There are those who believe we are close to getting it

There was a time when we could fly from London to New York in less than three hours, while today that same journey usually lasts about eight hours. Yes, we currently have more modern, comfortable and efficient airplanes, such as Boeing 787 Dreamlinerhe Airbus A350 or the Airbus A321xlrbut none of them is as fast as the Concordewhich could move more than 2,100 kilometers per hour driven by its powerful engines Rolls-Royce Olympus 593.

The era of commercial supersonic flights ended 21 years ago, on October 24, 2003, when the famous AngloFrancesa aircraft took off and landed for the last time. Many passengers captured certain moments of that historical farewell with their handmade videos. We are in 2025 and Some believe that the successor of the mythical plane is closeralthough for any project to be successful, it must overcome several key challenges that marked the fate of its predecessor.

What went wrong with the concorde

The plane that during the twentieth century was considered the way to follow through the industry flew just 27 years. He began operating with British Airways and Air France in 1976 and was removed from the service in 2003. This promise of passenger transport faded for several reasons. The economic without a place had an important role. The concorde consumed so much fuel that The tickets were very expensive. It was economically a ruin and never became a generalized transport option.

On the other hand, the Concorde was an inherently noisy plane. Not only did it generate a significant rumble by taking off and land, but also in full flight. By exceeding the speed of sound, it produced a shock wave known as Sonic sipingwhich caused numerous criticisms. As a consequence, supersonic flights were restricted to routes on the ocean to avoid discomfort in urban areas, considerably limiting the routes that these airplanes could operate.

The popular supersonic concord plane

Although this metallic bird had an outstanding security history, An accident occurred on July 25, 2000 accelerated its decline. A Concorde crashed shortly after taking off from the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, causing the death of All passengers and crew on boardas well as four people on land. After the tragedy, the entire fleet remained on the ground while the investigation was carried out to clarify what happened. It was the only fatal accident in the history of the Concorde.

The road to the next supersonic plane

Supersonic aircraft, those that have a sonic range that goes from Mach 1.2 to Mach 5, are restricted to the military and experimental world. That is, no commercial aircraft of similar features operates, but the projects to change this scenario are underway. Boom Technology It is one of the most prominent actors. The company was founded in 2014 in Denver, in Colorado, and since then it has received investments from several irrigation funds that have seen great potential in it.

Boom Overture Concept

Its objective is clear: they want to develop a worthy successor of the concord and intend to do well to guarantee the success of the project. Here the Overture enters the scene, a concept of just over 61 meters long with capacity for 64-80 passengers. They claim that it will reach a Mach 1.7 cruise speed and can fly to supersonic speeds on land No Audible Sonic Batterthanks to what they call “Boomless Cruise” This will allow you to reach destinations that were impossible for the concord.

Boomless Cruise

Boom says that his plane can operate on more than 600 routes in a profitable way, another key point for airlines to be interested in buying it. At the design level, the plane will have a long nose and a high angle of attack. To do this, pilots must rely on a reality system increases to have good visibility of the track. The plane will be in charge of Honeywell, which has reached an agreement with Boom to adapt its latest anthem system to the future supersonic plane.

Boom Overture Concept

The American firm says that it is working with important actors in the world of aviation such as Collins Aerospace, Safran, Leonardo and Universal Avionics. He has also signed Mike Bannister, who was a chief pilot of the Concorde Fleet of British Airways for almost a decade, and has finished the construction of the Superfactory Overture in GreensboroNorth Carolina, where the first assembly line destined to produce 33 overture supersonic aircraft per year.

Boom is testing part of the Overture technology in a small experimental plane called XB-1, which recently reached a milestone when completing its first supersonic flight. But it is not the only one in the race to revive commercial supersonic flights. NASA also works on it with the X-59an airplane designed to demonstrate that it is possible to fly to supersonic speeds without an audible sonic patunter and, with it, redefine the rules that prohibit this type of flights on land.

Images | Daniel Schwen / Wikimedia Commons ( CC by-SA 3.0) | British Airways | Boom (1, 23)

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