Supersonic airliners will replace conventional airplanes within our lifetime. Posting in CHAT: Russia In March, a supersonic demonstrator made its maiden flight, heralding the second coming of civilian airliners capable of propelling themselves and passengers faster than the speed of sound. The task of the XB-1 Overture aircraft, developed by the American company Boom Supersonic from Colorado, is to test and demonstrate 21st century technologies that can do what Soviet and European aircraft designers failed to do back in the 60s of the last century. . as it was Tu-144. © aviarf.ru World civil aviation already tried to switch to supersonic in the middle of the 20th century, since the military technologies available at that time made it possible to do this. The Soviet Tu-144 and the Anglo-French Concorde, created at approximately the same time, turned out to be quite technically suitable for flying with passengers, and over fairly long distances. It cannot be said that the development, testing and further operation of these machines went quite smoothly (there were accidents and commercial failures), but this did not prevent them from taking their place in world civil aviation. And yet, during the operation of supersonic airliners, some features were discovered that led to the fact that with the last flight of Concorde this direction was practically closed. Why didn’t supersonics become so popular in civil aviation that after several decades of operation of the Concorde they tried to forget about them like a bad dream? Despite the technical complexity of the machines themselves and some major disasters, the economics of supersonic airliners were ruinous. The high technical complexity of aircraft, enormous fuel consumption, high maintenance costs and low environmental friendliness are all unforgivable for military aviation. In civilian use, these disadvantages must be compensated by equally significant advantages. The features of the socialist and capitalist systems of the second half of the last century played a role here. Tu-144 engines. © Olga Sokolova Socialism almost immediately dropped out of the race. It cannot be said that the Tu-144 was a bad aircraft or inferior in some ways (better in some ways) than the Concorde; This did not explain the transience of his commercial career. It became clear quite quickly that, under existing conditions, no one simply took him to the Soviet Union. It seemed, why is this so, given the endless roads of the Soviet country in all directions? In fact, it turned out that the speed of delivering passengers over long distances in the USSR practically did not play an important role, for which one had to pay many times more than for a flight by conventional plane. In the Soviet Union there was practically no commercial need, and neither passengers nor the state (subsidizing transport) wanted to overpay for a reduction in flight time. Since the maintenance of supersonic airliners cost Aeroflot a full Soviet penny, the Tu-144 was quickly taken out of commercial service. And this did not happen at all due to a few accidents and tragic incidents, as was believed for many years. Agreement is in the air. © wikimedia.org Concorde, which made its last flight in October 2003, was luckier because there was demand for high-speed flights in the “capital world.” As during the years of the maritime transatlantic race of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the rich were willing to pay generously for fast and comfortable transportation from Europe to America and back, Concordes took root on transatlantic lines for a long time. At the same time, the fleet of such aircraft was very small, but for the intended purposes they were quite sufficient. When, after the tragic death of one of the last Concordes, they decided to abandon airliners, which were then already outdated, they forgot about civilian supersonic technology for quite a long time. A New Era of the XB-1 © boomsupersonic.com Why is the aviation world now committed to returning to civilian supersonic technology? First of all, because if half a century ago supersonic aircraft were clearly ahead of their time, today it seems that it has finally come. The development of technology makes it possible to level out the main disadvantages of machines from the middle of the last century, including the high cost of their operation. This does not mean that flying on the fastest airliner will become affordable for the poor, but it should no longer seem out of reach for everyone. Let us recall that in today's money, during the years of operation of the Concordes, a transatlantic flight from London to New York and back cost more than $10,500. Today, representatives of Boom Supersonic are confident that they will be able to reduce the cost of flights. Modern technologies already make it possible to make the aircraft significantly more efficient compared to the Concorde and Tu-144. In addition, they are able to eliminate disadvantages such as excessive noise and environmental friendliness. That the days of supersonic flight are returning is evidenced by a large number of related projects, from NASA's "ultra-quiet" X-59 