2 ms·
Beyond the considerations in this article, I've always found it fascinating that none of the big jets flying today is as fast in routine operation as the first
by idlewords 8y ago
Beyond the considerations in this article, I've always found it fascinating that none of the big jets flying today is as fast in routine operation as the first American airliner, the 707. The difference is small, and the reason is partly to do with fuel economy, but it's a very good example of how technology doesn't always go forward in the expected direction.
A similar analogy in computerland is how many of us are doing most of our computing on devices much less powerful than the ones we had ten years ago, a function of switching to mobile devices and high-overhead virtualized computing.
- LoSboccacc 8y agoalso capacity. larger plane need larger wing that enter into transonic regime earlier than smaller wing. http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/aerodynamics/area-rule/transonic-drag.jpg http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/aerodynamics/area-rule/... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag-divergence_Mach_number https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag-divergence_Mach_number you want to be below or above transonic, and above transonic is banned pretty much anywhere.