Ron wrote:

rom: "NEMO ME IMPUNE" Date: 11/2/2003
10:44 AM Mountain Standard Time Message-id:


Have you ever been able to make a SST? NOPE


Of course we could have. We had the XB-70 capable of Mach 3 40
years ago, which in some ways could be considered an SST.

The SST did not happen because of not being able to, there was a lot
of public opposition for environmental reasons.


The government was helping to fund it since it was so expensive, but
stopped funding it, which killed it.

Ron Pilot/Wildland Firefighter


A big issue in this was simply the timing.
In the early 'sixties even Boeing thought that SSTs were the future and
expected to sell more 747s as freighters than as passenger carriers.
Brittain and France chose to go for a Mach 2 design, that from a
technological point of view was successful.
US manufacturers, most notably Boeing, also jumped aboard the SST wagon,
supported by US governement funding. The US SST was more ambitious than
Concorde (and the Tu-144) in the sense that it was supposed to fly at
Mach 3 and was supposed to carry more passengers. That greatly
complicated things and lead to a far longer development time.
Then, the 1973 oil crisis occurred, leading to dramatic increases in
fuel costs. Coupled to an increasing environmental awareness the
commercial interest in SSTs evaporated, after Concorde had already flown
but before the more ambitious US SST ever took to the skies.

Regards,
Ralph Savelsberg