technoid_at_cheta.net wrote:
> >>> Nice toy if you have money to burn and like to sightsee at Mach 2.
>
> I've understood from some source or other that even if you own a
> transonic/supersonic vehicle, you are not allowed to take it above mach
> .98.
Nah, at least not in the US. FAR 91.817 describes what's necessary
for civil aircraft to exceed Mach 1; essentially you have to jump
through burning hoops of paperwork fire in order to demonstrate that
there's a reason why it's needed, that the test area isn't
environmentally sensitive and that the no sonic boom overpressure
will reach the surface outside the desginated test area. Most of
the verbage falls away if you're willing to restrict your activities
to overwater.
They also get you with FAR 91.819 and 91.821, which are airport
noise restrictions which would effectively preclude you from operating
in or out of most airports between 2200 and 0700, even if you never
took your bird supersonic.
Jeez, I've been spending too much time reading regs again...
--
Chris Kennedy
chris_at_mainecoon.com
http://www.mainecoon.com
PGP fingerprint: 4E99 10B6 7253 B048 6685 6CBC 55E1 20A3 108D AB97
Received on Wed May 17 2000 - 20:35:16 BST