4 ms·
Progress is limited by security clearance. The US has incredible aircraft but no incentive to 'share'.
by TrapLord_Rhodo 4y ago
Progress is limited by security clearance.
The US has incredible aircraft but no incentive to 'share'.
- wbl 4y agoThe USAF was third in the world for supersonic flight hours in the 1990's. First was British Airways second was Air France.
- lmm 4y agoAnd BA was limited because the US banned supersonic flights overland, something widely seen (at least in Europe) as sour grapes after Boeing's attempt at building a supersonic airliner failed.
- bobthepanda 4y agoThe military doesn’t optimize for fuel burn though, which limits practicality in the cutthroat commercial sector.
- 10000truths 4y agoCommercial supersonic flight has been done before with the Concorde and the Tu-144. While it might not be as big a money maker as standard commercial flights, I’m sure there are people willing to shell out big bucks to reduce their 15-hour flight to 3 hours.
- tedunangst 4y agoNobody is building passenger jets that go Mach 5.
- 10000truths 4y agoYeah, the numbers I wrote are rather exaggerated. But even just the Mach 2 that the Concorde could achieve would halve long-distance travel times.
- bobthepanda 4y agoBecause of the fuel burn, they also don’t go that far. Military supersonic planes regularly do aerial refueling to make up for it. At the kind of range that Concorde and the Tu-144 operated at, you can either spend three hours in a plush but narrow seat, or you can leave at night in a lie-flat business seat and wake up refreshed after a 6-8 hour sleep.
- pcurve 4y agoYep. With travel time to and from the airport the savings isn’t compelling