Any way to break Mach 6 with jets?

[ExtremeSquared]

I know the rapier thrust curve drops to 0kN at exactly Mach 6. Just wondering if I'm missing some trick. Had one plane make it to mach 5.94 with an unconscious pilot.

[KerikBalm]

the only way I could see it would be using gravity... if you could get into a steep climb at nearly mach 6 at nearly 30km, then your craft may briefly exceed mach 6 on the way down (below 30km, ie below the altitude where your jets cut off during the climb) before the thicker air was enough to counteract gravity.

But I doubt that can work given the terrible TWR you'd be getting at those speeds and altitudes. It gets around the absolute mach 6 propulsion limit, but not other limits

Edited February 9, 2017 by KerikBalm

[ExtremeSquared]

Wouldn't that violate conservation of energy?

Edit... Nevermind, conservation of energy -- mgh -- applies to identical altitudes, but I suppose mach 5.9 @ 20km on the way up = 5.9 @20km on the way down, with acceleration continuing past 20km altitude.

Edited February 9, 2017 by ExtremeSquared

[ExtremeSquared]

It does seem plausible, but the margins on a gravity harvesting dive are extremely tight.
The 9.8m/s^2 is overcome by the extreme difference from terminal velocity at mach6. You're looking at getting 5-6 seconds of it at best before it is outpaced by drag, which is only an extra 0.1-0.2 mach.

Edited February 9, 2017 by ExtremeSquared

[Vanamonde]

This discussion of gameplay has been moved to the Gameplay subforum.