Aircraft sets world speed record

The Age ^ | 03/28/2004 | The Age

[billorites]

More likely she observed, "It's no biggie, hon."

Sigh...

[Phsstpok]

Would that cross the continental United States in what, about 45 minutes?

Most projections I've seen assume 30 minutes to get to altitude from runway with relatively conventional jet engines, then 45 minutes to cross the country on the SCRAMJET at just inside the atmosphere (so that you can limit or eliminate the sonic boom) and then another 30 minutes to come back down and land. Still not bad.

The Marines want this one bad. Talk about your expeditionary force!

Add capabilities for outside the atmosphere (such as carrying your own oxygen source) and this is also Ronald Reagan's "recallable ICBM" that he got lambasted for in the 80s. He really did know what he was talking about at the time, he just wasn't supposed to mention it, so they started putting out the stories of him being a "little forgetful." Worked quite well.

A nuclear delivery platform that can be over any spot on the globe in 90 minutes from the runway, but it is optional up until the point you drop the bomb on target. Not a bad capability, nuclear or not.

[Robert_Paulson2]

gee, we may have to use lazer cannons and rail gun projectiles or plasma discharge weapons.

[Spotsy]

They will overrun their own projectile discharges and missile launches from these platforms are exceedingly delicate because of the airflow behavior at separation.

How will M7 affect my coffee and cream on trans-Atlantic flights?

[rock58seg]

How much is that in real distance? LOL

[rock58seg]

You're confusing Knots, kilometers and miles.

[Spotsy]

Which is why the DoD has been paying so much attention to laser and particle-beam weapons

Or as Richard Clarke would say, that silly, useless, Cold War stuff.

When this stuff proves indispensable, guys like Clarke will come out of the woodwork and say, "I never doubted, I knew, I told them so."

[Ichneumon]

Plunged into the Pacific Ocean? Please tell me it was unmanned!

The autopilot gave its life for science.

[TopQuark]

I prefer feet, because you get more

Use millimeters, if you like.

Count your salary in cents rather than dollars --- that way you get more and do not need a raise. Better yet, convert this to Italian currency --- that way, you get even more. You can probably retire as soon as you finish reading this.

[Amerigomag]

How will M7 affect my coffee and cream on trans-Atlantic flights?

Ever tried pouring cream into an open cup of coffee during 2G acceleration?

It can be done but you'll have to be quick when calcing the resultant relative gravity vector.

I usually guess low and end up with cream all over my tie. I guess it's the fear of exiting the cockpit with a wet crotch.

[Army Air Corps]

Yep, Project Pluto redux.

[Ichneumon]

This is really impressive. 7 x the speed of sound!

But I suppose that has its downside as well:

"You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3."
— Paul F. Crickmore, 'Lockheed SR-71: The Secret Missions Exposed,' 1993

[unspun]

I wonder if it had that new pulse-driven engine (one of them was exhibited in AirVenture/Oshkosh, last year).

[Junior]

kph stands for kilometers per hour. Knots is designated "knots."

[Army Air Corps]

All right, lads; I believe Lockbox has the point by now. No need to thrash a deceased equine.

[Hank Rearden]

I prefer feet, because you get more. Meters are okay I guess, but metres are just too far out, if you know what I mean.

Meters are for EUnichs. Let's stick with real measurements - feet or miles.

Personally, I use furlongs/fortnight for speed; it just sounds cooler.

[Hank Rearden]

Please tell me it was unmanned!

Well, it is now.

[Junior]

When one reads the posts in order (and responds at the time of reading), it only becomes apparent the pony has passed after the fact.

[Spotsy]

No wonder why I'm afraid to fly - you never know when the pilot is going to spill his coffee and lose control of the airplane.

How long before these advances impact commercial air travel?

[Army Air Corps]

Well, that kind of benefit will move at the speed of FAA bureaucracy...