Supersonic Dreams: The Past and Future of Hypersonic Aircraft
Imagine slicing through the skies at double the speed of sound, watching entire timezones fall away as you rocket to your destination before lunchtime. For over 75 years such visions tantalized aviation pioneers who pushed the boundaries of flight ever closer toward Mach 2…Mach 3… Eventually even the sound barrier itself exploded in their wake.
My friend, fasten your seatbelt for the story of supersonic‘s rise, fall and future comeback! We’ll zip through engineering triumphs that even outpaced sci-fi dreams, then faced gritty economic headwinds. But bright new contenders now prepare for launch, unfurling their blueprints to again shatter our conceptions of distance.
Come aboard as we chase the epic efforts necessary to achieve such wondrous velocity. These incredible machines didn‘t take shape overnight after all. So let‘s navigate the landscape of faster-than-sound ambitions – past, present and future.
Supersonic Genesis: The Sound Barrier Breaks
All supersonic sagas trace their origin back to October 14, 1947 when Air Force test pilot Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier. His rocket-powered Bell X-1 experimental aircraft achieved Mach 1.06 while soaring 40,000 feet over California’s Mojave Desert. Just half a decade earlier, many aviation experts still considered supersonic flight unattainable.
While Yeager’s shockwave-producing flight lasted barely a few minutes, it utterly shattered prevailing wisdom. This first crack through the “sonic wall” blazed a trail for successive designs to continually push the limits. Constructors now aimed even higher and faster.
Within two years jet fighters exceeded Mach 1 in level flight. Then in 1953 Scott Crossfield took the D-558-II Skyrocket to Mach 2.005 – over 1,500 mph. Aviation records fell in rapid succession toward ever more ambitious velocity milestones.
Breaking the sound barrier held both scientific importance and public allure. It resembled the excitement that greeted early space missions later on. This enormous technical challenge at last conquered earned coverage in print media like Aviation Week and even Life magazine.
Now perhaps we’ve always harbored Icarus-like aspirations to flit gracefully through the skies. So it’s understandable people closely followed the advances allowing our noisy, smoke-belching flying contraptions to finally chase the birds’ domain.
Supersonic Planes Proliferate…in the Military
Since Yeager’s first crack through the “sonic wall,” all manned aircraft reaching Mach 1 + speeds flew for military purposes over the next two decades. These included experimental rocket planes and modified jet fighters continually nudging the records higher through the 1950s.
For example, in 1956 a USAF F-100 Super Sabre attained 1,525 mph – then unofficially the fastest manned airplane. The following year an F-101 Voodoo crossed from Los Angeles to New York in 6 hours 46 minutes at record speed. An F-104 Starfighter later cruised over 1,404 miles, setting a new transcontinental mark.
This leapfrogging of speed benchmarks by Cold War adversaries sometimes took mortal risks. For instance a Soviet test pilot died attempting to best the F-100’s maximum velocity, causing the Kremlin to conceal the MiG-19’s true Mach 1.5+ potential. And the crash of an F-11 test article cancelled America’s plans for a Mach 3 capable production model.
However, enough pioneering successes paved the way for specialized military aircraft to follow. Spy planes like Lockheed’s Mach 3+ SR-71 Blackbird could soon streak across continents faster than bullets. And fighters including the blistering MiG-25 Foxbat interceptor attained velocities unfathomable just years prior.
Yet while these military jets kept pressing performance limits, civilian supersonic flight still lagged far over the horizon…
The Quest for Commercial Supersonic Flight
At the dawn of the jet age in the 1950s, many aerospace experts envisioned common supersonic air travel just years away. But unforeseen obstacles always obscured that distant horizon. Rather than airlines, only ever more esoteric military craft ended up probing beyond Mach 1 through the 1960s.
However by then, the Anglo-French Concorde was taking shape to finally introduce faster-than-sound transport. This enormously complex cooperative project aimed to perfect expensive new engine designs, weight-saving construction techniques, integrated electronics and more.
Ambitious national priorities also fueled Soviet rival Tupolev‘s bid to claim the first SST (supersonic transport) crown. Their Tu-144 prototype raced the Concorde to its inaugural flight in December 1968 – though not without mishaps. The SST concept still contained many unknowns.
For one thing, economics clouded civil applications from the outset. Analysts questioned whether ticket prices could stay reasonable with their ravenous thirst for fuel. And the deafening sonic booms produced by SSTs travelling overhead threatened to rain ire upon regulators worldwide.
Those worries would haunt later efforts as well. But at least for a brief, glorious moment…the Concorde made supersonic dreams real for those who could afford it!
The Majesty of Concorde
When the Concorde airliner commenced service in 1976, its otherworldly delta-winged form already attained iconic status as a symbol of national pride and human artistry. No visitor to London or Paris could miss spotting its needle nose parked by the terminals. For the jet-set crowd, just mentioning “The Concorde” conferred instant elite credibility.
Inside its slender fuselage only the sublime elements awaited well-heeled flyers. Deluxe seats allowed four-course meal service on fine china as French champagne flowed freely at 60,000 feet.
And what wondrous views those oval windows framed! Curving horizons of deepest blue to the front and sides gave way to inky blackness overhead. While other passengers were still taxiing for takeoff, Concorde revelers already toasted the end of their supersonic Atlantic crossing!
Its preeminent passengers famously included Queen Elizabeth, David Bowie, Henry Kissinger, Joan Collins, David Frost, Elton John, Sting, Frances Ford Coppola, Audrey Hepburn, Barbara Streisand, Phil Collins, Pope John Paul II and even the 1980 USA Olympic team. Now that‘s an elite list!
