Introduction
Supersonic air travel is a dream that has been lingering in the minds of both aviation enthusiasts and casual observers for many years. Say’s Dr. Jon Kiev, since its first commercial flight took place in 1969, there have been very few supersonic airplanes in operation. However, there are some exciting developments that point to a resurgence of supersonic travel in the near future.
What is supersonic air travel?
Supersonic air travel is flying faster than the speed of sound. The Concorde was the first supersonic aircraft and it started commercial flights in 1976, but it was retired in 2003 due to high maintenance costs and low passenger numbers.
Supersonic air travel is still not commercially available because there are no viable designs for a plane that can go faster than Mach 2 (1,225 km/h).
How does the speed of sound work?
The speed of sound depends on several factors, but it’s most commonly measured in air at sea level. To understand why this is so, let’s look at what makes up the speed of sound:
- The temperature and pressure of the medium through which it travels (in this case, air)
- The density of that same medium (how much stuff there is per unit volume)
- Whether or not an object has any mass; if it does have mass, then its shape matters too!
The future of supersonic air travel
The future of supersonic air travel will be shaped by the same forces that shaped the past. Technological, political and economic forces will play a role in determining whether supersonic air travel becomes a reality once again.
As technology advances, so too does our ability to develop faster aircraft. Concorde was able to fly at speeds of up to Mach 2 (twice as fast as any other airliner), but today’s passenger jets can only reach speeds of Mach 0.85 or so–and that’s only if you’re lucky enough to get on one of Boeing’s 777s with General Electric GE90 engines installed under each wing!
While we wait for new technologies like hypersonic flight or scramjet engines (which would allow us not only greater speed but also increased fuel efficiency) we may see improvements made through existing designs like Airbus’ H55X concept plane which combines existing concepts like blended winglets with new materials such as carbon fiber composites and honeycomb structures for additional structural strength while reducing weight at an estimated cost savings of $1 billion per year over conventional aircraft design methods currently used today.[1]
Supersonic air travel is still in its infancy, but many people believe that it will become the next big thing in aviation.
Supersonic air travel is still in its infancy, but many people believe that it will become the next big thing in aviation.
It’s expensive, but as technology improves and costs come down, we could see supersonic flight become more accessible to consumers.
