Today it may feel like a distant dream, but there was a time when flying across the Atlantic only took three and a half hours. In the ’90s, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, would drop her kids to school in London at 8:30am, hop on a flight at 10:30am, and land in New York by 9:30am, just in time for her speeches and meetings, all thanks to the Concorde.
Sadly, supersonic travel is now just a memory, preserved as a museum exhibit and cherished memorabilia. But despite the Concorde’s retirement, the desire for faster air travel remains strong. As companies work on next–generation designs, it is yet to be seen if supersonic planes can overcome the hurdles that grounded its predecessor. Regulations from the Federal Aviation Administration and the physics overcoming the loud sonic boom have made past attempts at supersonic aviation an unviable business.
Introducing the supersonic dream
Denver–based company, Boom Supersonic is currently developing a new aircraft named “Overture,” which is poised to become the world’s fastest commercial airplane. Boom anticipates that “Overture” will be capable of reaching speeds of up to 2,100km/h (1,300 mph) or Mach 1.7. To put this speed into perspective, “Overture” will exceed the speed of the Earth’s rotation around the sun and travel at twice the speed of conventional commercial aircrafts.
This means that “Overture” will cut flight times in half, and potentially alleviate jet lag for many passengers. “Overture will offer 600 routes across the globe, and make the world dramatically more accessible for tens of millions of passenger,” said Blake Scholl, Boom’s CEO and founder. The reduced flight time will allow passengers to travel between New York and London in just over three hours.
Overcoming the hurdles
There are three major concerns with supersonic aircraft — noise, pollution, and cost.
The sonic boom is the deafening noise that happens when you travel at speeds faster than sound. It is not only incredibly loud, but also capable of causing physical damage, such as breaking glass, cracking plaster, and shaking objects off shelves. In fact, a single fighter aircraft’s boom in 1966 dislodged tonnes of rock, leading to the crushing of archaeological sites in the renowned Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona, USA.
Despite the challenge, Scholl has maintained a positive outlook on this problem. Last year, Boom announced “Symphony”, a new propulsion system designed and optimised for its supersonic airliner.
Teaming up with Florida Turbine Technologies (FTT), which has over twenty years of experience in manufacturing supersonic aircraft engines, the engine being designed will be able to function without the help of afterburners, resulting in a significant decrease in aircraft noise, thus meeting Chapter 14 noise levels.
Another major concern from previous supersonic jets was the amount of fuel consumption it used — simply put, it takes more fuel to go faster. Boom has placed significant emphasis on carbon neutrality as a goal, with the firm’s dedication to be sustainable as a key selling point.
The aircraft’s 6ft tall engine runs solely on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which will make it the first commercial airliner to be net– zero carbon from the day it launches. To reduce fuel consumption even further, the aircraft’s four wing–mounted engine systems are projected to increase the aircraft’s time on wing by 25 percent. This also helps reduce engine maintenance costs by 10 percent, thereby lowering overall operational expenses.
The cost to fly on one of these airliners is yet to be revealed, however Scholl has a long term goal of making supersonic flights affordable to everyone.
“I started this because I was sad that I never got to fly on Concorde. I waited but no one was doing it, so I decided to,” Scholl said. Adding, “Ultimately, I want people to be able to get anywhere in the world in five hours for $100”.
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