You are reading a single comment by @gbj_tester and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
@gbj_tester
There is a difference between absolute pitch angle and angle of attack. You can fly vertically upwards with 0° AOA, so there is no constraint on the zoom climb potential imposed by the limiting AOA.
As I understand it, the Lightning was basically out of control at the top of those 87,000' zoom climbs, but that wasn't a problem in something as docile as a Lightning, whereas it might be fatal in an SR-71 as they don't seem to be recoverable the way proper fighter planes are.