Thursday, October 27, 2022

Saab J35J Draken vertical on full afterburner

 


4 comments:

  1. Not likely. Probably rolled while horizontal on full afterburner, then frame rotated 90°, or else just a split-second in a loop. With a max thrust-to-weight ratio even on burner of only 0.7, going vertical wouldn't last very long. Gravity's a bitch.

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  2. I was at a Red Flag at Homestead AFB and watched an F-15 stand on it's tail, kick in the afterburners and go ballistic. It was out of sight in about 3 seconds. It was around dusk and the afterburners lit up half the sky.

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    Replies
    1. That's how you do it.
      Starting with a thrust:weight ratio >1.

      The Drakken peaked at 0.7, the F-104 at 0.76, and a Phantom II at 0.86.

      It wasn't until the teen series a/c (F-14/15/16/18) that we regularly broke 1, and even the -14 and -18 have to get down to half-loads of internal fuel to get there.
      Which was why they became world-beaters.
      Until the Mig-29, Russian products couldn't even compete.

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