Tim,
I accept that for a dash using brute power ( and I think that includes pretty much the entire envelope of the F-104 ! ) short,straight wings will do.
I don't see why you find it an 'urban myth' that we gave it all up to the States - look at the TSR2 /F111 saga.
Then again I seem to be one of the few who don't look on the TSR2 with dewy eyed sentimentality; like the Tornado which eventualy replaced it, all I see is a slab sided piece of junk good for impressing one's girlfriend at airshows, but would have been completely unable to do its' job in WWII, let alone against the Russians.
Like the Tornado later, it seems people thought 'Jamming' was the answer to everything, including a ' here I come' TFR - and AAA - I had a discussion about this with a roomful of Tornado Navigators at West Freugh - it seemed they were confident they could shield off AAA cannon shells as much as SAM's- well they probably could deal with SAM's - as long as they were Vietnam vintage - but I didn't hear any answers to how to put off a 20-30mm round, unless you're in Star Trek.
I was shouted down as, after all, they were pro's, I was just a bystander; sadly I was proven more right than I would ever have wished in the 1st days of Gulf War 1...
I doubt the TSR2 could have even been adapted to medium altitude calmly dispensing LGB's over a relatively unsophisticated target, given that wing.
It would have been great in WWI though.
Last edited by Double Zero; 7th Jan 2009 at 22:08.