On Fri, 26 Sep 2003 17:13:01 GMT, Chad Irby wrote:

In article . net,
"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote:

"Chad Irby" wrote in message
. ..

Putting a plane into a 40 degree dive doesn't count, or the P-38 would
have made this "record" in 1941.

Supersonic flight in a dive would have counted, but no P-38 ever exceeded
the speed of sound in any attitude.

Some reports suggest it did. It had the streamlining and terminal
velocity characteristics to manage it, if the pilot could deal with the
compressibility problems. But the claims are, to say the least, iffy.

Impossible. Since the prop goes supersonic long before the aircraft,
the pressure rise won't allow it. At high sub-sonic speeds propellers
make remarkable air brakes.

If any WWII fighter was least likely to get near Mach 1, it was the P-38
with its 0.68 critical Mach.

My regards,

Widewing (C.C. Jordan)
http://www.worldwar2aviation.com
http://www.netaces.org
http://www.hitechcreations.com