AH Challenge: American SST
- Thread starter Workable Goblin
- Start date
This is a bit before 1960, but Proxmire doesn't become a Senator so he is not around to kill the project. Mind, because of fuel costs, it is still a boondoggle.
Well, SSTs are a little more fuel efficient than subsonic transports of the same size, at least prior to the introduction of high-bypass turbofans. The only reason they really fell apart OTL was because Boeing, McDonnell Douglas et al. introduced turbofan widebodies like the 747 and DC-10 before SSTs could get a foothold, which were cheaper and more profitable for the airlines. Perhaps if the SST project goes forward earlier than OTL, and no one gets the widebody idea until later, though the 2707 was itself a widebody.
Archibald
Banned
Well, it looks like Boeing and Lockheed well understood the market. Indeed the SST Mach 2.7 and 250 passengers are still valid numbers as of today.
I have seen analysis of the "SST problem" in some aviation magazine years ago.
The most lucrative air way in the world is North Atlantic - Europe to New York.
To have a profitable SST you need as many trips as possible per day.
The SST mach 2.7 allowed it to make Paris > NY > Paris two times per day, against Concorde single. Concorde needed three hours to cross the Atlantic, the SST only 2 hours.
Add to that 250 passengers instead of 140, and you're closer from economic viability.
The problem with the american SST was esentially the sonic boom, plus the limited range - no better than Concorde, 6500 km at best.
Both problems can only be solved through advanced engines, the one which do not need afterburner to go supersonic.
I have seen analysis of the "SST problem" in some aviation magazine years ago.
The most lucrative air way in the world is North Atlantic - Europe to New York.
To have a profitable SST you need as many trips as possible per day.
The SST mach 2.7 allowed it to make Paris > NY > Paris two times per day, against Concorde single. Concorde needed three hours to cross the Atlantic, the SST only 2 hours.
Add to that 250 passengers instead of 140, and you're closer from economic viability.
The problem with the american SST was esentially the sonic boom, plus the limited range - no better than Concorde, 6500 km at best.
Both problems can only be solved through advanced engines, the one which do not need afterburner to go supersonic.
According to wikipedia (all right, but I don't have much better to look at), the high speeds wouldn't have saved much time over Concorde due to the time needed to take off and accelerate to speed, and Concorde (for that matter, the Tu-144 as well) was capable of supercruise.
Riain
Banned
Once a plane goes much over Mach 2.2 aluminium alloy isn't good enough to cope with aerodynamic heating, so the the M2.7 SSTs unit cost would have been huge because of the fancy materials it was built from. This cuts into any advantages deriving from the extra pax, speed and range.
I have wondered about SST being used in Asia once the economies boomed there, is there any fertile ground for keeping SSTs going because of an Asian market?
I have wondered about SST being used in Asia once the economies boomed there, is there any fertile ground for keeping SSTs going because of an Asian market?