BarnOwlLover
Staff Sergeant
This does kind of lean towards late war, since this implies the use of a two stage supercharger essentially. Also, I'm not sure of the Me-262, but early British jets like the Vampire were better performers as far as speed (and maybe climb) at low altitude vs higher altitudes.
This also sort of reminds me a bit of a thread where there's a list of the fastest fighters at sea level/very low altitude. Oddly, the P-51H scored highest there (424 mph at SL on WEP, 413 max dry rating), though it had basically a higher altitude rated engine. This is where Mustang and Merlin/engine experts can weigh in, but I do remember someone (maybe drgondog) saying that the Packard V-1650-9 and 9A were strengthened -3 engines (the high alt. rated Packard Merlin) to run higher boost levels for longer, and in the case of the -9, run ADI. The -7 engine was rated for slightly lower max alt., but with more evenly distributed performance. It would seem that the -9 and 9A was trying to combine the low and medium/medium-high performance of the -7, the high alt performance of the -3, and build upon it in both instances.
Just for example, the P-51H, as mentioned, was capable of well over 400 mph at sea level, but depending on weight and load out, had over a 43K ft. service ceiling. The XP-82/P-82B also had over a 43,000 ft service ceiling depending on load out on both engines (and over 28,000 on one engine).
But were there other "go anywhere" fighters as far as altitude went that did well just about anywhere they'd be encountered? With the two stage Merlin Spitfires, I'd say that it depends on the variant (engine spec, clipped vs normal vs long span wings), as well as the Spitfire 14 as far as war-time variants (but a lot of them had clipped wings for low/medium alt. use).
There was also the Ta-152 that was capable of excellent performance at high altitudes, but was often used as a GP fighter at lower altitudes. Some accounts suggest that it was at least decent (as far as German fighters) at low and medium to medium-high alt.. Others suggested that the Fw-190D would've been better suited for such combat vs the Ta-152.
But what where the best fighters at high alt. that did well everywhere else, or "normal" alt. rated fighters that still held their own high up?
This also sort of reminds me a bit of a thread where there's a list of the fastest fighters at sea level/very low altitude. Oddly, the P-51H scored highest there (424 mph at SL on WEP, 413 max dry rating), though it had basically a higher altitude rated engine. This is where Mustang and Merlin/engine experts can weigh in, but I do remember someone (maybe drgondog) saying that the Packard V-1650-9 and 9A were strengthened -3 engines (the high alt. rated Packard Merlin) to run higher boost levels for longer, and in the case of the -9, run ADI. The -7 engine was rated for slightly lower max alt., but with more evenly distributed performance. It would seem that the -9 and 9A was trying to combine the low and medium/medium-high performance of the -7, the high alt performance of the -3, and build upon it in both instances.
Just for example, the P-51H, as mentioned, was capable of well over 400 mph at sea level, but depending on weight and load out, had over a 43K ft. service ceiling. The XP-82/P-82B also had over a 43,000 ft service ceiling depending on load out on both engines (and over 28,000 on one engine).
But were there other "go anywhere" fighters as far as altitude went that did well just about anywhere they'd be encountered? With the two stage Merlin Spitfires, I'd say that it depends on the variant (engine spec, clipped vs normal vs long span wings), as well as the Spitfire 14 as far as war-time variants (but a lot of them had clipped wings for low/medium alt. use).
There was also the Ta-152 that was capable of excellent performance at high altitudes, but was often used as a GP fighter at lower altitudes. Some accounts suggest that it was at least decent (as far as German fighters) at low and medium to medium-high alt.. Others suggested that the Fw-190D would've been better suited for such combat vs the Ta-152.
But what where the best fighters at high alt. that did well everywhere else, or "normal" alt. rated fighters that still held their own high up?
I put the mph conversions on the chart.
