When Air France and British Airways retired their Concordes in 2003, many said it was the end of supersonic passenger flight. Not quite. If you've got the money, you too can break the sound barrier in your own supersonic jet.
At least three companies are developing private planes capable of supersonic flight. Lockheed's Skunkworks division is developing the Quiet Supersonic Transport (QSST) which features a cool gull-wing design and a top speed of Mach 1.8. Aerion Corporation's business jet will top out at Mach 1.6 with a range of 4,600 miles. More than 40 people have ponied up the $250,000 down payment on the eight-passenger, $80 million plane, an order book that easily recoups the plane's estimated $1.2 billion in development costs, and then some.
With sales of business jets booming and top-of-the-line models already approaching Mach 1, there's growing demand for jets that move faster than the speed of sound.
The Cessna Citation X hits Mach 0.92, making it the fastest thing in the sky that doesn't have missiles under its wings. Gulfstream Aerospace has upped the ante with the G650, which tops out at Mach 0.925. (Mach 1, about 770 mph, is the speed of sound.) It's slated for delivery in 2012.
“The enormous response to the G650, at $60 million, just validates our business case and shows that there is an appetite for a new model airplane in that general price segment,” Brian E. Barents, vice chairman of Aerion, told The New York Times.
The company's 10-year business plan calls for selling 300 jets. Although the planes will hit Mach 1.6 over the ocean they'll be limited to sub-Mach speeds over the United States, where civilian aircraft are barred from supersonic flight because of the noise. The company says the plane will fly from New York to Tokyo in 9.5 hours, including a fuel stop.
Cessna, one of the most established names in general aviation, is getting in on the action too. It isn't saying much about its supersonic project, but the fact its got one underscores how seriously the industry believes there's a bunch of money to be made selling supersonic business jets.
Although they're still frightfully expensive to those of us who fly coach, advances in aircraft design, materials and construction make supersonic flight a viable and relatively affordable option. Lockheed's airframe design will mitigate the effect of sonic boom by breaking up the wave of pressure generated when the plane breaks the sound barrier, and Aerion says its jet wing and airframe minimize sonic boom to the point where it is inaudible on the ground.
While these projects seem to be well capitalized and have generated plenty of customer interest, they are far from assured. Supersonic jets burn lots of fuel and there are concerns that they pollute more than traditional passenger planes. R&D costs are another worry. Russia's Sukhoi partnered with Gulfstream in the 1990s to design a supersonic business jet, but development costs spiraled out of control and the plane never left the drawing board.
While the the technology and interest are there, the plane makers have plenty of obstacles to overcome before supersonic becomes reality.
Rendering by Aerion.
