Yet another aviation thread.

Quote: Pacomartin

What the Concorde did was to set aside a meeting room in JFK airport. You could fly from London leaving at 10:30 AM and return at 10:25 PM and be gone only 12 hours. You would have 4 hours at JFK from landing to takeoff, so you could reasonably have a 3 hour meeting.
London to NYC: 10:30 - 09:25
NYC to London: 13:30 - 22:25

That's pretty marginal, and it sounds exhausting for those involved.

It seems close to a trip I once did myself: 3.5 hours driving Mex City to Guanajuato, two hours buffer for breakfast and rest and coffee, 3-4 hours delivering samples and attending a meeting, then lunch, then 4 hours drive back (more traffic on the way in). I was about ready to drop dead when I finally got home.

Though I grant that driving tires you more than sitting on a plane.

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I don't believe they have ruled out that possibility yet.

That would be very interesting to see.

Quote: Nareed

That's pretty marginal, and it sounds exhausting for those involved.

Concorde meant a 12 hour day (Heathrow to Heathrow),
8 hours of which is spent travelling, 4 hours at JFK airport

On the normal BA schedule you would have a 22 hour day (Heathrow to Heathrow),
15 hours of which is spent travelling, 7 hours at JFK airport or vicinity.
BA0117 LHR JFK 08:20 11:20
BA1511 JFK LHR 18:25 06:20 next day

I don't think that there are reserved meeting rooms anymore at JFK since the Concorde flights ended, so you would have to leave security and meet at a nearby hotel. JFK does not have hotels attached to the airport.

If Boost can really result in flights for $5K it makes some sense.

Quote: Pacomartin

A 12 hour day (Heathrow to Heathrow), 8 hours of which is spent travelling, 4 hours at JFK airport

On the normal schedule you would have a 22 hour day (Heathrow to Heathrow), 15 hours of which is spent travelling, 7 hours at JFK airport

Fair enough, but you'd be able to sleep a reasonable portion of those 15 hours on a comfy lie-flat seat, very likely on the way back given the schedule you posted. Such seats did not exist when Concorde launched.

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I don't think that there are reserved meeting rooms anymore at JFK, so you would have to leave security and meet at a nearby hotel. JFK does not have hotels attached to the airport.

True, but that would be so for Boom as well ;)


But here's why an SST makes more sense on a longer flight. I read a review of the late, lamented, "longest flight in the world," Newark to Singapore on Singapore Air's all-business class A340. A stat by the reviewer caught my eye. He said he spent 10 hours sleeping (give or take) and 8 hours awake. This really drove home how effing long those ultra-long-haul flights are.

Consider it takes 3/4 of a day. You can sleep for over 1/3 of a day, and still have one full working day's worth of hours awake on the flight! Worse, cabin and flight crews have to work through that time.

Now, if you could reduce this to, say, 7 or 8 hours, even 9 or ten hours with a stop or two, it would improve conditions for everyone. With stops, you could even get in a fresh crew.

Quote: DRich

I am wondering what the demand for that is today. With teleconference, email, electronic signing, etc. is there much demand for transatlantic travel for a short business meeting? Ten or more years ago I could see the demand but in today's environment the time, hassle, cost doesn't seem to justify it for a one day trip.

I have never traveled international for a one day business trip. I did once fly home from Madrid on Christmas eve day and fly back to Madrid on Christmas day. The torture I put myself through to make sure the kids have a proper Christmas.

I book them all the time.
Just 1 night or 2 nights to just about anywhere on the planet
I book longer trips but a lot are real short.
My clients hate to travel.
As soon as whatever they do is over, they immediately want to come back home
I send my guys to places where I would take a couple personal days since I'm there.
A few do take advantage of that but just a small few, vast majority 99% want back home as soon as possible business permitting
Why they cant do the teleconference, email or electronic signing, I don't have the foggiest idea
I'm sure if it was at all possible, they would avoid travel because not only is it a huge hassle, its a major corporate expense.

Quote: Nareed

But here's why an SST makes more sense on a longer flight.

