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This test plane has a range of 1k nautical miles but a cruising speed of Mach 2.2, which works out to like 40 minutes of flight time at max speed? That seems li
by tqi 7y ago
This test plane has a range of 1k nautical miles but a cruising speed of Mach 2.2, which works out to like 40 minutes of flight time at max speed? That seems like a really tight window for takeoff + test + land + any kind of safety buffer. I'd be curious to know how they handle those logistics.
- phire 7y agoAircraft range is defined with various safety reserved and takeoff/landing taken into account. It should be able to fly much further if they planned to run out of fuel and ditch.
- elil17 7y agoThey have a safety reserve of fuel. They fly it in the desert so they can glide to a landing anywhere. And plenty of your time will be below max speed (since air resistance is non-linear, your fuel consumption is much lower during these times).