[ghaff]

Exactly. Even with modern first/business seating, subsonic trans-Pacific is still a long flight even from the West Coast even if the seating is comfortable and the food is good. But as I recall you need something like 2x the range of the Concorde even to fly a route like SFO-NRT. And, as you say, if you need to fuel up in Anchorage say, you lose a lot of the time advantage.

[cameldrv]

Yeah, and the problem is that there is a range death spiral, so you can't just scale up the plane. More range needs more fuel, which is more weight, so the efficiency goes down, so you need more fuel... I don't think that supersonic transpacific is really solvable with current technology. You either have to refuel mid-air or go suborbital or use a different fuel.

[ghaff]

And at some point, if you can make 20 or 24 hours of flying comfortable enough and maybe have good enough communication systems, who cares? (OK, there are a few people who want to go back and forth to Japan in the least time possible. But, let's get real. Air Force One isn't a supersonic jet.)

It's mostly a case of dialing in the space and price per passenger for the market. Given enough space and entertainment options--hey, live performances in the lounge!, celebrity chefs--very few of us really care that much about getting to a destination 12 hours faster.

[LargoLasskhyfv]

Just build something like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Habakkuk , only three times longer, put it where it is needed. done. Optionally combine with exquisite duty-free shop for the passengers stretching their legs while it is refueled. How hard can it be?

[jandrese]

Wouldn't a SFO-NRT flight do the layover in Hawaii? That seems much more direct, and in either case you're going to have to build the facilities to support the SST.

[ghaff]

Look at the great circle route. Hawaii is way to the south. (Although Anchorage isn't quite on the way either.) As I recall when my dad was flying to Japan a lot--sometimes on the company plane--there would sometimes be refueling stops in Anchorage though that may have been leaving from Michigan.