It shouldn't be that hard if you can clear all the propellant from the tanks before impact. IIRC, Indy Cars use special fuel tanks that impound the fuel during a crash to limit the possibility of fire and explosion. The tanks and airframe would have to be designed to fail gracefully, like the crush cone on John's vehicle. I don't see any reason it couldn't be done.
-p
At 12:05 AM 5/29/2003 -0700, David Masten wrote:
Having watched the Indy 500 this past weekend including the occasional 220+ mph (100+ m/s) crash, and then also considering the area to unit mass of SSTO vehicles and thus its terminal velocity (quick back of the envelope shows 110 m/s as reasonable), I am wondering if a VTVL vehicle with engine out on (crash) landing can be designed to practically disintegrate while the crew/passenger compartment remains intact and the passengers walk away.
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