EVeryone knows that one of the revolutionary technology features of the new F-22 Raptor is that it can fly supersonic without the use of afterburners. However, this is actually not new. There was a single-engine combat plane–meaning it actually did fly combat missions–that was able to routinely exceed the speed of sound in level flight without using afterburner. The aircraft was given an uprated version of the original engine to make this happen, but it was done across much of the fleet of these aircraft, so it wasnt a one-time thing. Name the specific variant of the aircraft, and if you know it, name the variant of the engine as well.
May I correct a common error. The Short Sunderland was not called the Flying Porcupine because of it’s guns, but, because the radar version had these huge vertical antenna on it’s back.
no, good guess but not the Gripen…what makes this one so notable is that it is actually a third-generation jet aircraft. This plane was supercruising more than 30 years ago…
Combat experience? Twin engined? Well, that rules out the British, American, and Swedish aircraft, leaving the French or Russian. As such, I’ll hazard a guess of ‘Mirage’
It wasnt the -20A actually, but the RF-8G Crusaders were upgraded with the J57-P-420 engine. With this engine, the RF-8s could routinely supercruise. Not bad at all for an airplane designed in the 1950s. On a side note, I recall hearing from the pilots that flew the last F-8 in America–the Thunderbird Aviation guys–that the Crusader even in the 1990s could more than hold its own against modern competition. Against an F-15 Eagle, if the Eagle didnt have external tanks the Crusader would run it clean out of gas. Against the F-16, the Crusader could simply pull away from it in level flight. The Crusader made a habit of walking away from F-16s that flew chase on it. When you think about the extra weight that a Crusader had to have due to being designed for carrier ops, these comparisons take on an even more interesting light.
Yep, should have guessed, fanatic! How on earth does a J57 power an aircraft that fast w/o ABs? This was a good question and I did a bunch of researchy googling. Wrote off the J57.
Cheers - the F-8 is one ot the aircraft from the “golden era” of supersonic flight, a bit like (dare I say it) the EE Lightning - purpose built aircraft before the dawn of the multi-role & the accountants.
OK - This single engined aircraft first flew in the mid 50s & its design has since spawned several significant models which can trace their origins back to it. among these models (not variants) were a twin engined one & one with a dramaticaly different wing.
As far as I am aware, one model is still in limited service?