Most fighter planes can do "supersonic dash". One way to do this is where the plane slowly gains altitude and then does a zoom dive to trade altitude for velocity. Another approach is to go on full afterburner at an appropriate constant altitude. In either case, the vehicle is at high Mach number for a short time. If you talk with a fighter pilot about his business, one point that is often made is high speed normally doesn't buy him anything in a dog fight. Modern fighter planes do most of their combat with long range weapons. An F-16 is a throw back to a more romantic age where the pilot could actually see his enemy. For air-to-air combat using miniguns and sidewinders, the plane with the smallest turning radius and highest thrust-to-weight ratio usually wins. We're real close to the point where fighter pilots are as obsolete as knights in armor and the best fighter planes are robots.
Gary
Space/Science » in reply to re: Thermal protection is a problem
Supersonic dash
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