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The main goals are efficiency and pollution, and eliminating the supersonic boom is a secondary goal. "Goals include showcasing how airliners can burn half the

by ardit33 11y ago

The main goals are efficiency and pollution, and eliminating the supersonic boom is a secondary goal. "Goals include showcasing how airliners can burn half the fuel and generate 75 percent less pollution during each flight as compared to now, while also being much quieter than today’s jets – perhaps even when flying supersonic. " "Meanwhile, other experimental aircraft also are under consideration, including those with novel shapes that break the mold of the traditional tube and wing airplane, and others that are propelled by hybrid electric power. "

lucaspiller 11y ago
Just for comparison the Concorde (which used engines based on a military bomber) used around 5x as much fuel as an A380 to transport passengers over the same distance - so there is a lot of room for improvement. Economically I don't think there will ever be a market for the speed alone to command paying a much higher ticket price, but maybe technologies can be developed that will mean supersonic aircraft are as efficient (or more so) than subsonic aircraft.
paganel 11y ago
> The main goals are efficiency and pollution, and eliminating the supersonic boom is a secondary goal. The supersonic boom should be one of the top priorities, also. Just look at this well-known video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=annkM6z1-FE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=annkM6z1-FE , you can't have that happening over populated territory, meaning land. Adding to that, just wanted to say that airplanes' sound pollution is a real and damaging thing. My parents live in a remote Eastern European village but, apparently, the skies over their house is a commercial airplane highway, as there were moments when I could count 6 or 7 of them up in the sky at the same time, including a big, white whale which looked like an A380. Anyway, it's not fun when it's 5 in the morning, you're surrounded by the four thick walls of your parents' house but you can still hear the airplane flying above your house at 30,000 feet.
Theodores 11y ago
My neighbours with fast sports cars and massive SUVs don't see fuel costs as a big part of their transport choice. If they had any sense they would drive Priuses, Teslas and sensible Hondas, but they don't. Therefore, is it not possible to have supersonic jets for the likes of captains of industry, sports and other mega stars? Small, supersonic private jets? I can see a market for that. Lewis Hamilton would be first in the queue as would those Gulf 'sheikhs' that have small fleets of Boeing planes.

by ardit33 11y ago

lucaspiller 11y ago

Just for comparison the Concorde (which used engines based on a military bomber) used around 5x as much fuel as an A380 to transport passengers over the same distance - so there is a lot of room for improvement. Economically I don't think there will ever be a market for the speed alone to command paying a much higher ticket price, but maybe technologies can be developed that will mean supersonic aircraft are as efficient (or more so) than subsonic aircraft.

paganel 11y ago

> The main goals are efficiency and pollution, and eliminating the supersonic boom is a secondary goal. The supersonic boom should be one of the top priorities, also. Just look at this well-known video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=annkM6z1-FE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=annkM6z1-FE , you can't have that happening over populated territory, meaning land. Adding to that, just wanted to say that airplanes' sound pollution is a real and damaging thing. My parents live in a remote Eastern European village but, apparently, the skies over their house is a commercial airplane highway, as there were moments when I could count 6 or 7 of them up in the sky at the same time, including a big, white whale which looked like an A380. Anyway, it's not fun when it's 5 in the morning, you're surrounded by the four thick walls of your parents' house but you can still hear the airplane flying above your house at 30,000 feet.

Theodores 11y ago

My neighbours with fast sports cars and massive SUVs don't see fuel costs as a big part of their transport choice. If they had any sense they would drive Priuses, Teslas and sensible Hondas, but they don't. Therefore, is it not possible to have supersonic jets for the likes of captains of industry, sports and other mega stars? Small, supersonic private jets? I can see a market for that. Lewis Hamilton would be first in the queue as would those Gulf 'sheikhs' that have small fleets of Boeing planes.