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AlexGendler_FlightSpeed_2020E-_为什么现在的飞机比以前慢？_-
In 1996, a British Airways plane flew from New York to London in a record-breaking two hours and 53 minutes. 在 1996 年,一架英国航空的航班 破记录用时 2 小时 53 分钟 从纽约抵达伦敦。
Today, however, passengers flying the same route can expect to spend no less than six hours in the air— twice as long. 不过如今,乘坐同一航线的乘客 至少要在空中花费 6 小时—— 记录时长的 2 倍。
So why, in a world where everything seems to be getting faster, have commercial flights lagged behind? 那么,为何当整个世界加快步伐时, 商业航班是否已经落后？
Airways:n.航空公司;广播频道; record-breaking:adj.破纪录的;n.破纪录; route:n.路线;路途;固定线路;途径;v.按某路线发送; no less than:不少于,多达…;正如; commercial:adj.贸易的;商业的;赢利的;以获利为目的的;n.(电台或电视播放的)广告; lagged:v.缓慢移动;发展缓慢;滞后;落后于;(lag的过去分词和过去式)
The British-and-French-made Concorde began shuttling passengers across the sky in the 1970s. 在 1970 年代, 英法共同制造的协和式飞机 开始运送乘客,
Jetting between destinations like New York, Paris, Bahrain, and Singapore, it clocked in at over 2,000 kilometers per hour, more than twice the speed of a normal airliner . 穿梭往返于纽约、巴黎、 巴林和新加坡等目的地。 该机型能以 2000 公里的时速飞行, 这是普通客机时速的 2 倍。
Concorde:n.协和式超音速喷射客机; shuttling:v.频繁往来;往返运送;(shuttle的现在分词) airliner:n.班机;大型客机;
However this was also about 800 kilometers per hour faster than the speed of sound. 然而,由于这个时速 比音速还要快上 800 公里,
And that created a surprising problem for people on the ground. 给地面上的居民 带来了意料之外的困扰。
When an object moves at supersonic speed, it generates a continuous moving shockwave known as a sonic boom . 当物体以超音速移动, 它会产生连续移动的冲击波, 也就是所谓的 “声震”。
This produces a loud, startling noise, as well as rattling windows and dislodging structural elements of buildings. 声震会发出巨大、吓人的噪音, 同时造成窗户震动, 使建筑物部件发生脱落。
Since a plane flying at an altitude of 15 kilometers can affect an area with an 80 kilometer diameter on the ground below, complaints and concerns from residents in the Concorde’s flight path restricted it to mostly ocean routes . 一架飞在 15 千米高空的航班 可以影响到下方 直径为 80 公里内的地区, 因此,遭到协和式飞机航线 周边居民的控诉与忧虑, 而将飞行限制在跨海洋航线。
supersonic:adj.超音速的;超声波的;n.超音速;超声波; generates:[计]生成;发生; continuous:adj.连续的,持续的;继续的;连绵不断的; shockwave:n.冲击波;震荡波;爆震波; sonic boom:n.声爆;音爆(飞机超声速飞行时发出的巨大声响);声震; startling:adj.惊人的;让人震惊的;极鲜亮的;v.使惊吓;使吓一跳;(startle的现在分词) as well as:也;和…一样;不但…而且; rattling:v.很; adj.格格地响的; v.发出咔嗒咔嗒的声音; (rattle的现在分词) dislodging:n.移动;撞出;v.取出(dislodge的ing形式); structural:adj.结构的;建筑的; elements:n.要素;基本部分;少量;一群;(element的复数) altitude:n.海拔;海拔高度;高程;(海拔高的)高处; diameter:n.直径;对径;放大率;放大倍数; complaints:n.不满;抱怨;投诉;控告;(complaint的复数) concerns:n.关注; v.使关心(concern的三单形式); residents:n.居民;住院医生;房客;(resident的复数) flight path:n.航迹; restricted:adj.受限制的;保密的;v.限制(restrict的过去式和过去分词); routes:n.路线;途径;路途;渠道;v.按某路线发送;(route的第三人称单数和复数)
