Sorry DEAR98 for this unintentional thread hijack. But I just wanted to add that it won't get much closer to primary source material in this matter than US Navy's own data from the performance testing they have done...which Furball kindly posted above.

Not that it was any real news to begin with.
At 5,000 feet at maximum thrust, the F/A-18C accelerates from 0.8 Mach to 1.08 Mach in 21 secondsSo AquaShrimp, would you like to pay via paypal or...?