For 28 years routine commercial supersonic travel persisted for those select devotees making their pilgrimage aboard the Concorde. No one else offered remotely comparable service; no challengers ever arrived.
And yet economic headwinds and one horrific crash could topple even that towering icon of speed…
Grounded: The Fall of Supersonic Travel
Rocketing twice the speed of sound never proved efficient or affordable at passenger jet scales. Terribly voracious thirst for fuel along marginal routes plagued the Concorde’s entire commercial tenure. By the 1990s its aging frames required extensive maintenance while parts grew difficult to source.
One disaster especially sealed the magnificent bird’s fate. On July 25, 2000 an Air France Concorde crashed shortly after takeoff in Paris, killing 113 occupants and four people on the ground. Investigators concluded tire debris impacted the left wing’s fuel tank, causing a massive structural breach then fiery catastrophe.
The entire Concorde fleet got grounded for extensive modifications while bookings plunged up to 70%. And even after successful redesigns and safety improvements, public confidence never fully recovered. By 2003 diminishing demand and swelling costs forced Air France and British Airways to permanently retire their small, specialized Concorde squadrons.
No supersonic civil transport arose in its place then or since. However today, nearly two decades later, a slate of ambitious upstarts believe they’ve cracked supersonic’s code. Powered by new funding models and technologies, they aim to finally tame the economic and environmental barriers that muzzled past designs.
Can they achieve escape velocity to bring sustainable faster-than-sound travel back for good?
Today’s Supersonic Contenders
Multiple firms now scheme to deliver a worthy sequel to the legendary Concorde. Though small startups face immense challenges mastering such complex engineering disciplines, some boast impressively qualified staffs. And critical design decisions about noise, emissions, efficiency and survivability appear seriously addressed.
Below we’ll survey the field of this new breed of players striving to revive routine supersonic flight. Do any stand poised on the runway’s edge awaiting their chance for commercial takeoff?
Boom Technology – Overture airliner
Founded in 2014, Denver’s Boom Supersonic advanced the furthest so far on plans for a Mach 1.7 airliner called Overture. They ambitiously forecast carrying passengers by 2029 on 55-seater flights connecting international business hubs.
To economically achieve such rapid transport, Boom’s 100+ staff adapted proven aerospace technologies, simulations and construction techniques. For propulsion they developed a novel medium-bypass supersonic engine with their partner Rolls-Royce. And lightweight carbon composite structural elements aim to enhance fuel savings.
So far Overture impressed several key industry players. In 2017 Virgin Group founder Richard Branson optioned Boom’s first 10 airframes while Japan Airlines preordered 20 more. United Airlines also recently contractually committed to buying 15 Overtures once finalized.
Such endorsements plus over $270 million in capital raised suggests Boom stands reasonably well positioned. This year aircraft assemblies join their test cell engines already under demonstration. Their prototype should fly within two years to validate simulations against real supersonic performance.
Spike Aerospace – S-512 luxury jet
Another hopeful called Spike Aerospace originated in Boston, emerging publicly around 2013 promising a low-boom 12-seat luxury jet. But despite flashy cabin mockups with panoramic 4K displays instead of windows, Spike hasn’t presented evidence of hardware progress for years now.
Absent financial disclosures or technical updates, analysts suspect its ambitious supersonic business jet plans stalled out. Like past conceptual project flops, Spike’s flashy website could now mainly sustain fantasy price quotes for non-existent future aircraft.
NASA X-59 QueSST Demonstrator
While industry has recently targeted supersonic business jets, NASA is developing their cutting-edge X-59 QueSST experimental aircraft for a different purpose – rewriting supersonic flight rules. Currently regulations still prohibit faster-than-sound flight over land due to noise concerns.
So NASA partnered with Lockheed Martin targeting a 2023 first flight for the uniquely-shaped X-59. Outfitted with special noise-mitigating modifications, it will validate that "quiet" supersonic travel needn’t disturb communities below. Regulators and stakeholders will get invited to witness in-flight demonstrations proving gentle sonic “thumps” rather than sharp cracks or booms.
If these tests succeed and FAA restrictions ease, entire new supersonic flight corridors could open between destinations with over-water paths. NASA‘s advances might truly catalyze practical, mainstream civil supersonic transport for passengers at large.
New Players Emerge
Rounding out current rosters, a crop of additional unknown startups recently surfaced sporting glossy CGI renderings but little else. One named Exosonic at least notched early funding via military hypersonics contracts that could assist their civil aviation goals.
Others like Eon Aerospace still share scant details on possible proprietary technologies. Lacking robust track records so far, these latest aspirants probably won’t shoulder their way into flightworthy hardware anytime soon.
Yet their arrival does speak to resurgent intrigue in supersonic ambitions. And NASA‘s continued research fortifies the prospects economically and environmentally. So while realizing faster-than-sound dreams demands extreme determination and resources, never bet against irrepressible innovation!
Fasten Seatbelts for the Supersonic Future
Yesterday’s test pilots sketched supersonic’s daring early arcs across the skies. Later the Concorde’s drooped snout shaped an iconic aviation image for generations. Where next then for faster-than-sound endeavors?
Perhaps Boom’s sleek new creation will soon ply those rarefied altitudes bearing business travelers in half the time. Or maybe innovative engine designs will ecologically redeem this pinnacle of aeronautic artistry for sustainable revival.
Can these determined companies collaborating with NASA ultimately transit from today’s vanishing point horizons…to make our epic supersonic future real?
Stay tuned fearless flyer! This ride‘s just getting started…
