RE: Your Dream Car
June 21, 2012 at 10:26 am
(This post was last modified: June 21, 2012 at 10:28 am by Anomalocaris.)
Actually, with both the tu-144 and the concord, going supersonic doesn't mean afterburners. Both were genuine supercruisers that could accelerate to and maintain supersonic speeds without afterburners. F-22 is by no means the world's first production aircaft capable of reaching and sustaining supersonic flight without afterburners, despite what USAF propaganda would have you believe. Many previous production aircraft, fighters, bombers, and the two SST, could do it. Some of the examples include English electric lightning flighter, and rockwell B-1 bomber, as well as Concord and Tu-144.
Concord and Tu-144 use afterburners because it actually saves them fuel to use after burners to more rapidly push pass the high drag transonic speed range to reach their lower drag supersonic cruising speeds. They could get to their cruising speed without burners, but that takes longer and wastes more fuel because the aircraft spend much more time in the high drag transonic regime. Once they reach supersonic cruising speed, they cut out the afterburner and actually throttle back to maintain speed.
Concord and Tu-144 use afterburners because it actually saves them fuel to use after burners to more rapidly push pass the high drag transonic speed range to reach their lower drag supersonic cruising speeds. They could get to their cruising speed without burners, but that takes longer and wastes more fuel because the aircraft spend much more time in the high drag transonic regime. Once they reach supersonic cruising speed, they cut out the afterburner and actually throttle back to maintain speed.
