The Soviet Union’s Flawed Rival to Concorde

Re:The Soviet Union’s Flawed Rival to Concorde by dsfyu404ed on Wednesday October 18, 2017 @11:21AM (#15499831)

Mid air refueling works well for the air force.

I've heard it's cheaper (whether this is in terms of risk or dollars I don't know) to send up a dedicated tanker to top of a bunch of large planes that took off with little fuel than it is to make a bunch of large planes take off fully loaded with cargo and fuel.

The problem is that's a whole additional, expensive skill your pilots need.

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Re:The Soviet Union’s Flawed Rival to Concorde by mikeash on Wednesday October 18, 2017 @12:10PM (#15500343)

Fuel from a tanker is an order of magnitude more expensive. It’s worthwhile for the military since they sometimes have a hard time stopping for fuel in the middle of a mission, and like using planes that prioritize the ability to kill people over the ability to go far, but I don’t think it would make much sense for airliners.

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Re:The Soviet Union’s Flawed Rival to Concorde by cat199 on Wednesday October 18, 2017 @01:52PM (#15501290)

they also don't have to be profitable...

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Re:The Soviet Union’s Flawed Rival to Concorde by gsnedders on Wednesday October 18, 2017 @11:27AM (#15499913)

Air-to-air refuelling would be way, way, way too dangerous for commercial aviation to even consider.

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Re:The Soviet Union’s Flawed Rival to Concorde by baybal2 on Wednesday October 18, 2017 @02:55PM (#15501892)

I disagree, the bigger is the plane, the easier is the refueling

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