"Chad Irby" wrote in message
m...

We lost more than one fighter from compressibility, and it's quite
possible that one or more made it "through" Mach 1 and back.

Sorry. This is wrong. It is physically impossible for a prop driven aircraft
to exceed mach one. Trust me on this. I've had a Mustang out all the way to
..75. The circumstances that day were such that had the airplane been
capable, it would have made it through. It didn't!!
The prop drag curve on the props of the era becomes insurmountable. In my
case, a Hamilton Standard 24D50 on the 51.
The RAF tried every which way but backwards to put a Spit through at
Boscombe Down after the war. They failed...and they had some real
heavyweights flying these airplanes too.
Herb Fisher did extensive high mach dive tests in a modified Jug that used
several highly experimental semitar shaped propellers. Even Herb couldn't
make it through. Trust me again...I knew him well!!
The simple truth about props is that the drag rise in compressibility can't
be overcome by thrust and velocity. It's a no win situation. It can't be
done.
Furthermore, the 262 didn't make it through either. It's aerodynamic shape
coupled with it's ability to create the thrust required didn't equate. There
was no way the 262 would have been able to get high enough and accelerate
fast enough in real time within the altitude restraints it could create. In
other words, for the specific design of the 262, there simply wasn't enough
sky up there to get it done. This is common knowledge in the flight test
community. Even if it had the air available, the 262's drag index curve
would never have allowed a total mach one airflow.
George Welch was probably the first through mach one. I realize this damn
argument will go on forever, but Welch again is the general consensus of the
flight test community......and Yeager is very much a member of this
community :-)))
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Commercial Pilot/CFI Retired
For personal e-mail, use
dhenriquesATzarthlinkDOTnzt
(replacezwithe)