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Comment by xxxtentachyon | Hacker News Reader

JFK is also a preferable location for staging supersonic flight because you don’t need to pass over/near a massive population center on a route to northern Europe

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I think in the case of Concorde JFK was preferred because the engines used loud afterburners during takeoff, climb and acceleration to supersonic speeds. For noise abatement they would takeoff on burners, immediately turn south to stay over Jamaica bay, turn the burners off as they crossed over the rockaways (populated barrier island south of JFK,) and then go back on burners over the ocean to finish climbing/accelerating.

A plane like Boom that doesn't use afterburners could take off from any airport as long as they stay subsonic over populated areas.

Do you think that supersonic flights go supersonic within seconds of takeoff? By the time they get to cruising altitude, planes that takeoff from JFK and EWR will be well outside of NYC. The problem is that the great circle route from either JFK or EWR to Europe basically follows the Northeast Corridor to Boston.

JFK/EWR/LGA - it's the same congested airspace. Does it really make much of a difference?

Yes. You need to fly over the bulk of NYC to get to Europe from EWR. JFK is already out on Long Island.

For the market this venture is targeting, JFK and perhaps even (after the construction is finally done) LGA would be preferable. Both in the city, both have Centurion lounges, etc. But LGA is a shorter field without a substantive international ops infrastructure. With the end-of-decade timeline, I suspect this will end up launching from JFK.

LGA doesn't allow any flights from more than 1,500 miles[^0], so has to be either JFK or EWR.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaGuardia_Airport

Apart from the perimeter limit, LGA's runways are also only ~7000ft.

I don't know what Boom's expected runway requirements are, but if they're anything like the Concorde's (>11000ft), there's no way they'll actually be able to take off from LGA.

Edit: At least one source says that Boom's plane requires no less than 10000ft[1].

[1]: https://www.aviationtoday.com/2018/11/13/aerion-boom-taking-...

The LGA perimeter rule already has holes. Denver is allowed, and the rule doesn't apply on Saturdays. With the much more airline-friendly layout post-construction, it would not be surprising if the rule is changed.

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