Quote:
Originally Posted by RNajarian
It was the only aircraft at the time that could sustain supersonic flight without an afterburner.
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Kinda odd? never heard that before about the Thud.
I mean its a slick plane without bombs or pylons.. but it still only has 14,300 lbf (64 kN) dry thrust. And its a big heavy plane.
Supercruising planes are well known and documented..
the F104 did Mach 1.05 on dry thrust after getting the J79 engines that came out in 1955
The F104 was about as slick as it gets..Empty weight is almost half of the Thud...
I would think a Thud can do it in perhaps a shallow descent.. but level flight???