Talk:MIT Daedalus

distance flown

The FAI page says it flew 115.11 km. Where did the "74 mi" on this article come from (presumably the book on the reference section?)? Obviously 115.11 / 1.609 = 71.54 miles but I don't know if we go with the FAI or the other source... --124.35.27.245 09:24, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

The distance that was submitted to the FAI for the record filing was based on some erroneous calculations that were done by taking latitude and longitude from some topographical maps, without the benefit of the correct formula for great circle distance (since it wasn't possible to just look up the formula on the internet back in 1988). I know, because I'm the one who did the calculation. These days it's easy to measure things in Google Maps, and based on my best recollection of the actual takeoff and "splashdown" locations, I get a great circle distance of 114.9 km (71.4 miles). This does not account for the fact that the plane had to fly almost due north at the start in order to pass to the west of the island of Dia, so the actual flight distance was slightly longer, but the measurement is for the straight-line distance, ignoring the turnpoint. However, the FAI record is what it is. The difference between the official record and what I calculate now is about 240 meters, which is in the noise in terms of exactly where on the runway the plane lifted off, and exactly where adjacent to Perivolos beach it hit the water. 74 miles is definitely inaccurate.

J-J Cote 2601:199:4180:43B0:19A3:7F0A:392A:2C0E (talk) 16:51, 4 November 2022 (UTC)

This day

"These records stand to this day." That's impossible to say without knowing which day "this day" refers to. Unfree (talk) 17:52, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

I deleted the sentence. Unfree (talk) 17:54, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Why is this equivalent to two back to back marathons? Because he was Greek? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.18.71.34 (talk) 15:12, 7 January 2017 (UTC)

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Marathon comparison

I assume the comparison with two back-to-back marathons has been taken from one of the sources. I find it ill-fitting for two reasons: First, 115km are quite bit more than two marathons. Second, it does not take the same amount of energy to run two marathons than two basically cycle 155km. For a professional road cyclist, 115km is not all that much. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A02:8071:2AE:2100:3DBF:D662:31C8:23BD (talk) 10:07, 7 May 2022 (UTC)

Comparing distance is not meaningful. The plane flew faster than anyone can run (for that duration), but significantly slower than a bicycle. The "back-to-back marathons" was based on a physiologist's assessment of the physical effort that would be required. The time of the flight was roughly double that of a world-class marathon, and would have been even closer if the flight had not had the benefit of a tailwind. However, the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft turned out to be better than the design target, such that the power requirement from the pilot to maintain cruising airspeed was lower than expected (as evidenced by his heart rate data). As a result, the actual effort for the flight on that day was likely somewhat less than back-to-back marathons.

J-J Cote 2601:199:4180:43B0:19A3:7F0A:392A:2C0E (talk) 17:00, 4 November 2022 (UTC)