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The Staff of SOH
Interesting site: WW2 aircraft ranked by speed
- Thread starter txnetcop
- Start date
Very interesting, but the vast majority of those aircraft capable of flying above 500 mph were conceptual designs that never left the drafting board. Germany holds the title for fastest aircraft produced and deployed to combat units with the Me163 Komet, but it was really a rocket powered glider, not an aircraft capable of long flights. Second fastest aircraft to be produced and deployed would be the Me262.
hubbabubba
Charter Member
If pigs could fly...
I'm always grinding my teeth when I hear of those wunderwaffen that never got much further than the "corner of a napkin" stage.
If they were such great ideas, why didn't we see them actually fly, ever?! And I don't necessarily mean for the grandeur of the 3rd Reich, but for any other nations?
Take the first in the list for example; it would have, from 8,000m, reached "in excess of 800mph". Compare that number to that list and you will see that, at that speed, it would have been breaking the sound barrier... with a huge bomb hanging underneath! Anybody who has seen "The Right Stuff" movie knows how easy it was for the Bell X-1 to do that (minus the bomb, of course).
I suppose that the passing of time transform gradually historical facts into whimsical legends.
I'm always grinding my teeth when I hear of those wunderwaffen that never got much further than the "corner of a napkin" stage.
If they were such great ideas, why didn't we see them actually fly, ever?! And I don't necessarily mean for the grandeur of the 3rd Reich, but for any other nations?
Take the first in the list for example; it would have, from 8,000m, reached "in excess of 800mph". Compare that number to that list and you will see that, at that speed, it would have been breaking the sound barrier... with a huge bomb hanging underneath! Anybody who has seen "The Right Stuff" movie knows how easy it was for the Bell X-1 to do that (minus the bomb, of course).
I suppose that the passing of time transform gradually historical facts into whimsical legends.
srgalahad
Charter Member 2022
Nice chart hubba! It points out that the typical wiki-style data is at least limited, if not wildly inaccurate. In fact, even low-subsonic aircraft will produce a range of numbers and not the one, often beloved "maximum speed"
It's an interesting list for 'water-cooler' debates.
Unfortunately, as it includes many mythical aircraft and doesn't provide the data sources (was it flight test data?; undocumented pilot reports; drug-fueled dreams? etc.), nor does it even indicate whether the numbers are Indicated airspeed -subject to instrument errors- or True airspeed; nor at normal operational altitudes vs optimal altitudes for speed, nor does it indicate aircraft weight, and on and on... it's about as accurate an assessment tool as comparing an NFL team to a water polo team.
Bear in mind that for most combat aircraft where the data is 'classified' the public only gets what the propagandists pass on to the press. Sadly, most people are willing to base their arguments on what they read in Boys' Digest, Popular Mechanics or on the internet.
Pass me a beer
- I have a meeting scheduled at the water cooler...
It's an interesting list for 'water-cooler' debates.
Unfortunately, as it includes many mythical aircraft and doesn't provide the data sources (was it flight test data?; undocumented pilot reports; drug-fueled dreams? etc.), nor does it even indicate whether the numbers are Indicated airspeed -subject to instrument errors- or True airspeed; nor at normal operational altitudes vs optimal altitudes for speed, nor does it indicate aircraft weight, and on and on... it's about as accurate an assessment tool as comparing an NFL team to a water polo team.
Bear in mind that for most combat aircraft where the data is 'classified' the public only gets what the propagandists pass on to the press. Sadly, most people are willing to base their arguments on what they read in Boys' Digest, Popular Mechanics or on the internet.
Pass me a beer
- I have a meeting scheduled at the water cooler...If pigs could fly...
I'm always grinding my teeth when I hear of those wunderwaffen that never got much further than the "corner of a napkin" stage.
If they were such great ideas, why didn't we see them actually fly, ever?! And I don't necessarily mean for the grandeur of the 3rd Reich, but for any other nations?
Take the first in the list for example; it would have, from 8,000m, reached "in excess of 800mph". Compare that number to that list and you will see that, at that speed, it would have been breaking the sound barrier... with a huge bomb hanging underneath! Anybody who has seen "The Right Stuff" movie knows how easy it was for the Bell X-1 to do that (minus the bomb, of course).
I suppose that the passing of time transform gradually historical facts into whimsical legends.
Yep, and the only place that you will see those wonder weapons fly is in a flight sim, but some people may think that they did fly or were very close to being produced. If you "what if" for long enough, your "what if" might be accepted as fact.
As for why the Axis wonder weapons were not produced, some of them were too advanced for the propulsion technology of the time. Aerodynamically, they might be able to hit 800 mph, but if there are no engines capable of producing such thrust, then they are purely academic. Some of them simply could not be produced because the Allies were advancing, there was a lack of materials and development time, and the need to produce current weapons halted R&D. There are a few German designs could have been developed and deployed, but it was the flawed decision making of Goering and Hitler that slowed or halted the projects.
As for the Allied wonder weapons, the piston powered wonder weapons, although fast, came when turbojet technology was being introduced. Piston powered designs that could hit 500 mph were dropped in favor of the new turbojets that would exceed 500 mph. But even these came late in the war. The British did deploy the Gloster Meteor, but the American designs lagged, mostly due to engine issues, and did not see combat.
I think it is nice to compile these lists, but make it clear that most of them never saw the light of day.
When you click the button "fighter" or "bomber" it will get rid of (most of) the X-planes.
There are many reasons why most of the German X-planes never reached the operation or even prototype stage. Lack of resources is a commonly mentioned one, but at the end of the war German losses were so high that it was better to focus on production of things which worked in stead of at things which might perhaps work.
However despite all limitation the Germans were capable of putting the first operational jet in the air.
Cheers,
Huub
There are many reasons why most of the German X-planes never reached the operation or even prototype stage. Lack of resources is a commonly mentioned one, but at the end of the war German losses were so high that it was better to focus on production of things which worked in stead of at things which might perhaps work.
However despite all limitation the Germans were capable of putting the first operational jet in the air.
Cheers,
Huub
