ing
Supersonic
jet travel is here...
...or, rather, it is back after a hiatus of a little over fifteen
years. The Aérospatiale British Airways Concorde
(previously known as the premier British-French
turbojet-powered passenger airliner) ended the age of
supersonic jet travel in 2003, but a collaborative effort
between Boeing and Aerion are revitalizing supersonic
jet travel for the modern age.
Out of all the luxurious and sumptuous ways to traverse
around the world, one may wonder why travelling by
supersonic jet hasn’t become to fruition in the 21st
century. Though turbojet-powered travelling has been
accessible since the 70s, maintaining technological
development to that magnitude has proven to be
troublesome, hindering engineers from constructing
supersonic turbo jets in this century.
Now, the innovative ingenuity at Boeing and Aerion
combined with the advanced technology of today is
breathing new life into this glamorous and luxurious mode
of transportation. Designed to fly at Mach 1.4, the AS2
aircraft supersonic passenger aircraft by Boeing and Aerion
are preparing to return civilian supersonic voyaging to the
market by 2023. General Electric is developing the engine
for the AS2. The engine is called the Affinity and it is
capable of a 60,000-foot altitude ceiling and features a
special non-augmented supersonic exhaust system to
alleviate noise generated by AS2 when it takes off for
flight. The Boeing-Aerion AS2 aircraft, flying at 1610
kilometers per hour and costing $120 million, will
become representative of luxury business-travel with its
ability to take passengers from New York to London in a
little over 3 hours.