I remember my dad who worked for Vickers and the RAE telling me that it can be done but not very effectively. Basicaly Its fare to say Props are best when used < 300 / 350 odd Knots, and is much easer to use a Jet. As early as 1944 a Photo Recon. Mk XIV Spitfire was traced on Radar to be doing M 0.84 in an emergency dive following a pressurization failure. Shortly after the war the late Mark Spitfires and Mustangs were used for sonic Tests. The Mustang while very fast in the subsonic range was a dead loss in a sonic dive due to its smaller Tail fin area and Broad chord 4-blade prop. The Spitfires did better despite the drag from those massive rad-cowls (under the wings). With all it's armour removed and it's much larger deristricted 2650 - 3000bhp Rolls Royce Griffon. The Spit could be driven to insaine speeds! The wings have a very high M-crit, (the critical speed at which airflow can become sonic / shockwaves forming) The late type 5 blade 'sabre' shape prop delay M-crit, and the late type large Tail fin keeps the plane stable (er). But as Mach 1 is hit things have a tendency to drop off! and though it was done, the fatality rate was unacceptable!
Last edited by Duck-U-Suckerz; 16th Apr 2003 at 01:08.