Ace Combat 2 & Assault Horizon Legacy Part #9 - Mission 8A – Operation Rising High, May 22nd, 1998

Part 9: Mission 8A – Operation Rising High, May 22nd, 1998

High Altitude Chase

Mission 8A: Operation Rising High – May 22nd, 1998
Mission 8: Operation Rising High (Legacy Version)

Overview: Scarface Squadron runs down a Rebel flight of high-altitude bombers and reconnaissance planes retreating across the Amber Mountains in Erusian territory.

Guest Commentators: For this, rather short mission, really, I am joined by Kadorhal in the Ace Combat 2 version, and by Jobbo_Fett in the Assault Horizon Legacy version.

Kadorhal recently wrapped up an LP of Postal 2: Paradise Lost, while Jobbo is currently working on an LP of The Saboteur with Chaos Argate and Robin Atkin Downes’ Irish accent.

STALL

Because the potential for stalling out is made into a key gameplay feature for this mission, we should take a moment to discuss what a stall actually is, roughly.

A “stall” is term in fluid dynamics for what happens to an aircraft when it loses lift due to lack of speed, ascending higher than the aircraft’s tolerance limits, or when the plane’s wing's angle of attack and exceeds its critical angle of attack creating more drag than lift.

While each playable plane across the Ace Combat franchise has its own individual stall speed, the maximum operating altitude for most planes is just under 10,000 ft. The principle strategy for this mission is to get up to a high enough altitude to strike each of the mission targets and never lay off the throttle to avoid stalling out.

Aircraft featured in Mission 8A: Rising High

SR-71 Blackbird
Manufacturer: Lockheed Skunkworks
Role: Reconnaisance
Manufactured: 1964–????
Status: Retired (1999)
Primary Operators: United States, NASA
Quick Facts:

Appears across the Ace Combat franchise, but never as a playable plane.
Designed for high altitude aerial reconnaissance.
Has a reduced radar cross-section, but is not considered a true stealth plane.
Holds the record for the fastest air-breathing aircraft, achieving a top speed of 3,529.6 km/h.
12 of 32 manufactured SR-71s were lost to in-flight accidents. None have ever been shot down.
The SR-71 was a modified version of the A-12 Archangel recon fighter.
An interceptor version, the YF-12, was originally designed, but cancelled and reworked into the SR-71.
Replaced by the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper UAV drone for high-altitude surveillance purposes.

U-2 Dragon Lady
Manufacturer: Lockheed
Role: Reconnaisance
Manufactured: 1955–1989
Status: In service
Primary Operators: United States, China, NASA, CIA
Quick Facts:

Also appears across the Ace Combat franchise, but never as a playable plane.
Designed for high altitude aerial reconnaissance.
Also used to electronic sensor research, satellite calibration, and miscellaneous communications purposes.
Has a rough operational ceiling of 70,000 ft.
Flown over the Soviet Union, China, and Cuba during the Cold War.
The U-2S, a modernized version of the U-2, has flown missions over Iraq and Afghanistan during the conflicts in both nations.
Replaced by the SR-71 Blackbird for general reconnaissance purposes.
Several U-2s were shot down during the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis. One such incident was dramatized in the 2015 film Bridge of Spies.
Contrary to popular belief, the band U2 was not named after the plane.

XB-70 Valkyrie
Manufacturer: North American Aviation
Role: Supersonic bomber
Manufactured: 1964
Status: Retired (1969)
Primary Operators: United States, NASA
Quick Facts:

A cancelled prototype of what would have been the B-70 bomber.
Appears in several Ace Combats as a rare one-off enemy.
Its six engines could propel it to speeds in excess of Mach 3 (1225 km/h), making it faster than most of its contemporary interceptor fighters.
Also has a rough operational ceiling of 70,000 ft.
While it was considered immune to enemy interceptor craft and radar, it was vulnerable to supersonic surface-to-air missiles.
Was intended to carry nuclear weapons.
Proved to be more expensive than, have a shorter operational range to, and be less effective than the B-52, which it was intended to replace.
Ultimately cancelled in the wake of the advent of ICBM technology.
Was relinquished to NASA to serve as a testbed aircraft once the USAF spiked it.
Of the 2 XB-70 prototypes constructed, one was destroyed in a mid-air collision with a jumpjet in 1969, while the second one is housed at the National Museum of the United States Air Force near Dayton, Ohio.