> I remember reading that the turbine powered RC jets are the
> fastest, but because of the danger, no one will sanction
> an actual speed contest with the turbines. "Demonstration"
> runs have been made at around 280mph, but these were made (snip)
I was told that the problem with turbine engines is that their thrust increases with airspeed. Propellor and ducted fans are the opposite - as you get faster the engine gets less efficient so they're inherently self limiting.
I can understand why the AMA is a bit nervous about turbines. Our radios have a nominal range of a half mile or so and we all know just how difficult it is to orient even a big sailplane at that kind of distance. A jet flying at that 'demonstration' speed is going to go out of visual and radio range in about 10 seconds.
Its probably pointless to figure out exactly how fast a model could go. By redefining the word 'model' and increasing the budget a bit (OK, rather a lot) we could probably make missiles that go well above the speed of sound. All this would do is replicate the ME163 and X1..X15 programs half a century or so after they were first done. I can see the attraction in this but to me its just not the same as seeing how fast you can make a sloper go - you could say that soaring is an artform.
