One of the most exciting ways to travel, supersonic flight, might get another chance at stardom following Concorde's grounding in 2003, thanks to a company called Aerion and the project they are working on.
Called Aerion Supersonic Business Jet, or SBJ, the plane is not for mass transit though, but more of a corporate-type airplane. It can seat 12 passengers at most and can fly at about Mach 1.5 for some 4,000 miles (6,437 km).
To put in words we can all understand, it can travel from Paris to New York in a little over four hours (that's 3,624 miles or 5,832 kilometers in a straight line).
But that's not all. SBJ was created is such a way that it can be used at near-Mach speeds in the US as well. Since supersonic flight is banned there, Aerion thought to give the plane a wing design which allows it to reach Mach 0.98.
The plane is not some fantasy of a startup company. According to Live Science, SBJ is currently undegoing wind tunnel tests of its components.
“It is the enabling technology that enables the SBJ to economically fly at both high subsonic speeds as well as supersonic,“ Brian Barents, Aerion vice chairman told the source. “The effect is a substantially reduced drag on the airframe. It sets a new frontier of high speed flight with very economical performance.”
Until SBJ becomes a reality though, we'll have to make due with the possible revival of the Concorde for the London Olympics. As we already reported, a partnership between British Save Concorde Group (SCG) and French group Olympus 593 is trying to get the plane back in shape for some heritage flights.
Called Aerion Supersonic Business Jet, or SBJ, the plane is not for mass transit though, but more of a corporate-type airplane. It can seat 12 passengers at most and can fly at about Mach 1.5 for some 4,000 miles (6,437 km).
To put in words we can all understand, it can travel from Paris to New York in a little over four hours (that's 3,624 miles or 5,832 kilometers in a straight line).
But that's not all. SBJ was created is such a way that it can be used at near-Mach speeds in the US as well. Since supersonic flight is banned there, Aerion thought to give the plane a wing design which allows it to reach Mach 0.98.
The plane is not some fantasy of a startup company. According to Live Science, SBJ is currently undegoing wind tunnel tests of its components.
“It is the enabling technology that enables the SBJ to economically fly at both high subsonic speeds as well as supersonic,“ Brian Barents, Aerion vice chairman told the source. “The effect is a substantially reduced drag on the airframe. It sets a new frontier of high speed flight with very economical performance.”
Until SBJ becomes a reality though, we'll have to make due with the possible revival of the Concorde for the London Olympics. As we already reported, a partnership between British Save Concorde Group (SCG) and French group Olympus 593 is trying to get the plane back in shape for some heritage flights.