"Thomas J. Paladino Jr." wrote in message
...

"Tuollaf43" wrote in message
om...
India's home built fighter aircraft went supersonic today for the first
time.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/stories/2003080205100100.htm

Thats a good achievement for them.

But, their wing commander should probably brush up on his aviation
history:

"Later, Wg. Cdr. Vikram Singh stated that the maximum speed achieved by
any
aircraft piloted by a human being was Mach 3, that is, three times the
speed
of sound. An aircraft moving at Mach 1, which is the speed of sound, will
cover about 334 metres a second."

Which, to clarify, is not actually true. The SR-71 was capable of just
over
Mach 3,


Mach 3.6 which were reached in actual operations when outrunning a SAM.
Speed was limited by the shock wave cone moving back and impinging on the
engine inlets not engine power or thermal limitations.