Re: Aero eq.s

Ian Goddard (Ian@Goddard.net)
Sun, 21 Feb 1999 14:59:14 -0500

At 09:49 AM 2/21/99 -0800, Spike Jones wrote:

>> IAN: Michael, can you point me to a physics
>> book that explains how the atmosphere can
>> enable an object to fall faster than the
>> same object dropped in a vacuum? ... A
>> few simple thought experiments confirm...
>
>imagine a fighter jet flying upside down straight
>and level at high speed. pilot pulls back on the
>stick, jet accelerates downward at several g's.

IAN: But your jet still has thrust. FL800 in the CIA video shows each engine flame out just before it reaches the peak of it's rocket-like climb, so we're talking about a fall without thrust and almost no initial horizontal velocity.

It seems that it may be possible at extreme speeds in an example such as you observe to temporary exceed vacuum fall rate, but at the top of the CIA-depicted climb, FL800 was out of steam. Also, once the falling object reaches terminal velocity, it could not possibly keep pace with a vacuum fall.