USAF breaks hypersonic flight record

[Galaril]

USAF vehicle breaks record for hypersonic flight - Yahoo! News
This seemed to not be that big of a deal until I read this quote below which if true would be quite a breakthrough.

"We equate this leap in engine technology as equivalent to the post-World War II jump from propeller-driven aircraft to jet engines," Brink said."

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Galaril

USAF vehicle breaks record for hypersonic flight - Yahoo! News
This seemed to not be that big of a deal until I read this quote below which if true would be quite a breakthrough.

They had a report about it on the news the other night. It looked like it was a fantastic advance over what we currently have available.

[molson]

Apparently that's 3960.31 MPH at 50,000 feet. Or New York to L.A. in about 45 minutes (if it could keep that speed up for that long)

[Marc Vaughan]

Its scramjet engine accelerated the vehicle to Mach 6, and it flew autonomously for 200 seconds before losing acceleration. At that point the test was terminated

Is it just me or does that sound very much like - 'after 200 seconds it stopped working and crashed' ..... but in polite speak.

[JediKooter]

Kim Jong Il has flown faster than that.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Is it just me or does that sound very much like - 'after 200 seconds it stopped working and crashed' ..... but in polite speak.

I don't think it was planned to go very far anyway. Remember that at that speed, the plane went nearly 200 miles during that time. For perspective, if this flight started in Kansas City, it would have crossed the entire width of Missouri during those 200 seconds. You run that baby much longer than that and you're going to have to call someone else to retrieve it.

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by JediKooter

Kim Jong Il has flown faster than that.

And Sportsdigs flew just as fast two weeks ago...

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

And Sportsdigs flew just as fast two weeks ago...

They are on top of their stuff.

[flounder]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

I don't think it was planned to go very far anyway. Remember that at that speed, the plane went nearly 200 miles during that time. For perspective, if this flight started in Kansas City, it would have crossed the entire width of Missouri during those 200 seconds. You run that baby much longer than that and you're going to have to call someone else to retrieve it.

If Chuck Yeager had been flying it, he would have landed it safely and shot down two Germans.

[Wolfpack]

Originally Posted by flounder

If Chuck Yeager had been flying it, he would have landed it safely and shot down two Germans.

Pfft. Chuck Norris doesn't need a plane let alone one with this engine to do that. He'd have gone fast enough to tear a hole in space-time and delivered a roundhouse to Adolf himself that would've ended the war on the spot.