Concorde May Be Retired But Supersonic Transport Is Still A Reality

If like most of the population of the planet you missed out on flying onboard Concorde, then the reality of supersonic passenger transport may not be dead.

A conventional sub-sonic private jet

If you have the money then you may be able to fly onboard the QSST (Quiet Supersonic Transport) at the speed of sound. The dream is from Lockheed Skunkworks who are developing the aircraft that can fly at a maximum speed of Mach 1.8 (nearly twice the speed of sound). Not only that but other groups are getting in on the action such as the Aerion Corporation who are developing an aircraft that is capable of flying at Mach 1.6. In fact, the idea is so real now that 40 people have paid $250,000 as a down-payment on the aircraft which is due to cost $80 million. Payments such as this would more than return the investment of $1.2 billion that the development of the aircraft cost as well as turning a healthy profit.

Despite the rise in fuel costs it is seen that the future of supersonic travel is still viable and although out of reach for the average passenger who flies in economy class it could be very much a reality for business travellers. Some issues have been addressed since the design of Concorde such as the sonic boom which was a hotly discussed topic. Problems were encountered when Concorde used to break the sound barrier as droves of people would complain that the aircraft could break glass or cause other noise-related problems as it penetrated the invisible barrier. The new aircraft design from Lockheed has addressed these problems by designing an airframe that will minimise the sonic boom and remove the problems that Concorde caused. Today sales of near-supersonic business jets is growing and the market seems to demand an aircraft that is capable of achieving the speed of sound or faster.

Scheduled for delivery in 2012 is the Gulfstream Aerospace G650 aircraft that will be flying at 0.925 and Cessna are developing the Citation X capable of flying at 0.92, both these aircraft will be a reality in the next few years and will be only a small margain under supersonic. Cessna are also rumoured to be developing a supersonic business jet although not many details are currently available on the project.

The one area that business will have to justify is the fuel consumption of aircraft capable of supersonic speed. The pollution this causes is considerably more than conventional sub-sonic aircraft and it will be interesting to see how this is tackled and justified, if and when supersonic business aircraft go into service on a regular basis.

Published by: Jon Vickery