Speed

[Bly]

Now i am probably showing how much of a noob i am with this question but since i have only been playing a little over a month and have not seen any questions in the forum about this i have to ask.  I pull up the stats that AH2 provides on each aircraft and check all the read outs includeing airspeed.  But when i fly the aircraft most of the time i never come close to the cruising speeds indicated for that altitude.  Now this could be due to fuel and ammo weight or maybe the wind but even when i have burned fuel and spent ammo i still dont hit these speeds during level flight only if i put it into a dive of course do i hit these speeds.  I know that indicated speed and ground speed are different but not normaly more than 5 to 15 miles per hour.  I'm not complaining cause i am still getting some kills and having a ball.  I was just wondering?  Sorry for the long post.  

[Masherbrum]

They are more than 15mph differential.  Try near 50mph and more depending on the altitude.

[Bly]

i have checked i have never had 50 mph diff but i don't get much over 10k either.  but even true air speed doesn't seem to come close on most aircraft.

[hammer]

Bly,

I have tested almost all the fighters at a minimum of 3 altitudes (1, 10, 20k) and have found all of them to be within 2 mph or so (at whichever version they were tested). One of the things to remember is it takes these planes a very long time to hit the max speed... sometimes 5 minutes or more.

If you really want to test them, here's a way...

Go to a few k above the altitude you want to test. Dive down to your test altitude so you are going faster than the published speed. Let your plane slow down (at full throttle) until its speed is steady (again, this may take a long time). Once it is steady, reduce throttle and let it drop a couple MPH, then apply full throttle and let it climb back up. When you can match the speeds, you have found the true top end.

Edit: Make sure you are using True Air Speed on the E6B

[Masherbrum]

Originally posted by Bly
i have checked i have never had 50 mph diff but i don't get much over 10k either.  but even true air speed doesn't seem to come close on most aircraft.

what hammer said

[Bly]

ok thx for the info most times when i fly long distance it is escort missions and i have drop tanks and full fuel so i know that can't help rest of the time i am in a fight within 5 min. that is probably why i never see the max speed thx a lot for all the help glad to know i 'm not getting jipped on my extra speed

[Krusty]

One thing, top speed is listed using WEP. Most planes if you're not on WEP you won't get anywhere near your top speed.

[Blooz]

Make sure your plane is in trim also.

Sliding through the air sideways adds drag too.

[Krusty]

Make sure you're looking at the thin red TAS indicator, not the white instrument IAS indicator, as well. Speeds on the charts are in TAS. Even under 10k your TAS/IAS difference will be larger than 15mph in many cases.