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What's the highest altitude reached by a single engine prop-powered fighter armed for combat?
Per Wikipedia, Fokke-Wulf Ta 152 - 49,500 ft. Did the Japanese ever get close?
28000hp, wow.From 30k to 35k the P-47M/N were ferocious fighters. The engine of the P-47M/N was flat rated at 28000 hp up to 33k. At that altitude, the TA engine only generated 1300 hp, 1500 hp less than the P-47, the Spitfire XIV engine was rated at 1750 at 25k, much lower at 33k.
Above 35k, the TA was not reachable by contemporaries.
oops one to many 0s28000hp, wow.
In August 1942, a modified Supermarine Spitfire V shot one down over Egypt at an altitude of some 14,500 m (49,000 ft); when two more were lost, Ju 86Ps were withdrawn from service in 1943.
Junkers Ju 86 - Wikipedia
Are details being mixed up? this from wiki …. Towards the end of August 1942, the Luftwaffe began launching high-level bombing raids against England. A unit called the Höhenkampfkommando der Versuchsstelle für Höhenflüge, equipped with a small number of Junkers Ju 86R bombers, was able to bomb England from above 40,000 ft without impediment from RAF fighters, or from anti-aircraft guns. On one such attack on 28 August a single bomb dropped on Bristol killed 48 people and injured another 46.[71][72] To counter the threat, the "High Altitude Flight" was formed at RAF Northolt; this unit used a pair of Spitfire Mk Vcs which were converted into IXs by Rolls-Royce at the Hucknall plant. These were stripped of everything not required for the role of high-level interception, lightening them by 450 lb each. On 12 September 1942 Flying Officer Emanuel Galitzine, flying BS273[nb 4], successfully intercepted a Ju 86R piloted by Fw Horst Göetz and commanded by Leutnant Erich Sommer[nb 5] above Southampton at 41,000 ft. The ensuing battle went up to 43,000 ft and was the highest air battle of the war. However, problems were caused by the freezing air at that altitude and the combat was not decisive: the port cannon suffered a jam and, whenever the pilot fired a burst, the aircraft would slew and fall out of the sky.[74] The bomber escaped safely with just one hit to its port wing, but having found it to be vulnerable to the RAF at high altitudes, the Luftwaffe launched no further high-altitude attacks against England.[75][76]This never happened. It is verified as a false claim. The Spitfire V under no circumstances could get to anywhere near that altitude. A Ju 86P did ditch due to engine failure around that time but the crew, who were rescued, did not report any contact with the enemy. A Stripped down Spitfire IX apparently could get to altitudes that could threaten a Ju 86P but on that one occasion the Ju 86P was able to skid sideways to escape the Mk IX.
The spitfire pilot and ju 86 pilot became friends after the war,
It must have been amazing to be a TA pilot, at least for that moment when you're the highest fighter pilot in the world, viewing the curvature of the earth. But then you have to come back down..... me, I'd be at 48,500 feet and flying to some neutral place.Above 35k, the TA was not reachable by contemporaries.
You know your stuff Keith, I was getting bored waiting for someone to get around to mentioning it. However this pales in comparison with the DFS228, an ultra high-altitude rocket-powered reconnaissance glider with an absolute ceiling a tad over 82,000ft.The B+V BV155 was supposed to fly at 50-55,000 feet in anticipation of the B-29's.
Blohm & Voss BV 155 V2
From 30k to 35k the P-47M/N were ferocious fighters.
You know your stuff Keith, I was getting bored waiting for someone to get around to mentioning it. However this pales in comparison with the DFS228, an ultra high-altitude rocket-powered reconnaissance glider with an absolute ceiling a tad over 82,000ft.
Just strap someone to a V2 and break all records? I see no merit in a discussion of "stuff " wot didnt happen but could have.Estimated at 82,000 ft. No one actually knows. The aircraft never achieved powered. Only two unpowered prototypes were built before wars end.
I read that also a while back. I kinda puzled over why they would withdraw a type from service because a grand total of 2 were lost.In August 1942, a modified Supermarine Spitfire V shot one down over Egypt at an altitude of some 14,500 m (49,000 ft); when two more were lost, Ju 86Ps were withdrawn from service in 1943.
Junkers Ju 86 - Wikipedia
Once the enemy has shown they can intercept they become suicide missions and Germany didn't have many to start with.I read that also a while back. I kinda puzled over why they would withdraw a type from service because a grand total of 2 were lost.