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You sound like someone who doesn't live that far away from your destination. I live in Australia. Bring the boom boom flights! If I can get to London or New Yor

You sound like someone who doesn't live that far away from your destination. I live in Australia. Bring the boom boom flights! If I can get to London or New York in less than 20 hours, I will be very happy.

ghaff 6y ago
Flying trans-Pacific or the equivalent without refueling requires a whole different class of aircraft and seems very unlikely.
- mastazi 6y ago
  But parent didn't say they wanted that without any refueling. A London - Sydney or London - Melbourne flight would have several eligible refueling locations in Asia and Middle East. Australia - West Coast of the US would be more challenging I guess, but probably not impossible, perhaps some of the diversion airports in the Pacific would be able to support refueling operations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diversion_airport https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diversion_airport
  - ghaff 6y ago
    Once you start having refueling stops, you're losing a lot of the benefits to supersonic flight. Many of the inefficiencies are in the subsonic range and now you're going to be in queues for takeoff.
    - mastazi 6y ago
      Yes I see what you mean. I would be curious to see some estimates though(I'm not competent enough to try that) - how much time, if any, would you save, compared to an average flight, even taking the necessary refueling stops?
    - bobthepanda 6y ago
      The airports where one might refuel don't necessarily have to be big congested megahubs. Boom's a small plane, I wonder what the runway requirements are?
      - maccam94 6y ago
        The Boom plans to land at 185 knots/213MPH, comparable to a 737-800. They probably need a fraction of the distance to stop though, since the plane has about 1/3 of the seating capacity.
        TylerE 6y ago
        Wouldn't be so sure. Stopping depends mainly on how good the thrust reversers are. Wheel brakes will only take you so far (and being lighter doesn't meaningfully help you.. lighter weight means less traction.
        thombat 6y ago
        Airliners are required to be able to land with reverse-thrust inoperative: reversers are useful for shorter taxi times and reducing brake wear but they aren't essential.
- bobthepanda 6y ago
  Rome wasn't built in a day. We didn't get to testing 17,000 km flights overnight.

ghaff 6y ago

Flying trans-Pacific or the equivalent without refueling requires a whole different class of aircraft and seems very unlikely.

mastazi 6y ago
But parent didn't say they wanted that without any refueling. A London - Sydney or London - Melbourne flight would have several eligible refueling locations in Asia and Middle East. Australia - West Coast of the US would be more challenging I guess, but probably not impossible, perhaps some of the diversion airports in the Pacific would be able to support refueling operations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diversion_airport https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diversion_airport
- ghaff 6y ago
  Once you start having refueling stops, you're losing a lot of the benefits to supersonic flight. Many of the inefficiencies are in the subsonic range and now you're going to be in queues for takeoff.
  - mastazi 6y ago
    Yes I see what you mean. I would be curious to see some estimates though(I'm not competent enough to try that) - how much time, if any, would you save, compared to an average flight, even taking the necessary refueling stops?
  - bobthepanda 6y ago
    The airports where one might refuel don't necessarily have to be big congested megahubs. Boom's a small plane, I wonder what the runway requirements are?
    - maccam94 6y ago
      The Boom plans to land at 185 knots/213MPH, comparable to a 737-800. They probably need a fraction of the distance to stop though, since the plane has about 1/3 of the seating capacity.
      - TylerE 6y ago
        Wouldn't be so sure. Stopping depends mainly on how good the thrust reversers are. Wheel brakes will only take you so far (and being lighter doesn't meaningfully help you.. lighter weight means less traction.
        thombat 6y ago
        Airliners are required to be able to land with reverse-thrust inoperative: reversers are useful for shorter taxi times and reducing brake wear but they aren't essential.
bobthepanda 6y ago
Rome wasn't built in a day. We didn't get to testing 17,000 km flights overnight.