4 ms·

What if you leave the atmosphere?

• adgjlsfhk1 2y ago
  That's a thing called a rocket. Those have different constraints (e.g. energy proportional to mgh to get out of the atmosphere, dramatically less efficient engines since you now need to carry your oxidizer, etc. It seems vaguely plausible that for very long distances (e.g. New York to China), a rocket could be more efficient than an airplane, but it does seem pretty unlikely that a rocket can be as efficient as a normal airplane.
  • krisoft 2y ago
    Plus the added benefit of looking exactly like a ballistic missile attack on radar. :D Hope nobody with a twitchy trigger finger ever mistakes your flight for one! And also hope that no enemy will try to disguise their incapacitating strike as a scheduled flight.
  • fragmede 2y ago
    A ballistic missile flight to go from New York to Sydney would take 40 minutes. The Concorde, travelling at Mach 2, if it had the range to do that flight, would take 7.5 hours, or 16 hours on a regular jet, if you can get a direct flight (except there currently aren't any).