Subject:
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Re: Comparing Starfighter Speeds
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.starwars
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Date:
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Mon, 27 Jan 2003 17:05:20 GMT
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Viewed:
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850 times
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In lugnet.starwars, Lindsay Frederick Braun writes:
> In dogfighting, the ability to
> attain a high absolute speed is secondary to the
> ability to maneuver. For example, in WWII (always
> a popular referent!) Me-262 pilots, capable of
> travelling much faster than any of their opponents,
> were routinely shot down by piston-engined P-47s and
> P-51s because they were not as capable of maneuver.
> The German jets did best when they "lanced through"
> a formation of bombers and rapidly shot out of range.
In this example, there are a lot more factors than just speed vs.
manoeuvrability:
- Many of those 262s that were shot down were jumped during take-off or
landing, when their speed couldn't help them.
- That late in the war there were very few experienced German pilots.
- The Me-262s that saw action performed roles that did not allow them to
engage allied fighters, such as bombing and intercepting bombers.
Just because a fast craft is less manoeuvrable doesn't mean it is less
effective. It helps if you can lure a slower-turning opponent into a
turning fight. Slashing attacks were the norm for P-47s, as well as
American fighters in the Pacific. If it were all about manoeuvrability,
P-51s should still be in service because they can turn inside an F-16.
Jeff J
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Comparing Starfighter Speeds
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| (...) One of the neatest scenes in a movie was in 'The Final Countdown' (Kirk Douglas) When a modern day aircraft carrier (Nimitz if I recall) gets sucked back in tome to Dec 5, 1941. There, Douglas has to wrestle with the decision to engage the (...) (22 years ago, 27-Jan-03, to lugnet.starwars)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Comparing Starfighter Speeds
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| (...) (snip) (...) Now, now, that's High Cold War thinking, equating speed to power. In dogfighting, the ability to attain a high absolute speed is secondary to the ability to maneuver. For example, in WWII (always a popular referent!) Me-262 (...) (22 years ago, 25-Jan-03, to lugnet.starwars)
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