Re: Skylon SSTO

Pat Flannery <flanner@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

:
:I think the turn-around time on this is going to be more like a SR-71
:than a airliner; you are talking about something that's going to get get
:at least red hot during flight. You are going to want to give it a real
:good going over between flights, because it's going to be in a flight
:environment where even a slight failure or flaw can be fatal.

Isn't that pretty much true of any aircraft? An airframe failure will
kill you. It doesn't matter how fast or slow you're going. It's that
fall with bits coming off that gets you...

--
"Insisting on perfect safety is for people who don't have the balls to
live in the real world." -- Mary Shafer, NASA Dryden
.

Relevant Pages

  • TEST PILOTS ACCOUNT OF INFLITE BREAK UP (SR 71) (LONG)
    ... By far, the most memorable flight occurred on Jan. 25, 1966. ... I were evaluating those systems on an SR-71 Blackbird test from Edwards ... I attempted to tell Jim what was happening and to stay with the ... the seat kit attached to my parachute harness was functioning. ...
    (rec.aviation.owning)
  • Re: SR-71
    ... If you do some simple algebra, the SR-71 is much faster than ... 60% of the flight time is spent at supersonic speed. ... | prepare to fly SR-71 missions from Beale AFB, ... | conflict and recover at Royal Air Force Base Mildenhall, ...
    (rec.aviation.piloting)
  • Re: SR-71 Records
    ... Faster than that the nose shock impinges on the engine ... Mary, who was a frequent poster here some years ago, was the flight ... quality engineer for NASA's SR-71 program at Edwards. ... cruise altitude. ...
    (rec.aviation.military)
  • SR-71 Story
    ... SR-71 Disintegrates Around Pilot During Flight Test ... By far, the most memorable flight occurred on Jan. 25, 1966. ... I attempted to tell Jim what was happening and to stay with the ...
    (rec.aviation.military)
  • Re: Scared of mid-airs
    ... What are the odds that an airliner that *I* am ... use flight following if I can get it. ... I've only had one near miss and that was on a prearranged formation photo ... but only after my standard rate turn to the left ...
    (rec.aviation.piloting)