"Bill Silvey" wrote in message
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"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
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"Chad Irby" wrote in message
. ..

Putting a plane into a 40 degree dive doesn't count, or the P-38
would have made this "record" in 1941.


Supersonic flight in a dive would have counted, but no P-38 ever
exceeded the speed of sound in any attitude.

I don't have it in front of me but IIRC Yeager said in "Wings" that a P-51
could do it.

Don't think so. Yeager knows better than this believe me. But I'm sure what
he did say could easily have been mistaken , as he has discussed high mach
dives in prop fighters on many occasions.
Sometimes during these "discussions", listening to Yeager speak.... it's
entirely possible to come away with a mistaken impression unless you are
listening VERY closely to what he's saying. That "drawl" of his kind of sits
in your ears and floats around there for a while before it either enters
your brain or gets spit out :-)
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot/CFI Retired
For personal e-mail, use
dhenriquesATzarthlinkDOTnzt
(replacezwithe)