France and Japan Planning New Supersonic Jet

jonerik writes "According to this article from the Associated Press, Japan and France are cooperating on research to produce a supersonic passenger plane that would be able to carry 300 passengers (three times as many as the Concorde) and fly from New York City to Tokyo in a mere six hours. Current plans are for the plane to be able to cruise at mach 2.4 while reducing the noise and high fuel consumption associated with the Concorde during its years of service. Although Japan had previously done extensive research towards building a 250-person mach 1.6 passenger jet, the agreement with France - announced at the annual Paris Air Show on Tuesday - represents a interesting shift in technological alliances given the Japanese aviation industry's longstanding ties to the United States. 'To research closely in this area with the Europeans does represent something new,' said Yoshio Watanabe, an official with The Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies, which is heading the new initiative on the Japanese side."

Comments

It would shure be fun!

[Bananatree3]

could you imagine wing walking at that speed! That would be a BLAST! {Think of all the money people would pay to see that :)}

yes, I know it is a joke, but who doesn't like wing walking?

Don't forget the other factors

[FunWithHeadlines]

"fly from New York City to Tokyo in a mere six hours"

Little bag of peanuts: Extra
Want a pillow? Should have thought to bring one
Brought a pillow? Sorry, you have to check that.
Please remove all your clothes at the security check. Bend over.

First-class passengers, none of the above apply to you. Please walk the red carpet to your private cabin and enjoy some champagne from your gold-edged crystal. Foot-rub, sir?

Main cabin passengers, where do you think you're going, buster? Get in line! Wait yer turn! You think we want to carry scum like you? Food service? HA! Should have bought a sandwich before you got on board. We only serve food in coach on flights of 6 hours, 1 minute or longer, and this flight is 6 hours even. Sucker.

Correction

[Locke2005]

The plane will carry 300 Japanese passengers or 150 American passengers.

interesting

[sithsasquatch]

"Japan has successfully tested an engine that can theoretically reach speeds of up to mach 5.5, or more than five times the speed of sound, the ministry said."

How does one successfully test an engine theoretically? "Well, according to my calculations, it won't fail and send 300 passengers to a fiery death . . . oh shit, I forgot to carry the 1 . . . and that decimal is wrong . . . what's the coefficient of kinetic friction again?"

Beta airplanes!

[mpontes]

"Hello, this is your commander speaking. We'll be flying the Boeing 959 beta today with known bugs in the engine. If it crashes, the airline says we'll have to wait for the patch that will come out in October. I wish you all a pleasent trip!"

Is it just me or did it become trendy to call things beta?

Re:Correction

[fred fleenblat]

Well yeah, obviously. Americans are taller, have more muscle, and much larger penises and breasts than the Japanese.

Sometimes all in the same person!

Re:Measurements

[netsharc]

I'll assume you're American... so how's it going in Iraq?