max altitude and Mach 1

1) Well, here I am again, home from reunions of the 25FIS/F86F/D and
the 319FIS/F104A.
2)One thing about charts - check where they came from. If from the
official flight manual, they're probably (not always) on the money. If
from a commercial pub, take them with large grains of salt. I'm
reminded of the posters sitting in front of display airplanes citing
such numbers as Mach 2, 2000 mile range max load 24000 pounds. Those
numbers may be true, just only not all at once.
3) 104 high cruise: Paul Martino and I did fly from Tyndall to
Homestead at M2.0 and 73000 in somewhat reduced AB. 73000 was selected
because of IFR altitudes - I just wanted to make FAA happy. I found we
could cruise at M2.0 and about 315 IAS - 315 to approximate best L/D
for the 104A. (If Paul does come through as he said he would and sends
me a copy of the DD175 flight clearance form I'll post it for y'all.)
4) Zoom: I kick myself now for not further exploring the 104/-19's
envelope. The only zoom climbs I did were with the 3b engine. Our
technique was to run out to M2.0 at the tropopause (38-43000 usually,
at latitude 25N.) Once at speed, I'd do a smooth 3-4G rotation to 45
nose high. Note that the aircraft did not lose a knot of airspeed
during this maneuver. I'd stabilize at 45 nose high and keep going up
until the airspeed neared stall - around 220IAS. Then I would slowly
nose over until at low G approximating 1/10G (Guesstimate). The IAS
'over the top' would be around 100-125 KIAS. Note that at that IAS the
aircraft did not stall because the AOA was still 'flying'. I never had
an overtemp nor a blowout but then I flew the aircraft very gently up
there. Any hamfistedness will most likely result in a duct stall and
flameout. Since the standard USAF three-needle altimeter has a
mechanical stop at about 86000 I have no idea what altitude was
actually attained but in every case except the introductory 75K zoom
when I was in combat crew training mission 86000 was well exceeded.
5) Lockheed's SURE publication indicated thrust crossed drag at about
2.36 - with the 3b engine! That crossover point with the Dash 19 would
be well over the heat limits for the airframe and canopy.
6) One of my squadron commanders once said "All the posted limits are
the maker's way of saying their guarantee doesn't cover anything past
them." I think most fighter pilots think the same way. If you need
more to get the job done, and it's there, use it. Here's where the
smart pilots (in all airplanes) make decisions based on priority - if
the choice is bend the bird versus bust your ass - screw the limits.
Walt BJ