Word: sst
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Nearly two dozen of the world's airlines, from Pan American to tiny Aeronaves de Mexico, have hopefully placed 140 orders for either an American or a British-French supersonic transport. Considering the SST's list of problems, that's quite a bit of hope. Rarely has the development of a new product been more beset by rising costs, clamor and competition...
...plane has so far got exactly nowhere. Now the big argument seems to be whether it is really practicable in its proposed form. Aviation Consultant William Littlewood recently told a Washington aeronautical conference that ground dwellers cannot adjust to the SST's shattering sonic boom, suggested "careful routing" of the planes at a cost in time and fuel. Last week Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson, the Lockheed vice president who designed both the U-2 and the A11, said as he received an achievement award from the National Aviation Club: "I am very concerned about the sonic boom where...
Instead of letting Halaby go ahead, President Johnson stepped in and, in effect, canceled the FAA-directed program. He gave the responsibility for supervising the building of an American SST to an advisory group headed by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Aside from being dissatisfied with the FAA's performance so far, the President felt that Congress would not approve appropriations for both the poverty program and the SST at the same time-particularly since the aviation industry is balking at paying even 10% of the SST cost. He therefore chose to delay the SST. The U.S. is already...
...prestige generated by Lockheed's high-flying All certainly helped to keep the company in the race, and clearly gave it the edge over North American, which also submitted a delta-wing design. But when it came to the engines that will power the SST, the choice was considerably less clear. The FAA experts favor the G.E. power plant, but most of the airlines like the United Aircraft engine best; both are fairly conventional jet engines with extremely high thrust. Some lines, notably National, opted for the Curtiss-Wright design, which is the most advanced of the three...
...will probably compel him to extend the competition for another year. During this time no prototypes will be built, but each contestant will produce more detailed studies to enable the FAA and the airlines to make a final choice. Though the extension may delay the date when an American SST enters commercial service to 1973, two years later than the already abuilding Anglo-French Concorde, most U.S. aviation experts feel that the additional study will help avoid costly mistakes...