5 ms·

The distance from London to Sydney is 17.000km. The current flight airspeed record is 3.500km/h. I would doubt that anything close to 8.500km/h is physically po

by chki 5y ago

The distance from London to Sydney is 17.000km. The current flight airspeed record is 3.500km/h. I would doubt that anything close to 8.500km/h is physically possible without using rockets. That's the speed of the fastest missile.

mrhyyyyde 5y ago
The X-15 has recorded 7,274 km/h airspeeds. I'm no airspeed record expert but did some reading.
- dogorman 5y ago
  The X-15 was a rocket.
  - mrhyyyyde 5y ago
    Just because it has a rocket engine, that doesn't mean it's a "rocket", it's a rocket-propelled aircraft.
mcguire 5y ago
Exactly. That would be the point.
- chki 5y ago
  But I would claim that nobody has ever said "flight times from London to Sydney will go down to 2-3 hours in 10 years". Si the above example does not really make sense.
  - gadders 5y ago
    Oh look: https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/flights-uk-australia-four-hours-hypersonic-jet-reaction-engines-a9119521.html https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/flights... "FLIGHTS FROM UK-AUSTRALIA COULD TAKE JUST FOUR HOURS BY 2030"
gadders 5y ago
I mis-spoke. 4.5 hours: "U.K.-based Reaction Engines is developing technology for Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engines (SABRE), which could one day allow aircraft to fly up to five times faster than the speed of sound — that’s Mach 5 or 3,836 miles per hour. At that speed, hypersonic flights between London and Australia could be over in just four-and-a-half hours." https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/08/hypersonic-flight-technology-passes-a-hugely-significant-milestone.html https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/08/hypersonic-flight-technology...