service ceiling of F-22

Eiither the
-36 turns inside them, or the interceptor (If you're talking an F-86
era jet, like a Mig-15 or 17, or a Yak-25) stalls out and has to fall
a couple of miles before it can recover.

Yes, this is evidently just what happened. The USAF ran tests over
Florida, as I recall, and all the B-36 pilot had to do to lose an
interceptor was to start a gentle turn. The same thing was reported
(more vaguely, of course) of Chinese MiG-15s over China.

However, the USAF never agreed to play with the Navy or the RAF, both
of which begged for a trial run at the 36. (The British at that time
held the altitude record, though of course not everybody was into
setting records, since to do so was to give out information you might
want to keep to yourself.)

I heard a great story by a B-47 (RB-47?) pilot who was intercepted
over Arcangel (I don't know how to spell that). SAC was routinely
flying over European Russia with B-47s, and the RAF with B-45s, but
their immunity to interception was of course predicated on the
performance of the MiG-15. On this occasion, the MiG not only got up
there (with some difficulty, it's true) but was able to get off a shot
or two. The Finnish newspapers reported that somebody was banging away
up there, so the chase evidently went on for some little time. The
B-47 got home with a thumping big hole in the skin, which the pilot
had framed and carried about with him for show & tell lectures.

In any event, that was how SAC learned about the MiG-17....


all the best -- Dan Ford
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