Fly and Be Calm
Imagine talking to your friend in Dubai from the airport in Seattle, WA. “See you in three hours!” It sounds absurd, but Boeing engineers plan to make it a reality within the next 30 years. Boeing, a Seattle-based company, described the new aircraft design at an industry conference in Atlanta this week.
Humankind Has Already Tried And Failed At Ultra-Fast Flying
From 1976 to 2003, the Concorde aircraft flew routes across the North Atlantic Ocean. The plane could reach Mach 2.04 (1,565 mph). The trip from New York to London took just under four hours. Boeing’s new hypersonic concept plane plans to do it in two.
Concorde Latest News
Aviation took a step back when the Concorde was permanently grounded three years after a deadly crash in France. Since 2003, humankind has been restricted to cruising speeds of about 550 miles an hour.
New Plane, New Incredible Speeds
Just how fast do you have to go to make it from New York to London in two hours? Five times the speed of sound, or Mach 5. The Seattle-based company thinks that 3,800 miles per hour will be achievable 20-30 years from now.
Huffington Post
Speed is easy. What’s hard is turning a profit. The Concorde was ultimately grounded for economic reasons. Boeing thinks they may be able to solve the major hurdles that led to its demise.
It Can Deliver The Cargo, But Can It Bring Home The Bacon?
Stuart Craig, an assistant professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering at the University of Arizona, who is not affiliated with Boeing, thinks that new technologies are making high-speed travel more attractive to travelers.
Wired
The new design will allow for a cruising altitude of 30,000 to 40,000 feet. The ride will be smooth as butter while passengers gaze at the curvature of the Earth. One of the reasons the Concorde failed was due to limited flight routes. Routes were limited because of the sonic boom that the plane triggered. Since then, researchers at NASA have made significant advancements to reduce sonic booms.
Above the aircraft will be nothing but the blackness of space. Buy a ticket, press play on your favorite David Bowie track, and travel the world!