Query.....

[forthbridge]

Hi all

Another FB bizarre question...!

Reading up on Concorde, 'radiation dose' spring up (based on altitude) a few times. Not something I've researched much, but apparently it is an issue. Given passenger A/C are 'enclosed' (well relatively) how come fighter jocks aren't as green as the hulk? do they have seperate procedures to deal with any issues?

[DaveB]

Hi Jim..

I'd have thought Concorde went higher and faster for prolonged periods.. much longer periods and much faster than our fighter jocks. Perhaps that's why they don't glow in the dark.. or perhaps they do :o

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[SkippyBing]

I think Concorde was ~60 000' for 2+ hours a flight whereas most fighters don't regularly go that high. Hell Tornado can't.
The U-2 which can had the pilot in a pressure suit, ditto the SR-71 which coupled with other features of the airframe (RAM paint is full of iron) presumably helped keep the dosage down to sensible levels.

[forthbridge]

Aha.... interesting - I've just had another thought - is glass more 'protective' against rad than alloys (specifically those not designed to be anti-rad?) for instance would rad be more significant through a window as opposed to through the roof? :think:
I think with Cocorde, the fact it was up high (and aloft in total) for less than a subsonic equivalent, the pax got less clicks per trip than the lower and slower A/C..

[cjw50310]

Aha.... interesting - I've just had another thought - is glass more 'protective' against rad than alloys (specifically those not designed to be anti-rad?) for instance would rad be more significant through a window as opposed to through the roof?

That would be part of it, but merely because the glass would be thicker than the metals used for the skin. That being said, it's probably a wash where aircraft are concerned, since there would typically be more layers of metal bits than there would glass. It would also be dependent on the type of radiation. As x-rays, which would tend to be the source at altitude, are more energetic, they will go farther into a material than other forms.

Chris

[TSR2]

I'm pretty sure that the radiation that concorde passengers experienced due to altitude actually work out the same as those on a conventional airliner on the same route, reason being although concorde was much higher, it was there for less time, so 2 hours @ 60000ft was about the same as 5 hours at 40000 ;-)