*** Posted by tiger ***
[1,319 mph (2,123km/h)

How did you come up with that number ?

Everything is relative. There are a lot of numbers floating around and there is a good reason for that. The speed of sound greatly depends on the atmospheric conditions when you measure it. Temperature being the most important:

Vsound in air = 331.4 + 0.6 Tc m/s

So at 20 degree Celsius you would get 343.6 m/s = 769.7 mph
So when the F16 is capable of Mach 2.05 that would be 1578 mph. This number is not really correct either because the F16 is not capable of flying Mach 2.05 at sealevel (It wouldn't stay in one piece <G>). So if we take a more realistic altitude of 36.000 feet (When you hit the Tropopause) the temperature is -56.5C and pretty much stays there until 60-70.000 feet:

-56.5C = 296.9 m/s = 665 mph
Speed of F16 = 2.05 x 665 mph = 1363 mph = 2194 km/h

The US Airforce is claiming 1500 mph, so they must have used a temperature of -7.94, which equals 11580 feet in a standard atmosphere.

All these numbers are of course max speeds - not sustained speeds.

Regards Run


]who are you?