Was the Honduran Super Mystere with the J52 still supersonic?

[Volkodav]

I have known of this modification for some time, but have never been able to find out if it retained supersonic performance.

Interesting if it did because that would technically mean it could supercruise.

I wonder how many of the very slippery late 50s fighter designs with anaemic afterburning engines could have retained their supersonic performance with a more powerful non-afterburning engine of similar size and weight?

 

[Kiltonge]

I haven't seem definite perf specs for the Sa'ar but IAF pilot accounts put attack speed at 500-600kts. Unlikely to get transonic and certainly not supercruise-level speeds.

 

[NUSNA_Moebius]

I’ve wondered the same thing. I suspect that the lack of afterburning meant no level supersonic capability. Though on a related note I only learned recently of the Super Etendard’s mild supersonic ability.

 

[Archibald]

I’ve wondered the same thing. I suspect that the lack of afterburning meant no level supersonic capability. Though on a related note I only learned recently of the Super Etendard’s mild supersonic ability.

In a dive, I presume ? I think the airframe was validated up to Mach 1.3

Same velocity as the SMB-2 (which had a lot in common with the Etendard IV). The SMB-4 that got a six-tons-thrust Atar 9 in place of its Atar 101G also hit Mach 1.3, but in horizontal flight.
https://aviationsmilitaires.net/v3/kb/aircraft/show/6992/dassault-super-mystere-b4

I would say that even with a non-afterburning J52 the Saa'r (that was the israeli name of the J52 SMB-2) could go supersonic in a steep dive.

In horizontal flight however it would probably remain subsonic, since no more reheat to push it through transonic drag.

On the other hand... let's compare the Atar 101G with the J52-P8A

Dassault Super Mystère - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Pratt & Whitney J52 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Hmmm the P8A has a dry thrust of 4.1 tons, equal to an afterburning 101G. The IAF move sounds obvious : same thrust with no reheat = massive fuel savings.