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New Supersonic Jet Test Less Than Successful
saberwolf writes "The BBC is reporting in this story that the first test of Japan's supersonic jet didn't go quite as planned when it crashed into the ground seconds after takeoff on its test rig. It looks like a successor to the world's only supersonic passenger jet, Concorde (built jointly by the British and French in the 1960s) is still some way off." Reuters has more pictures.
With this kind of press before it even accepts any passengers, I can't say as there will be too many people who won't be a little leary and just hop right on... maybe if it was free... then again.. free death.. i don't know...
not sure i want to trust a computer to fly a jet when they wont even test it in windy conditions... and what about bad weather? hm...
Used to work at Heathrow in London.
Concorde still draws crowds of admirers, and it still looks the most futuristic passenger plane in "common" commercial use, even 30+ years after it came into service.
What else is there this old that still looks as good......?
Not much bothers us Aussies, but we do like to know when people go around launching experimental supersonic jets.
It's a good question though - how many unexplained UFO sightings are actually an aerospace corps or military contractors hiding bad tests?
Talk about avoiding awkward subjects! The quite impressive Concorde website manages to not once mention the crash! Even the extensive sections on safety enhancements and the plane's history refer only vaguely to the "August 2000 suspension of service".
Flyer Beware!
The BBC article mentions that "Developers, who include Mitsubishi and Nissan, hope that the new supersonic plane will have noise levels similar to the Boeing 747. That would mean that it would be able to operate far more widely than Concorde, which is notoriously noisy." This was also mentioned in previous news stories about the planned aircraft.
Nothing I've seen, however, explains how they were planning to deal with the sonic boom.
Or are they just referring to the noise level when in subsonic operation? In which case, like the Concorde, it could only go supersonic over water... but then how could it "operate far more widely" than the Concorde?
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!