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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (July 7, 1960)
12 C MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD. ORE. monsBAY. JULY 7i 110 SUPERSONIC JETLINER Should America build a supersonic jetliner capable of 2,000 miles per hour? That question is being dis cussed by industry and government officials and is the subject of congressional hearings. An artist's conception snows what such a plane might look like as passengers get ready to board her. (UPI Telephoto) Problems in Operating High Speed Jet Airliner Discussed By ROBERT J. SERLING Washington (UPI) Should America build a supersonic Jetliner capable of 2,000 miles an hour? That question is being dLs ' cussed by industry and gov ernment officials and is the - subject of congressional hear ings. - The following questions and answers describe the problems involved in designing and op erating a transport that could go from New York to Paris in three hours: Q.-Ii there reallr a need lor such an aircraft? A.-From a purely competi tive standpoint, yes. Britain is SB reported well along on super sonic transport design, France and West Germany are said to be considering a joint sup ersonic project and Russia is known to be striving for .what would be the ultimate in com mercial air travel. The U.S. cannot afford to let one or more foreign countries beat it to supersonic jetliners. Wheth er there is any real public demand for airliners that fast is another matter. If enough people indicate they'd -pay money for 2,000-mile-an-hour flights, the plane will be built. Q.-How much has the U.S. done toward a "super-jet?" A.-At least three American manufacturers - Lock heed, Boeing and Convair - have done considerable advance planning, both on supersonic technical problems and eco nomics. Lockheed has a super sonic jetliner design on paper and claims "we know how fast it will go, how far and how high it will fly, and how many passengers it will car ry." Boeing and Convair are at about the same stage, which means a prototype could be built and tested by 1965. But Douglas, another of the industry giants, is wary. Douglas points out that U.S. airlines can't afford super sonic jets at present because I they still have financial and operational problems to solve with subsonic jetliners. Doug las believes the predictions that super-jets are "only live years away" are unrealistic and gives 1970 as a more logi cal target date. Q Will they be expensive? A.-The most expensive com mercial planes in history. The research and development costs of just a prototype have been estimated at a minimum of $75 million and a maxi mum of $1 billion. President Charles Thomas of Trans World Airlines says the actual production model will carry a price tag of about $18 million - three times more than the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8. The super-jets also will be bigger and heavier - 350,000 to 600.000 pounds, compared to the DC-8's 276,000. Q.-Who'll par for the re search? A. -That is a question which is being thrashed out in Con gress. Governments like Bri tain and Russia are subsidiz ing supersonic transport de velopment, and virtually every aviation official in this country says we must do like wise. But there are two pos sibilities to ease the financing problem: (1) If Congress, ap propriates the necessary funds for pushing full development of the B70 supersonic bomber, it would solve many of the problems to be faced by the passenger planes; (2) A sug gestion, by President Robert Six of Continental Airlines that the Federal Government subsidize the research and de sign work, and be repaid I through royalties on the sale of production models. Q.-Would a supersonic )t be built like the current jets? A.-They not only won't be built like them but they may not even look like them. Some of Boeing's and Lockheed's suggested drawings resemble HPOne-Step... fff Start im t Just n I I Spray and if I t , ' Instantly -, New Liquid Mist REDDI-STARCH is the wonderfully quick and conven ient way to starch all clothes. Just spray and iron, You dampen and tlareh in one step . . , you can iron immediately. This remarkable now spray starch eliminates mixing, dipping, wringing, drying and dampening. Heavy, med ium or light starching is Instantly yours. No mess, no waste. , Switch to one-tlrp starching. Get new Liquid Mist REDDI-STARCH today I futuristic rocket ships mora than airplanes. For one thing, they will be built out of stain less steel and or titanium rather than aluminum. At (about 1,600 miles an hour) the temperature on the lead ing edge of the wing would be 300 degrees Fahrenheit; at Mach S (2,000 miles an hour) it would be more than 400 degrees. Present aluminium alloys won't take such heat and would develop metal fa tigue quickly. The supersonic jet also may require entirely different controls and wing structure. Pushing a com mercial jet through the skies at 50,000 foot altitudes and speeds of 2,000 miles an hour may involve problems for which modern aeronautical e n g I neering presently has only theoretical solutions. Q.-Would passenger accom modations be different? A.-Possibly. For example, some engineers believe the super -jets won't have any windows. The possibility of a window blowing out at 50,000 feet is frightening. But to prevent claustrophobia In a windowless airliner it has been suggested that passen gers could watch takeoffs and landings on a closed-circuit television screen mounted lit the eiibln. Another casualty of the supersuuic age might be the full course meuls now served un transatlantic flights. It would be hard to serve 200 passengers on a two or three hour flight, and snacks may be the menu on the super-jets. Q.-Will the tuper-Jett need more take off and landing room? A.-Probably. A Boeing sludy shows that they may re quire 12,000-foot runways for take-offs - and that presents a real problem. There Is only one airport In the United States with a runway that long - Shcpnrd Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas, used by both military and' civil air craft. Q.-How about the noise problem? A.-This will be a major headache, Present supersonic engines on military planes arc even noisier than the sub sonic jetliner power plants which already have stirred up resentment and protests. There is no technical break through in sight on noise sup pression. Furthermore, joint Boeing and ' National Aero nautics and Space Adminis tration (NASA) tests show thai large supersonic aircraft cause ground level sonic booms along their flight paths. Some scientists warn that supersonic Jetliners may be able to fly only over-water routes, and that the sonic boom phenomenon would ban such trips as New York to Los Angeles. It Is lioniewhal diffi cult to map a transcontinental flight plan that would avoid completely passing over popu: luted areas. Q.-Could supersonic a I r craft fit into today's air traf fic control picture? A.-A NASA report answers it this way: "Once a super sonic aircraft Is airborne, it must fly along a precisely controlled flight path with little or no delay, it must rely heavily on automatic flight control and stabiliza tion systems, and rapid auto matic traffic control and weather forecasting over the entil e route." In other words, the present air traffic control system couldn't handle super sonic traffic In any volume. It is hoped that by 1070 the system will be almost entirely automatic, but It Is possiblu that we could have the air plane without the means to operate it. Q.-Could the tuper-Jeti be used on short trips, say from New York lo Chicago? A. Kxperla any there will b no supersonic trips under 2,000 miles which pretty well limits the prospect of such travel within the United Stales. Only about 25 per cent of today's long-range air trips are over land areas, with 75 per cent Involving train ncenn flights. Rut Interconti nental travel still would pre sent a sizable market fur such planes. Doelng estimates the potential sales at 50 planes per year. Q.-If there are THAT many problems, whal'i the use ol spending millions and even bill ions on the project? A.As President Sltmi'l Tip tan of the Air Transport as sociation said: "Whoever does hulld a good supersonic trans port will he In a position to dominate Ilia air limits i( Uie world." Tipton puinUi out thai using largely Aiimilcniibulll airliners, foreign carriers have cut lliu U.S. shure of the tiunsnlliintlc travel market from 70 per cent to leas than per cenl. 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