🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Dec16.101747.25799@cactus.org> rdd@cactus.org (Robert Dorsett) writes:

>The speed of sound is hinged on *temperature*, not altitude.  On a cold
>day, the speed of sound will be lower; on a warm day, it will be higher.

I remember reading about when North American/USAF wanted to retake the
world speed record from Douglas/USN's F4D Skyray. They had to fly the
F100 Super Sabre at least 1% faster for it to count. This was in the
fall of 1953. They waited for an especially hot day in the Mojave
desert, so the Hun could go faster without running into transonic drag
rise. I believe they made it by just a couple of mph. The interesting
thing is that they were not allowed to gain any altitude during the
two runs (in opposite directions) and since they flew low to get
maximum TAS, the pilot had to make a 270 degree turn at just under
Mach 1 flying about 50-100 feet above the ground over the desert. 

Now that must have been a hell of a ride, especially in the choppy
desert air. I read they used burning piles of tires to mark the
course.

Gopal

-- 

Gopal Ramachandran <gopal@cirrus.com>
UUCP:  uunet!cirrus.com!gopal
Cirrus Logic Inc, Fremont CA  PH: (510)-226-2138 FAX: (510)-226-2160