5 ms·
if it's only the transition _to_ a supersonic regime that generates a shockwave, then it wouldn't be out of character for carriers to get a variance allowing fo
by olefoo 8y ago
if it's only the transition _to_ a supersonic regime that generates a shockwave, then it wouldn't be out of character for carriers to get a variance allowing for "acceleration zones" which could be within 20 minutes flight time of most hub airports. If your plane leaves JFK and goes out over the Atlantic to go supersonic before heading to Seattle it would still be quicker...
- dbcurtis 8y agoIt's not. The shock wave is present as long as the plane is in super-sonic flight. I grew up in fly-over land, and military training flights based out of the Dakotas used to go overhead; we would get the occasional boom. (Also, once in a while doing my farm-kid chores driving a noisy piece of machinery across a hay field I would get buzzed by a jet sneaking up from behind me flying at a very low altitude. It was always startling because I never heard them coming over the noise of the tractor. I'm sure I made a pretty good surrogate for an enemy tank...)