I am not a genius, but I think the following two things are true about airplanes:
- In general, flying in a straight line to your destination is probably the fastest option, and uses the least amount of fuel.
- But, there are exceptions! Like if there’s a mountain in the way. Or another airplane. Or a thunderstorm. Or an area that you’re not allowed to fly over. Or crazy wind.
Elon clearly understands #1 amazingly well. So brilliant:
(Yes, this is real! Here’s the tweet and here’s the response.)
Many people may not know about restricted airspaces. So those people are likely not aware that at any given moment, there are lots of areas where normal commercial or private planes are not allowed to fly. Here’s a handy map, courtesy of the FAA:
These are called SUA, or Special Use Airspaces. One of these is the White Sands Missile Range, an Army base in New Mexico.
Using my incredible graphic design skills, I have drawn a straight line between San Francisco and Houston:
That line passes directly over the White Sands Missile Range, and probably several other restricted airspaces at the time of this flight. (For example, there was also a Blue Origin rocket launch on that date as well, which launched from West Texas.)
Most ordinary citizens wouldn’t be aware of these restrictions. But of course Elon is no ordinary citizen! He has his private pilot’s license! Also, he wants to overhaul the FAA and the air traffic control system!
So it’s simply absurd to think that Elon wouldn’t know the answer to the age-old riddle of “Why don’t planed always fly in straight lines?” He does. So what’s up with his seemingly asinine response?
Remember that we believe that Elon is a genius. We’re nearly positive that Elon has a brilliant plan to use crazy smart AI to magically coordinate the firing of the test missiles and rockets with the arrival of airplanes through the airspace. Imagine when you’re flying there’s just a constant stream of near-misses as missiles and rockets and other airplanes whoosh by right outside your window. And better yet, you’ll get to your destination 12 minutes faster!
The alternative is to realize that Elon is an idiot, but who would really think that?
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