, intercept 40 miles down range, RTB.
OTOH, Mk 6 (IIRC) Malta Sunspot, about 1968, scrambled to intercept a Vulcan aa the Vulcan penetrated at some 240 plus miles. As he closed the bomber now at about 130 miles out he was spoofed and sent back to Malta. He was back on the ground after 9 minutes, airborne in 6 and completed the intercept on the same target. (Times are approximate except to the QTR which only required refuelling - other 'shot-out' aircraft also had missile pack changes in the same time).