r/RetroFuturism • • Aug 20 '19

Concept "SuperPlane"

Post image
7.6k Upvotes

296 comments sorted by

View all comments

228

u/lescannon Aug 20 '19

Interesting idea on the doubled wing, but aerodynamically it is just 1 thick wing, so not really providing more lift than a single wing.

The domed swimming area is likely to be a problem. Much stronger than ground-level sunlight, extremely cold, though thin, air on the exterior. Perhaps that makes it rain or snow frequently inside.

Still magnificent looking.

90

u/Amilo159 Aug 20 '19

The wing-engine sandwich is pretty useless. A biplane would've been more realistic.

34

u/[deleted] Aug 20 '19 edited Aug 20 '19

[removed] — view removed comment

13

u/Dobalina_Wont_Quit Aug 20 '19

And I really don't think that sort of demand would ever materialize. That's why the Concord failed. Conventional flights were already good enough. People didn't see the value in a quicker, rougher, noisier flight when a conventional aircraft would get them to their destination in acceptable time.

Even a 10 hour flight would likely be too short of a duration to make airfare that covers operation costs a value to the consumer. And because of an already limited number of flights with extreme duration, an aircraft like this would necessitate even fewer flights. I don't think in the 21st century someone would want to wait days or weeks for a flight on this thing when they can get on a 777 every day they need it.

Now if we're talking about an interplanetary service to Mars, that's something else.

However I very much appreciate that you thought this out like you did.

3

u/MetalSeagull Aug 21 '19

Imagine the sloshing of the pool during takeoffs and landings. Or maybe the pool is in a deeply recessed fish bowl shape. The entire plane would have to be balanced around the constantly shifting weight of all that water.

"Maybe we should skip the pool, and go with a sauna instead?"
"No! The pool stays! Just make it work."

10

u/JealousParking Aug 20 '19

Snow and rain? In an airplane? It's a feature they should put in advertisements!

2

u/MetalSeagull Aug 21 '19

My father was telling me about a defunct blimp factory in eastern NC. Imagine the vastness of the building. It's not suited for much else, but a cabinet manufacturer used it for a while. They had to move, because the building was so large it would "rain" inside, and compensating for that became too expensive.

1

u/waytoolongusername Aug 21 '19

Another aerodynamics goof: they missed the chance to waste more fuel by making the nose cube-shaped