Anyone managed to exceed 1400m/s in level flight on jets (not rapiers) yet?

[allmhuran]

This morning I got up to 1300 and this evening I've hit 1380 but I can't quite break 1400m/s yet. I'm talking about level flight, jet engines only, no zoom climb/dive/reentry. Oh, and no exploiting storage bays

My tips: lots of engines and precoolers!

Your tips: ???

Edited April 28, 2015 by allmhuran

[Commissioner Tadpole]

How is your craft not blowing up from such speeds?

[allmhuran]

Put a Mk1 pod at the front, it has 2400K heat tolerance (the spaceplane parts are all 2000K, including the pods). Then a long fuslage, wings and engines way at the back and lots of precoolers.

[panzer1b]

i got a hair over 1500 at 20kmish. Its doable, but jets are now actually very fuel hungry at high speeds, very hard to make super light craft work!

[Radam]

Yay for the lifting body effect.

[allmhuran]

Panzer: images? Technique?

Radam... those intake at the back are providing you with air somehow? That's interesting. Intakes in the airstream overheat fast, but if you can get air without being in the airstream....

As I said, though, jet engines only. Rapiers haver 20% more thrust and peak at higher speed than jets.

Edited April 28, 2015 by allmhuran

[Leonon]

1690m/s horizontal speed in atmosphere using only air breathing Rapier (no oxidizer). Click to embiggen pictures.

Pic 2 and 3 were different flights.

[allmhuran]

Rapiers have 1180 (or so) thrust when air breathing and peak at a higher speed than jets, which have 950 (or so) thrust. So again, jets not rapiers.

[Leonon]

Same setup, Rapier replaced with Turbo Ramjet

Second picture was after speed started to fall, not sure what the true top air speed was.

[Enorats]

Except that's not any sort of ship. The precoolers are all but impossible to melt, so that's basically the theoretical maximum you're hitting there.

[Leonon]

Yep.

[Radam]

Yeah thats the limit.

[Leonon]

OK, so I looked at this thread over here and decided to stick a cubic octagonal strut in front of the Pre-Cooler to lessen the drag.

1610m/s with 1567m/s horizontal before structural failure

The explosion in the second picture is from the cubic octagonal strut giving out.

You can add more cubic octagonal struts in front of the first one and they'll work as ablative drag shielding. Unfortunitely, the Ramjet tends to overheat and explode right after the 3rd strut.

[allmhuran]

Ah now this is some good info! Exactly the kind of thing I was hoping people would find (certainly did not know about the cubic strut thing)