[Spaceships] TL10 Space RV

[DataPacRat]

Originally Posted by ericthered

By that particular equation, a boeing 747 can hit 1300 mph (about double the true number) and sixth generation fighter jets can hit 2500 mph (about 1000 mph high). The equation performs best for needle-like rocket shapes with 1G or more of acceleration. It also claims that 10 cm per second squared acceleration can get you to 250 mph in atmosphere, and that's even more obviously wrong.


I would not use that acceleration equation for anything under 1G. I do have an alternate equation, which is to remove the square root, and replace the 2,500 mph with 1,500 mph if its plane like rather than rocket like (and with that kind of thrust, it needs to be to take off). So I've got the top speed for the plane at 150 mph for sea level air pressure.

If we're going to get rid of SS's formula here, we might as well fall back to Vehicles'. The craft is SM+4, implying a volume of 301 to 1,000 cf, thus a surface area of 300 to 600 sf, which feeds into the drag formula. Given 2,000 lbs of thrust, then top aerial speed depends on the level of streamlining (for which I'll assume at least "good", since the frame is Spaceships "streamlined"): "good" streamlining, max aSpeed 275 to 385 mph; "very good" 355 to 500 mph; "superior" 500 to 705 mph; "excellent" 705 to 1000 mph; "radical" 1000 to 1415 mph.

I'm not really sure how best to estimate stall speed, since it depends mainly on wing area... and which is relevant here because, according to VXii, an aircraft's ceiling is 8,000 yards * ln (TopAirSpeed/StallSpeed). I'm also not sure how this ceiling figure meshes with Vehicles p164's ground-to-space equations.