Fighter jets maximum sea level speed specifications question
The red baron f104 set the official low level speed record at 988mph. Supposedly this was limited by compression heating of the inlet support, they added water misting in the inlet to cool it down
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rigpiggy,
Is that mph or kts? If it is 988mph it is only 858kts which is not too fast and I'm sure may be challenged by someone?
Is that mph or kts? If it is 988mph it is only 858kts which is not too fast and I'm sure may be challenged by someone?
Last edited by Dominator2; 22nd Apr 2015 at 17:56.
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The 750 knot limit for the CF104 (basically the G) was EAS, and so the IAS might be markedly different. I was privileged to see 815 IAS on one occasion.
So the stated limits were: 750 knots EAS; Mach 2; 121 degrees inlet air temp; or the "SLOW" light, whichever came first.
So the stated limits were: 750 knots EAS; Mach 2; 121 degrees inlet air temp; or the "SLOW" light, whichever came first.
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Lagging the fight, I know, but regarding the SHAR my beer-addled memory seems to recollect an IAS limit of 550 kts with the 190 gallon drop tanks (with which we flew most of the time on the front-line squadrons). The aircraft would certainly go faster than that because I've had to throttle back to keep under the limit. This was normally seen when we used to do the ship attacks to train the various radar/missile/gun crews and involved nipping out beyond the horizon and then attacking at low level and high speed. Without the tanks I think the limit was up around 630 kts (but don't quote me on that) but I have no idea if that could be exceeded because I never tried......mainly because we always seemed to have drop tanks 
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Tornado max IAS
My knowledge of Tornado max IAS low level was gained some 41 years ago but I doubt much has changed (except perhaps the bravado of the drivers!)
The requirement was to show 800 IAS at Sea level and this was achieved, with an early standard of 199, by diving onto the point with PO2, Warton's first prototype. Paul Millet was driving and he made 830. There was no HUD in the a/c and the ADSI would only read to 800! We expected the Service to red line the a/c at some lower speed (770?). 850 would have been much frowned on and would be foolhardy. Are these tales of 850 and higher for real?
The requirement was to show 800 IAS at Sea level and this was achieved, with an early standard of 199, by diving onto the point with PO2, Warton's first prototype. Paul Millet was driving and he made 830. There was no HUD in the a/c and the ADSI would only read to 800! We expected the Service to red line the a/c at some lower speed (770?). 850 would have been much frowned on and would be foolhardy. Are these tales of 850 and higher for real?
