Aerion’s Demise and the Bitter Puncture of the Supersonic Travel…

Ten passengers, 7800 kilometers at Mach 1.4. London-New York in three hours. If the Concorde hadn't existed, we would have said supersonic commercial flying was too good to be true. More than once, the aviation industry desperately searched for a disruptive element. It is still looking for that element today,…

Virgin Galactic Unveils Mach 3 Aircraft Design

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. unveiled its design for a new high-speed commercial passenger aircraft on Monday, taking a key first step by signing an important supplier partner for the aircraft’s engines, the company announced in a press release. The initial supersonic design is targeting an aircraft capable of Mach 3,…

Planes Are Flying Longer but Not Faster

New technology developed by incumbent aircraft manufacturing giants Boeing and Airbus are pushing aircraft farther and farther. Singapore to Newark, currently the world’s longest flight by distance, clocks in at 17 to 18 hours nonstop. Qantas has challenged Boeing and Airbus to develop an aircraft that can fly nonstop from…

“She Flies! She Flies!”: Celebrating 50 Years of the Concorde

"She Flies! She Flies!" is the first sound that most people remember about this day 50 years ago. Raymond Baxter, the BBC's anchor that was covering the event shouted in excitement while the four Snecma Olympus 593 engines delivered full thrust and the Aerospatiale/BAC Concorde left the runway and was…

Betting on the Future: Boom Supersonic Gets a New Investor

Imagine if the Concorde took to the skies again. The iconic Concorde, except smaller, faster and able to traverse entire continents and oceans in a matter of a couple of hours. The next aircraft of the future. Partnering with eccentric British billionaire Richard Branson, Boom Technology is looking to make this…

Supersonic Airliner Scores Big in Paris

Boom Supersonic, an aircraft manufacturer developing a supersonic airliner, has announced that orders have tripled during this year’s Paris Air Show for its first aircraft. While specific airlines were not mentioned in the press release other than Virgin Atlantic which has already made its purchase public, the total aircraft ordered…

Built to Fail: Supersonic Aircraft

While we all admire the success and fame that has come with aircraft like the Boeing 747 or Airbus A320, not every design is successful. In this multi-part series, we will be looking into some of aviation’s designs that had huge potential and didn’t live up to the hype or…

Boom and The Hopeful Future for Supersonic Commercial Flight

The Concorde was the jet-airliner of its time, with the ability to travel twice the speed of sound (Mach 2.0), a higher than normal (60,000 feet), and seating for 92-128 passengers. The Concorde first entered into service in 1976 and remained in the air until 2003. Meaning "harmony" or "union," the…