I just wonder....
There is one little tiny detain that bothers me in the whole story. As you know, lift is provided by angle of attack (the faster the smaller, as it increases drag also), and the fact, that the shape of the wing profile forces the air to go faster over the wing than beneath it. The faster the air over the wing, the more lift you get.
So now, with todays commercial airliners, you have a difference of approx. Mach 0.10 over the wing, which means, that if you hapily toodle along todays skies with your M0.85, then the air over the wing goes at M0.95. You cannot have a supersonic airflow over your wing, as you would get an enormous amount of drag (compressibility), and possibly a compression stall. This given, Boeing now tells us, that thez can build an airliner that is able to hang in the air on a margin on Mach 0.04??? Without any problems in turbulences? And an economical fuel burn? I'd like to see that thing flying before I do anything with it...
It may well be that some airline executives love the idea, but these guys don't have to schedule it, market it, fly it and maintain it. They are the same stupid bankers as their peers in Wall Street and have fo clue about the real issues in air transport anyway.
If you hear Jurgen Weber from Lufthansa strongly supporting such an aircraft, then you can start tuning into the hymes, otherwise, don't do anything! But Mr. Weber also is a technician, not a stupid bean counter!
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There's nothing like a three-holer...
[This message has been edited by Hunter58 (edited 08 April 2001).]
And I should not have to kick the bean conters so early in the morning... Edited twice for typos...
[This message has been edited by Hunter58 (edited 08 April 2001).]