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From: fiddler@Eng.Sun.COM (Steve Hix)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Where was the B-1 ?????
Message-ID: <1991Mar14.035349.26827@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 14 Mar 91 03:53:49 GMT
References: <1991Mar7.012839.29519@cbnews.att.com> <1991Mar8.022040.7569@cbnews.att.com> <1991Mar13.001146.4618@cbnews.att.com>
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From: fiddler@Eng.Sun.COM (Steve Hix)

>From: newave!john@uunet.UU.NET (John A. Weeks III)
>
>P-38 - First prototype lost while trying to set a speed record.  The
>Lightning also suffered from a problem called "compressability", which
>never was fixed.  The P-38 was required for the war and could not sit out
>waiting for a relatively minor problem to be sorted out.

Compressibility was encountered by several fighters of the period, including
the P-47.  Once it was identified, ways to avoid it were developed, and with
the P-38J modifications to the aircraft lessened the problem.

>F-102 - top speed was much less than expected.  Research into the problem
>resulted in the "area rule".  Modifications to the existing planes were not
>possible.  Modifications to the design resulted in the F-106, which were
>very sucessful (the last F-106's in service were just retired in favor
>of F-16's--just months short of a 30 year service life).

The F-102A incorporated Whitcomb's area rule...and the plane was then able
to exceed Mach 1 (and then some) in level flight.  Several succeeding versions
of the F-102 went on see service, all of them using the area rule.

The F-106 was a later design that served in parallel (for a while,
anyway) with various versions of the F-102 series.  It's almost
unfortunate that the two aircraft were so similar, both tend to
confused with the other in various publications now.  (And they're not
*that* similar visually!)

--
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  The only drawback with morning is that it comes 
    at such an inconvenient time of day.
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