and Lockheed Martin's sonic boom-limiting technology to Hermeus' hypersonic Quarterhorse Mk 1. The advent of digital technology and design allows for advances over the Concorde in areas such as engine efficiency, aerodynamics and material properties. Under these conditions, an increase in flight speed to supersonic leads to an increase in the economic efficiency of the aircraft. Thus, a faster aircraft is much more efficient in terms of human factors and capital investment. An airline can operate more flights with the same aircraft and crew. Increasing aircraft turnover allows the owner to save on the size of the existing aircraft fleet. And fast planes turn quickly. Environmental friendliness © heverge.com Driving at supersonic speeds is accompanied by increased fuel consumption and, as a result, increased CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. At the same time, the increase in emissions is offset by a reduction in driving time (and, as a result, emissions). The intention of the creators of Overture to switch their aircraft to completely environmentally friendly aviation fuel SAF puts an end to this issue. Currently there is quite a lot of it and it is quite expensive, but as production increases its cost will decrease. Experts agree that when the new supersonic airliners begin to operate, they will become quite affordable for use. Plans © social networks Although tests of the first version of the Boom Overture supersonic passenger aircraft have just begun and work on the aircraft will continue, its creators are already looking far ahead. In a 2021 interview with CNN, Boom Supersonic CEO Blake Scholl said his dream is for people to one day be able to fly anywhere in the world in four hours for $100. Today, the general manager does not change his goal. His long-term vision concerns the later versions of the Overture, the Second Overture and the Third Overture. They will allow supersonic flights on more routes, carrying more passengers at lower costs. According to Scholl, the goal of Boom Supersonic is to reduce the number of flights by half or more at the expense of speed. This will make flying faster, more accessible, more convenient and more environmentally friendly. Source link Source link
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How oxygen masks work on airplanes and why there is no oxygen in them Posting in CHAT: Russia Anyone who has ever flown on a passenger plane knows that there are oxygen masks above the seats, which in emergency situations themselves fall out of their niches. Flight attendants talk about this before every flight, and it can be seen on schematic images in airliners. But few people know that oxygen masks are not connected to oxygen cylinders and save the lives of passengers on a completely different principle: an unexpected blow, shaking, flashing lights, the sound of a siren and oxygen masks falling directly from the ceiling are like air. accidents are depicted in Hollywood films. It is quite logical to assume that somewhere in the bowels of the airliner there are oxygen cylinders connected to these same masks. But everything is much simpler, safer and more efficient. Everyone knows from school that as altitude increases, pressure decreases. Already when reaching 4 thousand meters, the air is so rare that it becomes very difficult to breathe, and for people with poor health this is completely impossible. Therefore, when the aircraft cabin depressurizes at an altitude of 4 km and above, equipment that ejects breathing masks is automatically turned on. There is always at least one more mask than there are seats in a row. This is because designers anticipate that during an emergency there may be passengers or crew in the corridors who also need to be supplied with oxygen. But the ingenuity of flight safety engineers doesn't end there. It turns out there are no oxygen tanks on the plane. To provide vital gas to 200-300 passengers, you will have to carry significant supplies of gas with you during the flight. This would increase the aircraft's take-off weight, reduce the payload and increase fuel consumption. Of course, dozens of oxygen cylinders are a source of increased danger, so a simple but elegant solution was invented - oxygen for masks is produced, as they say, “on the spot,” that is, at the moment when it is available. The required gas is released as a result of a simple chemical reaction directly above the heads of the passengers. Everything necessary for oxygen production is located next to the mask and when the system is activated, the reagents immediately begin to mix. Those who have encountered emergency situations on airplanes have noticed a burning smell that appears simultaneously with the masks falling out. Many people start to panic even more because of this, but this is not worth doing, because this smell is simply a side effect of a chemical reaction, and not a sign of a fire. Of course, the possibility of using oxygen. A mask is a minor emergency because air travel is still the safest in the world and walking on the street is much more dangerous than taking a transatlantic flight. Source link Source link