Re: Direct Launch Proposal

In article <1QU0h.14$xw1.4@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Frank Glover <greenie31@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
...but don't dismiss VTVL because it's not as
familiar as wings. (Indeed to some, they land in a much more satisfying,
classic spaceship manner, often described as '...the way God and Robert
Heinlein intended')

The late Max Hunter (50s-60s rocket engineer, and father of DC-X) once
observed, of modern rocket engines, roughly: "If the Wright Brothers had
had engines with this sort of thrust/weight ratio, there would not be a
runway anywhere on Earth -- the word would not even exist in the language."

(In such a world, aircraft would still use wings for cruising flight,
since that's more efficient than engine lift, but they would take off and
land vertically, for greater convenience, better control, and less
sensitivity to wind and weather.)
--
spsystems.net is temporarily off the air; | Henry Spencer
mail to henry at zoo.utoronto.ca instead. | henry@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
.

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