Well, if we haven't got a supersonic airliner now and one isn't on the drawing board, how come it was supposedly developed in the 1960's. How come we can't do it now?
(That is one of the lame reason's people have for supporting the notion that the moon landings were not real, so by the same token Concorde was a hoax. It never flew at twice the speed of sound. It couldn't have done, because we can't build a supersonic airliner now)
2007-01-17 05:42:38 · 4 answers · asked by nick s 6 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Gosh, did you not read the whole thing?
2007-01-17 06:02:22 · update #1
HEY GUYS
IT IS TONGUE IN CHEEK
2007-01-17 06:58:59 · update #2
No, I don't think so.
2007-01-17 05:51:43 · answer #1 · answered by Lil' Gay Monster 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There was indeed a Concorde, and it flew at something like Mach 3. It was a symbol of utter luxury and wild expense, but it would get you to Europe in three hours, and they fed you good.
The problem with the SST, or supersonic transport as it was called in the 1960's, is that there was no way to make a profit and nobody wanted to live with the things. The Concorde was heavily subsidized by the French and British governments, who built it and wanted to show off what they could do, but nobody there was ever thrilled about having to pay to run it year after year.
The other problem is that supersonic aircraft create a shock wave, called a sonic boom, that is a big surprise if you've never experienced one. You're sitting there on a sunny day and all of a sudden the windows rattle--or break. Happened to me when they used to do military exercises near Cleveland. Anyway, nobody wanted to be on the path of the Concorde, so within the US it had to fly at less than the speed of sound.
During the 1960's Boeing wanted to build an SST, but they'd have needed Federal funding, and nobody was enthusiastic about that. There was a big fight, and finally Congress said no: there was a big news bulletin that day. And to this day, there's really been no regret over that decision, except at Boeing and the rest of the aerospace industry, because that decision ended their greatest period. But there has never been any great demand for supersonic passenger service anywhere in the world.
There is a movie about the Concorde, one of the Airport series, done in the 1970's. It'll tell you a lot about the airplane.
mkinsler.com
2007-01-17 06:03:52 · answer #2 · answered by 2n2222 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It was too expensive to build and too expensive to operate and held only about 100 people and dumped loads of pollution into the atmosphere. The economics just weren't there. Also because of the supersonic boom, it could only operate over the oceans. Why are so many paranoid people always inventing conspiracy theories about hoaxes ???
2007-01-17 06:35:34 · answer #3 · answered by Gene 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wasn't it the plane that flew in the background when they filmed the fake lunar landing in Arizona?
(Sorry. Now, I'm afraid my answer will be used by hoaxers)
2007-01-17 06:23:35 · answer #4 · answered by Raymond 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