I was actually surprised when Boom made their announcements. Everything that I have been reading for the last two decades indicated that commercial supersonic travel would not be revived until you could make two round trip trips from Los Angeles to Tokyo in a 24 hour day.

Effectively that means you need a plane with an AVERAGE speed about the same as the Concorde's top speed ( 5451 miles / 1354 mph = 4 hours) but with a much longer range than Concorde's 4500 miles.

LHR LAX : 5,456 mi
LAX NRT : 5,451 mi
NRT LHR : 5,974 mi



The longer routes would obviously benefit, but they can barely make a subsonic plane that can economically fly this distance
EWR SIN : 9,534 mi


Airbus has patented a triple engine design that could fly London to NYC in one hour.

Two turbo jets would propel the plane into the air in a vertical take-off. A rocket motor would then accelerate it through the sound barrier, taking it to 35 km altitude (well into the Stratosphere). Finally wing-mounted ramjets would push the Concorde 2 to its final cruising speed of Mach 4.5.

Quote: terapined

A few do take advantage of that but just a small few, vast majority 99% want back home as soon as possible business permitting
Why they cant do the teleconference, email or electronic signing, I don't have the foggiest idea
I'm sure if it was at all possible, they would avoid travel because not only is it a huge hassle, its a major corporate expense.

Asimov predicted a wealthy society in his book published in 1957 where holographic projection had almost replaced all physical travel.

Quote: Pacomartin

Two turbo jets would propel the plane into the air in a vertical take-off. A rocket motor would then accelerate it through the sound barrier, taking it to 35 km altitude (well into the Stratosphere). Finally wing-mounted ramjets would push the Concorde 2 to its final cruising speed of Mach 4.5.

They'll call that thing Concorde ][ over the dead body of every aviation enthusiast in the world :)

Quote: Pacomartin

Asimov predicted a wealthy society in his book published in 1957 where holographic projection had almost replaced all physical travel.

Great novel! I've read it a number of times.

But, non-spoiler alert, holographic projections didn't just replace travel, it replaced all social contact as well (except that between wife and husband for some reason).

It's worth reading for the background it's set in, but also for the climactic scene. In fact, I dare anyone to read it to the end, then not check the climax again.

Quote: Pacomartin

I was actually surprised when Boom made their announcements. Everything that I have been reading for the last two decades indicated that commercial supersonic travel would not be revived until you could make two round trip trips from Los Angeles to Tokyo in a 24 hour day.

I think Boom is banking on being allowed to fly over land. That would give them a much better "in" to the very lucrative US transcontinental market.

East Coast to California (LAX/SFO) is about 5-6 hours. The majors have international first and business class available, even Jet Blue has lie-flat Mint suites and seats. That's a short trip worth cutting to 2-2.5 hours end to end.

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A rocket motor would then accelerate it through the sound barrier, taking it to 35 km altitude (well into the Stratosphere).

How much g is the rocket supposed to do? I liked taking on over 1 g at Mission: Space in EPCOT (I don't think it reached even 1.5 g), but I wonder how regular passengers will do if it goes as high as 2 g.

Quote: Nareed

How much g is the rocket supposed to do? I liked taking on over 1 g at Mission: Space in EPCOT (I don't think it reached even 1.5 g), but I wonder how regular passengers will do if it goes as high as 2 g.

Well an astronaut has a special suit and training to handle up to 3gs. Normally it takes 9g to make you black out.

The Tesla 90D — that is, dual motor — in what has been dubbed (appropriately) Ludicrous Mode, the Tesla Model S — a nearly 5,000 pound sedan that can seat seven — will do zero to 60 in 2.8 seconds. As in, it’s-now-faster-than-a-McLaren-F1 2.8 seconds. That’s insanity. But the g force is estimated at only 1.1g

If you look at those videos of people screaming their lungs out when the Tesla driver pushes the button, it makes me think that a plane that produces 1.5g will be unacceptable to most rich fat people and the lawyers who represent Airbus.