How high would Spaceship One need to get to make a flight from say New York to LA?

Well, the glide ratio is listed as 7:1, so given the distance from NY to LA is 2,462 miles, I'd say it'd have to get up to around 17,234 miles or so.

Of course, this assumes you have continuous atmosphere all the way up to that level. . . :wink:

editted: I just realized I most likely took the ratio the wrong way. . . It's gotta be 7 units forward for every 1 unit down, right? #-o

that being the case, you "only" have to get up to around 351 miles or so, again making the same assumption as above. . .

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. . . My moustache is touching my brain!!!!

I was thinking more of a sub-orbital hop?

The math will make your eyes water. It's not just a parabolic curve as in classical ballistics. The Earth's diameter will enter into it as will the rotation of Earth and the direction of rotation. How much of the flight will be powered? What terminal velocity is assumed at MECO? What payload?

I'm not a techie, (sorry) just an armchair wannabee