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Old October 10th 03, 07:37 PM
John Carrier
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Certainly not faster than the MIG 25. As for the Eagle, the F-15 clearly
has superior thrust/weight (maybe not much versus the F-14B/D), but that
doesn't necessarily translate to top speed. Inlet performance, trim drag,
etc come into play as one exceeds transonic speeds (1.2+). Most books have
the F-14A listed at 2.34IMN ... it actually went 2.41 or 2.42 once in the
test program. The B's and D's actually have a little lower top end. The
airplane is NATOPS limited to 1.88 (I think due to instability with a burner
blowout above that speed ... the TF-30's weren't great fighter motors), but
its acceleration was still impressive at that speed so I'm confident 2.0+
was easily achievable.

The F-15 has usually been noted to have a top end of 2.5+ or 1650mph, but
I've never seen an actual achieved top end nor am I familiar with a
particular dash-1 limit. I suspect it's actually quite a bit less.
Discounting Streak Eagle, I'd be curious to know what the Eagle can do. I'd
be curious to know what speeds typical pilots have seen in the jet.

R / John