Fastest of the lot
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: looking north, heading west
Posts: 46
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Fastest of the lot
Hi!
Can anyone tell me wich production single-engine piston fighter was the fastest in WW2.
Got a case of Winhoek Special riding on this.
Thanx
SS
Can anyone tell me wich production single-engine piston fighter was the fastest in WW2.
Got a case of Winhoek Special riding on this.
Thanx
SS
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
The P47J. The J was fitted with a high output P&W R-2800-57. This made 2,800 hp @ 2,800 rpm at 35,000 feet. This is in War Emergency Power. The aircraft actually attained 507 mph at an altitude of 34,300 feet. (2,800 hp is 133% of rated power.) At military power (100%), the XP-47J could sustain 470 mph.
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Canberra Australia
Posts: 1,300
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You will need to qualify the question with
1. Straight and level
2. Cruise of full bore
3 In a dive
4. What altitude?
There will be different contenders under different conditions.
1. Straight and level
2. Cruise of full bore
3 In a dive
4. What altitude?
There will be different contenders under different conditions.
Gnome de PPRuNe
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Too close to Croydon for comfort
Age: 60
Posts: 12,623
Received 294 Likes
on
162 Posts
Fastest piston packer ever - in case you're interested - is Lyle Shelton's Bearcat "Rare Bear" which achieved something over 528mph at Las Vegas in 1989. Mind you, it's got some serious airframe clean ups and there is an R3350 lurking under the cowling which turns a modified P-3 prop I believe!
Mustang "Dago Red" - now retired apparently - has a 15km closed circuit record of 517mph, so might have been a contended to mount a challenge....
Mustang "Dago Red" - now retired apparently - has a 15km closed circuit record of 517mph, so might have been a contended to mount a challenge....
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: USA (Naturalized but bits still British!)
Posts: 103
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Not deliberately trying to be vague but didn't the Germans have a "push/pull" piston engine prototype aircraft that was extremely fast towards the end of WW2??
It is "earlyish" in the morning and both memory cells havent received their requisite dose of caffeine yet
It is "earlyish" in the morning and both memory cells havent received their requisite dose of caffeine yet
Self Loathing Froggy
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: elsewhere
Age: 18
Posts: 546
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Guess you mean the Dornier 335 Pfeil (arrow)
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: n/a
Posts: 1,425
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Does the P47J count as a production aircraft.
I would suggest the Hawker Tempest.
400 or so produced. Various websites say level flight top speed of around 470mph for the development version, 440mph @ 18,000ft for the "stock" ones.
I would suggest the Hawker Tempest.
400 or so produced. Various websites say level flight top speed of around 470mph for the development version, 440mph @ 18,000ft for the "stock" ones.
Gnome de PPRuNe
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Too close to Croydon for comfort
Age: 60
Posts: 12,623
Received 294 Likes
on
162 Posts
XP-47J - still impressive numbers - what would Shelton/Greenamyer/Hinton/et al have achieved with it?
Always a delight to see Brian Smith or Stu Goldspink arrive molto rapido Stage Right at Duxford in TFC's P-47D....
Always a delight to see Brian Smith or Stu Goldspink arrive molto rapido Stage Right at Duxford in TFC's P-47D....
TheVillagePhotographer.co.uk
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Cotswolds UK
Posts: 1,078
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Maybe the worst thing nowadays, is that it might have been reduced into beer cans only a few months after achieving such performance. Ho hum....
Conan
Conan
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
"The XP-47M proved to be nearly as fast as the XP-47J. 488 mph was obtained on at least one flight. The official maximum speed is 470 mph. However, over-boosting the engine could tweek another 15 to 20 mph out of the big fighter. There is adequate evidence to indicate that some of the more resourceful crew chiefs in the 56th Fighter Group, managed to hotrod the P-47M to the point that some reliable pilots were reporting 500 mph at altitude in level flight."
P-47M
The P-51 and P-47 were designed to escort high altitude bombers, the Tempest was optimised for low/medium level. The P-51H reached 487 m.p.h.at 25,000 ft. The Tempest V reached 435mph at 17,000ft.
P-47M
The P-51 and P-47 were designed to escort high altitude bombers, the Tempest was optimised for low/medium level. The P-51H reached 487 m.p.h.at 25,000 ft. The Tempest V reached 435mph at 17,000ft.
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: London
Posts: 190
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My copies of 'Aircraft of The Fighting Powers' point to another candidate: DH Hornet - 473 mph @ 22,000 ft.
The Do 335 is quoted as 477 mph @ 21,000 ft. The same publication quotes the Tempest V as 435 mph at 'operating height' and the P47N as 'greatly augmented' compared with earlier models but 'not released'.
The Do 335 is quoted as 477 mph @ 21,000 ft. The same publication quotes the Tempest V as 435 mph at 'operating height' and the P47N as 'greatly augmented' compared with earlier models but 'not released'.
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: due south
Posts: 1,332
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My first thought was that the MB5 would be a contender, but it did not go into production.
While I was checking the performance numbers for that aircraft I came across this page which has some interesting comparisons.
http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~pettypi/elevo...er/mb5-02.html
There is a link to the MB5 at the bottom of the page,
While I was checking the performance numbers for that aircraft I came across this page which has some interesting comparisons.
http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~pettypi/elevo...er/mb5-02.html
There is a link to the MB5 at the bottom of the page,
Spoon PPRuNerist & Mad Inistrator
Like Milt, I would add a rider or 2:
Are you talking "regularly achievable" speeds or the sort that overstressed the airframe and that the pilot may or may not have survived?
There are several examples during WW2 of different aircraft types being dived into the ground at high M numbers - both in combat and not - where (it is surmised) the pilot discovered compressibility effects too late to do anything about it.
SD
Are you talking "regularly achievable" speeds or the sort that overstressed the airframe and that the pilot may or may not have survived?
There are several examples during WW2 of different aircraft types being dived into the ground at high M numbers - both in combat and not - where (it is surmised) the pilot discovered compressibility effects too late to do anything about it.
SD
TheVillagePhotographer.co.uk
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Cotswolds UK
Posts: 1,078
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I would have imagined level flight to be the discerning factor here.
After all, the Spitfire was involved in a lot of test flying with terminal dives to discover mach limiting speeds etc. and got over 600mph I was once told. The pilot, a Sqn Ldr Martindale, had the prop assy detach in one of these dives and still managed to get it back to Terra Firma. Brave man....
Conan
After all, the Spitfire was involved in a lot of test flying with terminal dives to discover mach limiting speeds etc. and got over 600mph I was once told. The pilot, a Sqn Ldr Martindale, had the prop assy detach in one of these dives and still managed to get it back to Terra Firma. Brave man....
Conan