AKA the F-104 Starfighter. Beautiful aircraft with astonishing acceleration and climbing capabilities for the day. Basically an engine with short wings attached to it. It was designed to be a short range interceptor. It's downside was it required a very long runway and high takeoff speed because of the wing design, which was a compromise aimed at extremely low drag over lift. The pilot would push it into full afterburner, take off and basically stand it on it's tail and ride it like a rocket to altitude. he couldn't stay up there as long as other fighters, but he could get there much quicker.
Dave
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"When the lie is so big and the fog so thick, the Republican trick can play out again....."-------Frank Zappa
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