Because of these restrictions and other fuel and engineering requirements, supersonic flights turned out to be very expensive for both airlines and passengers. 因为这些限制以及 其它的燃料和技术需求, 超音速飞行对航司和乘客而言 就变得十分昂贵。
A single transatlantic round-trip could cost the equivalent of more than $10,000 today. 一次跨大西洋往返的费用 相当于今天的 1 万美元。
With additional strain on the airline industry due to decreased demand for flights after September 11th, 2001, this became unsustainable , and the Concorde was retired in 2003. 自 2001 年 911 恐袭事件后, 人们对航班需求的减少 给航空业带来了额外的压力, 高成本使其不可持续, 协和式飞机也于 2003 年退役。
restrictions:n.限制规定;限制;约束;制约因素;(restriction的复数) engineering:n.工程;工程学;v.密谋策划;设计制造;改变…的基因;(engineer的现在分词) airlines:n.航空公司(airline的复数);航空业; transatlantic:adj.大西洋彼岸的,横渡大西洋的;美国的; round-trip:adj.来回的;双程的; equivalent:adj.等价的,相等的;同意义的;n.等价物,相等物; additional:adj.附加的,额外的; strain:n.压力;品系;应力;张力;v.扭伤;拉紧;滤;损伤; decreased:v.减少,减小,降低;(decrease的过去分词和过去式) unsustainable:adj.无法支撑的;不可证实的;不能成立的;
So even when superfast flights existed, they weren't standard commercial flights. 因此,即使有超高速航班存在, 它们也不适用标准商用飞行。
And while we might think that advances in flight technology would make fast flights less expensive, this hasn’t necessarily been the case. 同时,我们可能会想 随着航空技术的进步 提高飞行速度的成本会降低, 事实却非如此。
One of the biggest concerns is fuel economy . 其中一个最大的担忧就是 燃油经济性。
superfast:adj.超快速;超高速的; standard:n.标准;水准;旗;度量衡标准;adj.标准的;合规格的;公认为优秀的; technology:n.技术;工艺;术语; make fast:拴紧,绑牢;把…打上结; necessarily:adv.必要地;必定地,必然地; economy:n.经济;节约;理财;
Over the decades, jet engines have become a lot more efficient , taking in more air and achieving more thrust— traveling further for every liter of fuel. 过去几十年, 喷气发动机变得更加高效, 它们能吸收更多空气 并获得更大的推动力—— 每升燃油支持的航程会增加。
But this efficiency is only achieved at speeds of up to around 900 kilometers per hour— less than half the speed of the Concorde. 然而达到这一燃油效率的前提是 保持时速 900 公里左右的飞行—— 协和式飞机时速的一半。
Going any faster would increase air intake and burn more fuel per kilometer flown. 再快就会增加进气量 并在每公里的飞行中消耗更多的燃料。
efficient:adj.有效率的;有能力的;生效的; liter:n.(计量)公升(容量单位) efficiency:n.效率;效能;功效; intake:n.摄取量;通风口;引入口;引入的量;
A standard transatlantic flight still uses as much as 150,000 liters of fuel, amounting to over 20% of an airline’s total expenses . 一次标准的跨大西洋航班 仍要使用多达 15 万升燃料, 占航空公司总支出的 20% 以上。
So any reduction in fuel economy and increase in speed would significantly increase both flight costs and environmental impact . 因此,任何燃油经济性的降低 和速度的提高 都会大大增加 飞行成本和环境影响。
What about ways to make a plane faster without burning lots of fuel? 那有办法不消耗大量燃油 使飞机飞得更快吗？
