So how come there hasn't been any real progress in aerospace tech. in the last 40 years?

Question

commercial aircraft design is the same as it was in the 1950s,Military jets don't fly over Mach 3. What R some of the reasons for the lack of progress in aviation.

Answer 1

Where have you been?

We have more advanced systems fly-by-wire

Space exploration is more advanced and possible.

We knocked out the need for flight engineers with more advanced computer monitoring systems

Yrs ago

http://carstenbauer.net/VH-VLF_cockpit_I...

Today

http://www.the-wu.org/uploads/trevor/200...

Answer 2

Maybe it isn't so much that it has progressed so slowly in the past 40 years--rather the progress that should have taken 50 years was miraculously done between 1935 and 1955, and we took it for granted and (unrealistically) expected that amazing kind of progress to continue.

Comair's second link shows an airliner type that was being cranked out by Boeing in 1965; it routinely cruised at Mach .81 or more, and maxed at Mach .87.  B727s still fly, and overtake most airliners flying today.

Answer 3

It has.  Its classified.

Answer 4

You seem to have a far too narrow measure of progress.  There are far more important qualities than just speed.  For the military, even aircraft capable Mach 2 reached that speed rarely, and almost never on an operational mission.  An aircraft traveling that fast is not really capable of doing anything else. Going faster does not add any mission functionality, so it has not been a goal for newer military aircraft.

       An aircraft like the F117 or the B2 many not be super sonic, but they are far more advanced than the Mach 2 "century series" aircraft of the early sixties.

     Much the same is true for commercial aircraft - The upcoming Boeing 787 will not be any faster than a 727, but it will be much more fuel efficent, easier to maintain, and operates with one less crew member to pay.  If you need your aircraft to generate profits, those are far more important considerations than additional cruise speed.

    The biggest improvements in aircraft design are not outwardly visable.  Composite materals like carbon fiber is being used for more and more of the aircraft structure.  Engines are developing more thrust with even greater reliablity. The cockpits of modern aircraft are now almost always compter drive "glass cockpits" with all flight data displayed in an intergrated manner on an LCD screen, instead of being read off of dozens of individual dials.

    All of these are of far more practical concern than burning more and more fuel to try and bump up the Mach number.

Answer 5

Having flown airliners that were manufactured in the 1950s and also airliners made in the 1990s, I can tell you that ENORMOUS strides were made throughout those intervening decades.  The main improvements might not be so obvious from the observation deck at the airport, but they are if you are a financial officer in an air transportation company, or a pilot on the flight deck.

Airplanes are much lighter and stronger than they were 40 years ago, much more fuel efficient, easier to operate, and more economical to own.  Avionics are a world different from what they were like in the 727 era.  And down time for repairs is a fraction of what it used to be.

So it will be hard to convince people who have a clear picture of the aviation industry that there is a "lack of progress."  There is plenty of progress in ways that make a big difference.

Answer 6

I was just asking myself that very same question the other day.  Aviation seems pretty basic--no real improvements to speak of.  

What's worse?  The space program.  The Mars rover landing of late--big deal.  Shouldn't we be doing much more than that?