New York-London in 3 Hours? Supersonic Travel May Be Back

[mahatmakanejeeves]

New York-London in 3½ Hours? Supersonic Travel May Be Back

Both giants like Boeing and startups are racing to make flying faster than the Concorde viable

By Andy Pasztor and Robert Wall

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July 18, 2018 5:32 a.m. ET

FARNBOROUGH, England—Fifteen years after the Concorde last flew, supersonic air travel is back in the aerospace industry’s sights.

Investors, plane makers and equipment suppliers are pushing to revive superfast airliners and business jets. The big questions: Will regulators go along, and will passengers be willing to pay? The Concorde cut the time to fly from New York to London or Paris to about 3½ hours, about half today’s typical journey. But it was an economic failure.

The latest efforts, highlighted by exhibits and discussions at the international air show here, reflect support from major aerospace companies, buttressed by promising research into reducing the sonic boom that occurs when planes exceed the speed of sound.

Backers include Boeing Co. BA +0.78% , Lockheed Martin Corp. LMT +0.76% and closely held Colorado startup Boom Technology Inc., which aims to start flying a reduced-size demonstration craft late next year. An initial goal for Boom’s proposed airliner is to slash the time for transcontinental trips by more than half. Round trips between the U.S. West Coast and Asia could be completed within the same day, for business travelers—the plush cabins would offer only premium seats—in a real hurry.

“This was the future we were all promised,” said Steven Isakowitz, president of Aerospace Corp., a nonprofit think tank for the Pentagon. In an interview earlier this month he cited both technical advances and “extremely interesting” NASA research into reducing the shock wave and noise.
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—Andrew Tangel contributed to this article.

Write to Andy Pasztor at [e-mail] and Robert Wall at [e-mail]

[TreasonousBastard]

1. Maybe, when they solve the sonic boom problem.

[mn9driver]

2. The physics of supersonic flight still applies.

Drag and skin heating are big problems. Supersonic aircraft are fuel hogs and maintenance nightmares. Not holding my breath.