The Sanger Concept - the scramjet myth

i have to disagree. I've seen the indications that they have existed
since the 70's at least. they may not be that powerful, but they
still have the 'sustainer engine' capacity, that you refer to. that
is sufficent to get them from high altitude (10000 feet) at mach 2 in
to near outer space.

one thing ive always wondered about. is they say the airflow has to
be mach 2. what if the fuel was injected at mach 2.

--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, "ANTIcarrot"
wrote:
>
> > From: Robert
> > a scram jet engine would not require anywhere
> > near as much propellant/fuel as a the shuttle
>
> Neither would flying unicorns, but then again they do not exist
either.
>
> Scramjets are currently seen, at best, as sustainer engines for
hypersonic
> missiles. Possible something that can be fitted to a ramjet which
helps the
> engine exceed its normal flight envelope; just like an after burner
helps a
> turbofan exceed its envelope. A lot of engineers believe
fundimental limits
> of fluid dynamics mean they will *never* get better than that. They
are the
> air breathing equivolent of ion engines. At present no one can even
guess
> how to increase the thust to meaningful amounts.
>
> I did not 'miss what you were saying'. I am saying that the kind of
high
> performance scramjets you are talking about are completely mythical
at best,
> and against the laws of physics at worst.
>
> John
>
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