PWR4360-59B
Senior Airman
- 379
- May 27, 2008
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I belive it's the Wright R-3350 fitted into an F8F Bearcat named Rare Bear at 528mph.
The "Dilly Mustang" was clocked at just over 530 MPH by ATC Radar at, IIRC, about 5K' AGL. Not an official record, but a bunch faster than the Spit at 606 in a near vertical dive will go in horizontal flight? It was also not at max power, but cruising between points across the wind. Again IIRC.
Firstly, the 606mph was recorded in a 45° dive and was to investigate aerodynamic behaviour at high mach numbers.
It is no surprise that a highly modified WW2 era fighter, stripped of all its military equipment and having its engine tuned to around double the original's power and being smoothed and otherwise aerodynamically modified, would be faster in a straight line than a standard WW2 fighter (or in the case of the Spitfire XI, a PR aircraft).
I, however, doubt that the "Dilly Mustang" would be able to scoot along in a 390mph cruise at 30,000ft+ for several hours.
Since the Mustang, in full military form only needs about 1,200 HP to go 390 MPH, I have no doubt that the Dilly Mustang could scoot along at more than 440 MPH for as long as it had gas.
As to other planes put forward as the fastest this or that, the P-51H @ 487 MPH was easily the fastest plane to go into service in WW-II. They made 555 during the war, but could not get any into the action because the A-Bombs cut the war short, but they were there and ready.
Other contenders, none to speak of except the P-47J prototype! See below from Wiki;
The XP-47J began as a November 1942 request to Republic for a high-performance version of the Thunderbolt using a lighter airframe and an uprated engine with water injection and fan cooling. Kartveli designed a completely new aircraft fitted with a tight-cowled Pratt & Whitney R-2800-57 with a war emergency rating of 2,800 hp (2,090 kW), reduced armament of six 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns, a new and lighter wing,[18] and many other changes. The only XP-47J was first flown in late November 1943 by Republic test pilot Mike Ritchie. Less than a year later it flew into the aviation history books marking a new milestone for speed.[19][page needed]
When fitted with a GE CH-5 turbosupercharger, the XP-47J achieved a top speed of 505 mph (440 kn, 813 km/h) in level flight on August 4, 1944 at 34,500 feet over a course in Farmingdale, New York, piloted by Mike Ritchie.[18] Ritchie's achievement was not exceeded until August 21, 1989, when Lyle Shelton piloted Rare Bear, a highly modified Grumman F8F Bearcat, and set a new official FAI record at 523.586 mph.
Since the Mustang, in full military form only needs about 1,200 HP to go 390 MPH, I have no doubt that the Dilly Mustang could scoot along at more than 440 MPH for as long as it had gas.