The Resurgence of Supersonic Air Travel
The death of supersonic air travel baffled me. In a world with unlimited capabilities and exponential advances in technology, the Concorde still used 1960’s technology. Then one day in 2003 it was retired and since there have been no commercial flights over Mach 1.
Aerion, a private US based company plans to remedy that. Their supersonic business jet will be capable of 1.6 times the speed of sound (1,186 mph, 1,909 km/h). That’s a hop across the pond from NY to Paris in about four hours. It’s also capable of scaling down its speed to prevent sonic booms when flying across land.
They intend to use readily available engines and maintain that exotic structural material isn’t necessarily required. In most respects it would be similar to current business jets with a cruising ceiling of 51,000 feet. That eliminates the need for technical altitude certification.
They intend to bring supersonic back to the people by 2014. Well, by people I mean to say the super rich. But at a $80 million price tag it is affordable alongside other jets in the luxury class. A Sheikh in the UAE was the first to cough up the $250,000 deposit. Others in the Middle East and Europe are expected to follow.
It’s my hope that these jets become more efficient and cheaper to build. With time we might actually see a commuter supersonic jet enter into service that doesn’t cost $10k for a one way trip and have a limited flight path. But then, only time will tell.
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Butch said
am November 24 2007 @ 6:31 am
This is quite impressive. I’ve often wondered why the Concorde was never improved and taken to the next level. Maybe this will be a successful test bed and usher in the Age of Supersonic Flight 2.0!
Jerad Kaliher said
am November 24 2007 @ 8:55 am
@Butch, like I said, I really think it was a shame that there was so much development for supersonic flight and no follow through.
The other projects that have tried to rival it was the Soviet Tu-144, which was in place before the Concorde but was unstable and retired in 1978. American companies Lockheed, North American Aviation and Boeing created all the way up to the mock-up stage on the Boeing 2707, but it never caught on. It would have sat up to 300 people but the sonic booms that it created meant the aircraft was under too much scrutiny and was scrapped.
Zath said
am November 24 2007 @ 1:15 pm
This is great news! I hate it when technology seems to go backwards as was the case with air travel a few years ago with the end of Concorde.
I can see lots of the mega-rich wanting one, perhaps hollywood stars, what’s the betting John Travolta will want one to add to his fleet of aircraft?
Jerad Kaliher said
am November 24 2007 @ 2:56 pm
@Zath, so do I! It made no sense for something so functional to go backwards on the time line. I guess the question of demand always comes into play, but you would think that disruptive innovations in the field would push the price down over time?
I’m not too sure about Hollywood, but I know that businessmen are taking a keep interest to it. Time is money and all that jazz.
lordmanilastone said
am November 26 2007 @ 1:25 am
here’s another break through in the field of air travel and i am still saving up for my first ever domestic flight next year, how time flies…
Jerad Kaliher said
am November 26 2007 @ 1:32 am
@lordmanilastone, I hope that you are able to reach your goal sooner rather than later. You never know, years from now you might end up on a supersonic flight and look back at your savings as a fond memory.