Comment Re:Supersonic intakes (Score 1) 23
Probably the biggest downfall of the concorde was not noise, but very limited range. That pretty much limited it to the pond jump, though I was always surprised that neither BA nor AF did the LA to Hawaii route. Though to be honest, it would be a bit on the far end of the range due to massive fuel usage once sub-sonic(not sure that I would trust it esp during storms). And Hawaii to anywhere is Asia was out.
Had they built it bigger with tankage that would allow at least getting LA/Hawaii safely, then with a newer larger aircraft, Hawaii/Japan-Australia, I think that they would have been used all over the world for flying over all of the oceans.
Boom is targeting purely higher-end customers with seating similar to today's business class. If Boom and the airlines do NOT screw this up, this will become the standard aircraft for business class for jumping the pond as well as LA-Hawaii. Oddly, with the current design, Hawaii to Asia is out. Too short of a range.
Of course, Starship may actually create a situation in which a new first class for replacing the 3-5 hr supersonic routes (i.e. 10+ hrs via subsonics) with less than 60 minutes. So, a simple set of civilian bases would be UK, NYC, LA, Hawaii, Australia/Japan, perhaps India.
Had they built it bigger with tankage that would allow at least getting LA/Hawaii safely, then with a newer larger aircraft, Hawaii/Japan-Australia, I think that they would have been used all over the world for flying over all of the oceans.
Boom is targeting purely higher-end customers with seating similar to today's business class. If Boom and the airlines do NOT screw this up, this will become the standard aircraft for business class for jumping the pond as well as LA-Hawaii. Oddly, with the current design, Hawaii to Asia is out. Too short of a range.
Of course, Starship may actually create a situation in which a new first class for replacing the 3-5 hr supersonic routes (i.e. 10+ hrs via subsonics) with less than 60 minutes. So, a simple set of civilian bases would be UK, NYC, LA, Hawaii, Australia/Japan, perhaps India.