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An interesting article...
Mach 1 - Who was really the first
According to this article, Hans Guido Mutke claims to have reached Mach 1 during a dive in his Me-262. I started to wonder if any other WWII plane might have been capable of meeting this speed in a dive, particularly the Me-163. I've even read an on-line article (which I can't find at the moment) that the Bachem 349 might have inadvertently broke the sound barrier during it's first manned flight. Could any propellor aircraft reach Mach 1 in a dive?
Any comments or thoughts about this? Thanks ya'll! 8)
He didn't, none of them could with Mcrit way too low for all the types in WWII, all fooled by compressibility/calibration issues with airspeed indicators.
IIRC, The Me 262 in particular would start a pitch down at or near critical mach number and, if not corrected immediately would contine the tuck and fail pretty quickly. The horizontal stabilizer was 'blanked' by the ensuing flow separation as the airflow over the subsonic wing design approached transonic velocities (but not the a/c)
No propeller driven a/c was truly close to Mach 1 nor was any ship (jet or rocket or prop) a legitimate .9 Mcrit wing/body combo
Not even momentarily during a dive? I know well that no WWII aircraft was capable of supersonic level flight....and even if it did, I know it wasn't staying there for long. But it is not possible at all just to meet terminal Mach??
Hi Delcyros,
>There is scientific evidence, proposed by the technical university of Munich in an study which covers structural integrity of the Me-262 at different dive conditions.
Do you perhaps happen to have a link to that study?
Thanks in advance,
Henning (HoHun)
Unfortunately not my friend. The study isn´t avaibable online. You might use the KOBV-Fernleihe to see the 1999 paper in question. The below page is from appendix II and shows how narrow to frame for reaching Mach 1.0 is at a pure vertical dive.
Not quite correct Aussie.
The Spitfire was a PR XI.
The pilot Martindale landed the Spitfire (EN409) but the reduction gearbox was missing as was the prop. The main engine bearer had buckled.