dmk0210 Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 Now that the SR-71 is retired, what is the fastest currently operational manned jet aircraft? Mig-31? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Charlie Cheetah Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 My guess something that flies out of the Groom Lake Nevada area. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pete Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 MiG-25, I would guess. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mhoupt Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 Probably the Mig-25... Of the known systems. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moose135 Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 Now that the SR-71 is retired... That's what they want you to think... ;) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The_Animal Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 WHAT???? The SR-71 is RETIRED????? <--- Sorry, always late to the party, I guess... :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fulcrum1 Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 Mig-25 or 31 followed by the F-15 I believe. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Chladek Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Well, until July of last year it was the Space Shuttle (since rocket propulsion is technically a form of jet propulsion). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 The A-10 is SO fast you just THINK its slow. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jennings Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 The A-10 is SO fast you just THINK its slow. That's what they want you to think :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moose135 Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Well, now that the Tweet is retired... (Someone had to go there!) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dmk0210 Posted July 24, 2012 Author Share Posted July 24, 2012 (edited) Do you guys think any manned aircraft will beat the SR-71? It's a shame to think a retired 1960s aircraft will be the pinnacle of high performance jet aircraft. Well, until July of last year it was the Space Shuttle (since rocket propulsion is technically a form of jet propulsion). The Space Shuttle (impressive as it was) was a spacecraft, not really an aircraft as it took off vertically as a rocket and after re-entry from high orbital speeds, landed as a glider. It wasn't even a good glider as it decelerated and descended very rapidly once entering the atmosphere. Edited July 24, 2012 by dmk0210 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Do you guys think any manned aircraft will beat the SR-71? It's a shame to think a retired 1960s aircraft will be the pinnacle of high performance jet aircraft. The Space Shuttle (impressive as it was) was a spacecraft, not really an aircraft as it took off vertically as a rocket and after re-entry from high orbital speeds, landed as a glider. It wasn't even a good glider as it decelerated and descended very rapidly once entering the atmosphere. To be fair, that was by design ... -Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fulcrum1 Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 The A-10 is SO fast you just THINK its slow. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. It's not an aircraft anyways, more like a gift from God wrapped in a titanium tub blessed with a gun that gives the enemy their maximum potential to die for their country. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DutyCat Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 F-22. No? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Chladek Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 The Space Shuttle (impressive as it was) was a spacecraft, not really an aircraft as it took off vertically as a rocket and after re-entry from high orbital speeds, landed as a glider. It wasn't even a good glider as it decelerated and descended very rapidly once entering the atmosphere. Actually it was a very good glider to be able to manage its energy for as long as it did. Sure, it couldn't land slow, but I don't see too many ASK-21s (or A-10s) that can handle going hypersonic speeds either. As for the rocket bit, that makes it a VTOHL aircraft. ;) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rapier01 Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 It's almost certainly the MiG-31 unless there are some MiG-25s left in service somewhere... in which case it's the MiG-25. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phasephantomphixer Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 WHAT???? The SR-71 is RETIRED????? <--- Sorry, always late to the party, I guess... :D Nailed it! That is some real A/C Humor! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mingwin Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 It's almost certainly the MiG-31 unless there are some MiG-25s left in service somewhere... in which case it's the MiG-25. i guess that the very few MiG-25 that are still operational are somewhat top-speed limited... due to tired airframe and lack of engines spare parts... MiG-31 is Probably the fastest current operational Jet aircraft. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wolfgun33 Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. It's not an aircraft anyways, more like a gift from God wrapped in a titanium tub blessed with a gun that gives the enemy their maximum potential to die for their country. Hell yes! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Chladek Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 i guess that the very few MiG-25 that are still operational are somewhat top-speed limited... due to tired airframe and lack of engines spare parts... The airframes are probably just fine on the Mig-25s due to how they were built. Engine parts indeed might be a problem. But as I understand it, the alcohol based coolant used by the Mig-25's airframe is one of the bigger problems as Russian ground crew members as I understand it had this annoying habit of draining some of it off to get drunk on (leaving less for use by the airplanes). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ya-gabor Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 (edited) The MiG-25 rece versions are still in service by my last informations with two units in Russia but the interceptor MiG-25PD is well and going fast with the Algerian AF. They have been overhauled so there should be no problem with the airframe and the R-15 engines. It should be the fastest airframe (but I have to add know to the public) around. As to its capabilities is another question. Best regards Gabor Edited July 24, 2012 by ya-gabor Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dmk0210 Posted July 26, 2012 Author Share Posted July 26, 2012 Kinda crazy that the Mig-25 is currently the fastest fighter on the planet. A lot has been said about US intelligence overestimating its capabilities in the early 70s, but it is an impressive brute of an aircraft even if it isn't a dogfighter. Was/is there any difference in performance between the Recce and Interceptor versions of the Foxbat? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K-5 Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 i guess that the very few MiG-25 that are still operational are somewhat top-speed limited... due to tired airframe and lack of engines spare parts... MiG-31 is Probably the fastest current operational Jet aircraft. All versions of MiG-25 are limited to Mach 2.85. Foxhound are set to do hard 3.0- trophy goes to Foxhound; that is of all publicly known manned aircraft. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ya-gabor Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 due to tired airframe and lack of engines spare parts... Spare parts problems? This is a myth created in the West. The Russian way of supplying spare parts was very interesting and in most cases "over enthusiastic". I have seen many shelf’s of spare parts in their dozens waiting to be installed in aircraft during maintenance, the only problem was that the year was 2006 and the factory new spare parts were for MiG-21F-13 and PF amongst others. Both types retired decades earlier. But it was the same for almost all aircraft types. The spare parts were there, on the other hand I can imagine that the warehouse system was such that in some AF bases they did not have information about them. Best regards Gabor Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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