News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Why hasn't commercial air travel gotten any faster since the 1960s? (2009). Parent comment

Re:Why hasn't commercial air travel gotten any faster since ... by throw0101d on Tuesday February 11, 2025 @07:42AM (#43012115)
> I've always wanted turboprop planes to become more common for long haul flights.

The math doesn't seem to make sense for it: there's a maximum speed that can be hit with turboprop (x), and if you can only carry so much fuel (y) as part of your useful payload (to maximize carrying revenue-generating cargo), then you can only go a certain distance. That distance turns out to be <1500 nmi.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Why hasn't commercial air travel gotten any faster since ... by coredog64 on Tuesday February 11, 2025 @09:37AM (#43013153)
The Breguet range equation is the first stop for roughly determining range. The three knobs are aerodynamic efficiency, structural efficiency, and fuel consumption.

Broadly speaking, fuel consumption has an outsized influence on range as the other two terms are usually fixed at a maximum value by state of the art.

[ Parent | on HN ]