| Les, First supersonic flight varies, with at least one P-47 pilot claiming he went supersonic in a dogfight in 1945. Big problem was that the aircraft COULD go supersonic in a shallow dive but there was a loss of control with the early F-86 (the A used elevators, but the E added a flying tail; that was the result of the X-1 experiments and recommendation from Chuck Yeager). The MiG-15 would literally disintegrate if it went supersonic, and both the MiG-15 and MiG-15bis had a sensor to pop the airbrakes when it got too close to its limits. Remember "everything" in the early 1950s had to be faster and better, like the tail fins on a '59 Chevy! Cookie |