USAF by Pixel reviewed at MiGMan's Flight Sim Museum

Click to go to the home page of MiGMan's Flight Sim Museum - www.migman.com

Flight Testing
Best climb speed

Ok, best climb speed in the Phantom. Usually I just put the nose 10 degrees up.

I hadn't done this sort of testing for a while... quite a while in fact. OK, print out the Best Climb Speed Test Card and the checklist.

Now the terrain around Las Vegas is somewhat above sea level, but in Iraq the airport is actually 192 feet below seas level, making it a good location for this test.

I started the test off at 0 feet ASL and 200 knots. I pushed the throttle forward to 100% RPM and eased back on the stick. Holding about 8 degrees pitch up kept the IAS at 200 knot.

Eight minutes later I struggled to 20,000 feet. Righto, two things I needed to change here... 10,000 feet would do and forget about holding MIL power! Afterburner was obviously the go as no self respecting combat jet jockey was going to wait 4 minutes to climb to altitude.... well it was too long for someone with my limited patience!

MODE	___	ALT	___	SPEED

NAV		AGL		GND
AIR		ASL		IAS
AG		AGL		TAS

Full Afterburner on the F-4 Phantom

See the graph and conclusions

A/c Type: F-4 Phantom___________ Simulation: USAF Pilot: MiGMan Date: 7th November 1999 Ordnance: Ext fuel tank x 1, AIM-7 x 4, AIM-9 x 4 Altitude: 0 feet ASL to 10,000 ft ASL		Remarks: Full Afterburner used and pitch adjusted to maintain Indicated Air Speed
SPEED TRUE / IND.	TIME TO ALT.	TIME AS DECIMAL	RATE OF CLIMB FEET PER MINUTE
500__	23 sec	0.38 min	26,315
450__	37 sec	0.61 min	16,193
400__	40 sec	0.66 min	15,151
350__	50 sec	0.83 min	12,048
300__	1m	1.00 min	10,000
250__	1m	1.00 min	10,000
200__	1m 20 sec	1.33 min	7,518

Email MiGMan with your experiences or any information related to this sim.