Posted on 02/17/2007 8:21:23 PM PST by SunkenCiv
If you're ever lucky enough to fly a Quiet Supersonic Transport between New York and Los Angeles, you'll have just enough time to get through a movie -- a short one. Instead of the usual six hours, it will be a 1,100mph, two-hour hop. The QSST, as the proposed luxury private jet is known, could be the first civilian supersonic plane approved for overland routes, thanks to aerodynamics designed to muzzle its sonic boom. Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works has been developing the project for six years under a $25-million contract from Supersonic Aerospace International (SAI), founded by Michael Paulson, son of Gulfstream founder Allen Paulson. The 12-passenger QSST would fly at between 47,000 and 57,000 feet with a range of 4,600 miles (Chicago to Rome, for example), and it doesn't need an extended runway. Configured with 12 club chairs, a spacious bathroom and a sweet A/V system, the QSST is aimed at diplomats or executives with plenty of money -- but little time -- to spare.
(Excerpt) Read more at popsci.com ...
Air Force, what do you think? Maybe a smaller version?
VTOL model. . .
No. It'll be to small. And to quiet.
Now if you could make the 747 or A380 supersonic, that she'd want.
Don't worry about the cost, fuel economy, emissions, or noise. Nancy's not.
Thanks.
Damn. That's just $1.5 million over my budget. Guess the slopes in Gstaad will have to wait a few hours longer.
Actually the fuselage, vertical stabilizer and nose are similar to the SST. It's interesting too that the nosewheel is located so far back, again similar to the SST. I have no idea how far along this design concept is, but the SST had a very sophisticated fuel management regime to shift the CG fore and aft depending on the phase of flight it was in. I kind of wonder if this one has to jump through the same hoops, or if they've broken new ground in supersonic flight.
Wanna go halvcies on one?
I said before that NASA has a launch facility in the VA portion of Delmarva. Give her that hypersonic vehicle, and launch her from the Chesapeake Bay to SF Bay.
I'm surprised the unit cost is as high as 80 million. You can get an F-22 for 120 million....
By the time this is available, they'll have robotic hairdressers the size of a present-day hair drier.
And it'll include a robotic face-stretcher, too.
< };^)
By the way, by limiting the top speed to around Mach 1.6, it drastically lessens the need for expensive heat-resistant structural materials, since the structural heating of plane flying at Mach 1.6 is much lower than the Concorde's Mach 2.1 cruising speed.
"Concord Man" is just a nickname I guess, like the earlier characters, "Titanic Man" and "Hindenberg Man".
Concord Man Recalls Luxury Airplane Flights Of Long Ago
County Press | By Eileen Shomo and Sue Fritz
Posted on 02/17/2007 10:08:56 AM EST by Tribune7
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1786511/posts
The artists conception slideshow is interesting. I noticed the pilot appeared to be wearing a 'do rag'. Which may be appropriate, since some rap stars will probably buy one.
" $80 million per aircraft"
Can I pay you LATER??
As I suggested in my private FReemail to you, not too much later ...
BTTT
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