Regardless, it seems to me that the rocket's speed has to be
subtracted from the jet's speed to arrive at the actual jet speed when
you talk about the world's record for speed of a jet plane.

On a deeper level, I find the enthusiasm about this scramjet flight to be,
in many ways, pathetic.

I mean, c'mon -- we're talking about an unmanned, rocket-assisted, 10 second
flight here -- which is somehow trumped up to be some sort of a huge success
for NASA? Worse, they're claming that they've "beaten the speed record set
by the X-15 some 40 years ago..."

Compare this sad little program to the heady days of the manned X-15, with
dozens of suborbital flights over a period of years, and you soon see what I
mean. It's hard to watch this new generation getting all excited about a
program that, in the 1960s, wouldn't have merited mention on the nightly
news.

But I suppose that's all they really have to get excited about nowadays,
with the space program completely shut down.

NASA has sunk so far since I was a boy...it is to weep.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"