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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 1310.PDF
FLIGHT International, 30 April /964 733 ". . . a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." —MACBETH, Act V, Sc 5 "FULL OF SOUND . . . SIGNIFYING NOTHING" Might not a prescient Shakespeare have written thus of the supersonic transport, asks .. .. G. C. SCOTT Like Mr Scott's previous contributions, this dissertation comes within the "critical and controversial" category. We expect it to prove, in its turn, a stimulus to comment, correspondence- even choler, perhaps. But we share the author's hope that in general it will not be thought ill-considered. HUMAN beings travel around the Earth's surface by variousmeans, many of which have not changed since the beginningof time. Horses remain just as efficient without structural modification. Rowing boats are much the same as those the Romans used. Our flat feet cannot get us down to the "local" any quicker: we could run, but what would we gain ? We do, of course, have ingenious mechanical vehicles which we continue to modify and develop in the name of progress. We have made a boat which has travelled faster than 250 m.p.h. and a car which has exceeded 400 m.p.h.; the French have propelled a train at more than 200 m.p.h. Is any country contemplating a passenger liner to cross the Atlantic at more than 200kt ? Half-a-dozen prestige liners race to and from New York at 30kt, and a warship in a hurry may occasion- ally exceed 40kt; but as a general rule, operators of passenger ships— and their customers—remain satisfied with an economical cruising speed of 20kt. The majority of people who cross the oceans by sea do so because they want to. They like to enjoy the leisure of a sea voyage; those in a hurry can go by air. Air-cushion vehicles may in time revolutionize the pattern of water-borne transport over short distances, and perhaps on ocean freight services where conventional ships can be tiresomely slow; but it is unlikely that anyone will trouble to develop an ocean liner to cruise as fast as the water speed record. Now let us consider vehicles which move on land, where (rocket sledges excepted) the highest speed is more than 400 m.p.h. Once again, ACVs may eventually alter the picture in limited applications; but for the majority—and transport vehicles are, after all, supposedly intended for the majority's benefit—trunk road cruising speed will never rise far above 70 m.p.h. Odd "get-away-people" will continue to tear around in fast cars at 100 m.p.h., but the more cars the majority have the less likely is road transport ever to cruise at 400 m.p.h. On rails, assuming a general express average of 60 m.p.h., there is prospect of a gradual increase to 70—for passengers who still have trains! Generations hence, this may have been stretched to 100 or so. The Japanese have constructed a completely new railway 310 miles long where, beginning this year, average speeds will be more than 100 m.p.h. Even so, it is difficult to foresee any country aiming far above 100 for conventional rail-borne trains, let alone 200. It isn't every passenger who relishes the sensation of travelling in a railway carriage (or in a motor vehicle) at something near the take-off speed of an airliner. Even though surface vehicles have achieved fantastic speeds during record runs, neither reason nor necessity has been found for public transport to travel so fast. Human beings do not attempt to run everywhere at 15 m.p.h. just because a few athletes are capable of running a mile in 4min; and, as we have settled down to a comfortable average walking pace, so also have we reached a compromise with the requirements of safety, economy, convenience and comfort, with ships, cars and trains. On the Earth's surface, we have reached the point of consolidation. As soon as we leave the ground and rise above cushion height, we are drawn through the looking glass into the Red Queen's world of "Faster! Faster!" The 60th anniversary of powered flight, last December, should have given us the opportunity to consolidate in the air also, and concentrate on making safety certain before seeking yet more speed. That ordinary passengers—the reason for airlines—might not be in such a tearing hurry, appears unimportant to Ministers and magnates who have 1970 lunch dates to keep in We have made a boat which has travelled faster than 250 m.p.h. and a car which has exceeded 400 m.p.h. oig Breed/oye's "Spirit of America" ' Donald Campbell's "bluebird" and Good/ear/Shell photograph
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