liters:n.(计量)公升(容量单位)(liter的复数) amounting:vi.总计,合计;相当于;共计;产生…结果;n.数量;总额,总数; expenses:n.费用;价钱;开销;开支;花费;(expense的复数) reduction:n.减少;缩小;降低;减价;折扣;缩图; significantly:adv.意味深长地;值得注目地; impact:n.影响;效果;碰撞;冲击力;v.挤入,压紧;撞击;对…产生影响;
Adjusting the wing sweep, or the angle at which wings protrude from the fuselage , to bring the wings closer in can make an aircraft faster by reducing aerodynamic drag . 调整机翼的后掠角 或机翼从机身延长出的角度, 使机翼更接近, 可以通过减少空气动力阻力 使飞机更快。
But this means the wings must be longer to achieve the same wingspan , and that means more materials and more weight, which in turn means burning more fuel. 但这意味着机翼必须加长 以达到相同翼展, 意味着机翼需要更多材料, 飞机会因此变重, 结果还是要增加燃料。
Adjusting:v.调整;调节;适应;习惯;(adjust的现在分词) protrude:vt.使突出,使伸出;vi.突出,伸出; fuselage:n.[航]机身(飞机); aircraft:n.飞机,航空器; aerodynamic:adj.空气动力学的,[航]航空动力学的; drag:v.拖曳;生拉硬拽;拖动;n.拖累;令人厌烦的人;累赘;绊脚石; wingspan:n.翼展;翼幅;
So while airplanes could be designed to be more aerodynamic, this would make them more expensive. 所以,尽管飞机可以设计得 更符合空气动力学, 但这会增加成本。
And generally , airlines have found that customer demand for faster flights is not sufficient to cover these costs. 总体来说,航司发现 乘客对于飞机提速的需求 不足以弥补这些成本。
So while military aircraft conduct high speed flights over water and at high altitudes , supersonic commercial flights seemed like a brief and failed experiment. 所以,当军用飞机能在水上和高空 进行高速飞行任务时, 超音速商用飞机 似乎就像一个短暂且失败的实验。
airplanes:n.(美)[航]飞机(airplane的复数); generally:adv.通常;普遍地,一般地; sufficient:adj.足够的;充分的; military:adj.军事的;军人的;适于战争的;n.军队;军人; conduct:v.实施;执行;表现;引导;n.举止;管理方法;经营方式;实施办法; altitudes:n.高地;高度;[数]顶垂线;(等级和地位等的)高级;
But recent advances may make them feasible again. 不过,近期的科学发展 或许能让它们再次变为可能。
Research by NASA and DARPA has shown that modifying an aircraft’s shape can reduce the impact of its sonic boom by 1/3. 美国航天局和国防高级研究计划局的研究 表明改进飞机外形 可以减少三分之一的声震影响。
Extending the nose with a long spike can break the shockwave into smaller ones, while another proposed design features two sets of wings producing waves that cancel each other out. 一种方案是用长钉子延长机头 将冲击波分解成更小的冲击波, 另一种拟议的设计 则以两组机翼为特征 产生冲击波,互相抵消。
feasible:adj.可行的;可能的;可实行的; modifying:修饰; Extending:v.使伸长;扩大;扩展;延长;(extend的现在分词) spike:n.长钉,道钉;钉鞋;细高跟;vt.阻止;以大钉钉牢;用尖物刺穿; proposed:adj.建议的;推荐的;v.提议;建议;计划;求婚;(propose的过去分词和过去式)
And new technologies may solve the energy efficiency problem with alternative and synthetic fuels, or even hybrid-electric planes. 而新技术可以用替代和合成燃料, 甚至是混合动力飞机, 解决能源效率问题。
It may yet turn out that the last few decades of steady flying were just a brief rest stop . 事实可能证明, 过去几十年的稳健飞行 只是短暂的休息。
technologies:n.技术;科技(technology的复数); alternative:adj.供选择的;选择性的;交替的;n.二中择一;供替代的选择; synthetic:adj.综合的;合成的,人造的;n.合成物; steady:adj.稳定的; v.使稳定; v.稳定地; n.关系固定的情侣; rest stop:n.(主要干道旁的)停车休息区;