Experimental ‘Quiet’ 925mph Nasa Jet Dubbed ‘Flying Swordfish’ Paves Way For Supersonic Holidays After Historic Take-Off

Late last month, Nasa’s so-called “Flying Swordfish” blasted off from California – promising 925mph flights without a sonic boom – and aviation experts say that it could change the face of holiday travel.

Nasa and Lockheed Martin’s X-59 quiet supersonic plane has taken offCredit: Lockheed Martin

Concorde famously offered high-speed flights across the Atlantic.

But the sound of the sonic boom has always been a major block to allowing commercial supersonic flights over land.

To combat this problem, Nasa and Lockheed Martin have been developing an experimental X-59 aircraft that doesn’t create a sonic boom.

Instead it creates a sonic “thump”, which is 75PLdB (perceived decibel level) – or “about as loud as a car door closing”.

“From takeoff at our Skunk Works’ Palmdale facility to landing at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, everything performed exactly as planned,” Lockheed Martin said.

“The X-59 moved with the kind of confidence that comes from years of innovation, teamwork and cutting-edge solutions.

“This flight isn’t just a milestone – it’s momentum.

“We’re proving that the future of flight can be faster and quieter than ever before. And we’re proud to be leading the charge.”

The jet is just shy of 100 feet long, and is capable of reaching Mac 1.4 speeds of 925mph.

And it cruises at around 55,000 feet, which is far higher than a typical jet that would fly at altitudes of between 30,000 and 45,000 feet.

It has a wingspan of roughly 30 feet, stands about 14 feet tall, and has been branded the “Flying Swordfish” in science media due to its shape.

And that design is no accident: it’s specifically designed to allow for “quiet supersonic” flight.

“In collaboration with NASA’s Quesst Mission, the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works team is solving one of the most persistent challenges of supersonic flight – the sonic boom,” Lockheed Martin explained.

“The X-59 will be used to collect community response data on the acceptability of a quiet sonic boom generated by the unique design of the aircraft.

“The data will help NASA provide regulators with the information needed to establish an acceptable commercial supersonic noise standard to lift the ban on commercial supersonic travel over land.

“This breakthrough would open the door to an entirely new global market for aircraft manufacturers, enabling passengers to travel anywhere in the world in half the time it takes today.”

Lockheed Martin wants to fly the plane over populated areas to prove to “US and international regulators” that supersonic flight over land doesn’t need to be a major disturbence.

And the aerospace giant says that it “could bring us one step closer to quiet supersonic travel for passengers around the globe”.

The shape of the aircraft is designed to reduce the loudness of a sonic boom to a “gentle thump” – at least as you hear it on the ground.

The X-plane does this by separating the shock waves that produce the sonic booms to make them quieter.

“The resulting supersonic ‘heartbeat’ is dramatically quieter than the disruptive N-wave boom generated by today’s supersonic aircraft”, Lockheed Martin said.

Sadly, it’s still unclear how long it will take for over-land supersonic commercial flights to become a reality.

Nasa and Lockheed Martin will need to conduct more tests to give flight watchdogs enough info to make a decision on their regulations.

And once those types of flights are approved, it will still take time for commercial aircraft to be built using a quiet supersonic design and then adopted by airlines.

https://www.the-sun.com/author/sean-keach/

NASA To Develop Supersonic Plane That Can Travel From New York To London In 1Hr 30mins

NASA’s new supersonic plane will be faster than the speed of sound and nearly twice as fast as Concorde - flying passengers from New York to London in under one and a half hours.

Flights to New York are typically eight to nine hours, but this announcement from NASA means flight times will be drastically speedier than we have seen before.

The space agency announced plans for a supersonic passenger plane this week after they found fifty established routes that connect cities that would sell to flyers.

Commercial partners including Boeing, Rolls-Royce, and GE Aerospace have been contracted to create non-proprietary designs for concept vehicles.

The new planes could travel between Mach 2 and Mach 4 and surpass today’s aeroplanes which travel at 80% of the speed of sound.

Concorde had a maximum cruising speed of 1,354 mph, or Mach 2.04.

Its fastest transatlantic crossing was on February 7, 1996, when it completed the New York to London flight in 2 hours 52 minutes and 59 seconds.

The NASA studies found that the market exists for super-fast flights, but as the U.S. and other nations have banned supersonic flight over land, they would be limited to supersonic travel over oceans and seas.

This would include high-volume North Atlantic routes and those crossing the Pacific.

NASA’s Quest mission, aims to find a way to make supersonic travel over land possible, with its X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft.

Lori Ozoroski, project manager for NASA’s Commercial Supersonic Technology Project said: “We conducted similar concept studies over a decade ago at Mach 1.6-1.8, and those resulting roadmaps helped guide NASA research efforts since, including those leading to the X-59.

“These new studies will both refresh those looks at technology roadmaps and identify additional research needs for a broader high-speed range.

NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program (AAVP) is now moving into the next phase of high-speed travel research, which included awarding two 12-month contracts to companies to develop designs and roadmaps.

The roadmaps will explore air travel possibilities, outline risks and challenges, and identify needed technologies to make Mach 2-plus travel a reality.

Boeing is leading the first team, with partners Exosonic, GE Aerospace, Georgia Tech Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory, Rolls-Royce North American Technologies, and others.

Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems lead the second team, with partners Blue Ridge Research and Consulting, Boom Supersonic, and Rolls-Royce North American Technologies.

Each team will develop roadmaps to include airframe, power, propulsion, thermal management, and composite materials that can hold up under high-supersonic speeds.

They will also create un-trademarked designs for concept vehicles.

Mary Jo Long-Davis, manager of NASA’s Hypersonic Technology Project, said: “The design concepts and technology roadmaps are really important to have in our hands when the companies are finished.”

She added: “We are also collectively conscious of the need to account for safety, efficiency, economic, and societal considerations. It’s important to innovate responsibly so we return benefits to travelers and do no harm to the environment.”

Long-Davis and Ozoroski have been tasked by NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate and the AAVP to develop a high-speed strategy.

These conceptual vehicle designs and technology roadmaps are key to developing that strategy.

Once they have successfully engaged with the wider industry, NASA and its industry and academic partners will decide whether to continue the research with their own investments.

Source: https://www.mirror.co.uk/authors/emilia-randall/

United Airlines Sees A Supersonic Future

United Airlines aims to bring back supersonic travel before the decade is over with a plane that is currently just an artist’s drawing — even the prototype hasn’t flown yet.

The airline said Thursday that it plans to buy 15 jets from Boom Supersonic with an option for 35 more once the start-up company designs a plane that flies faster than the speed of sound while meeting safety and environmental standards.

United hopes to carry passengers on the plane in 2029. The airline said the plane will reduce flights between London and the New York area to just 3 1/2 hours and make Tokyo only six hours from San Francisco.

United declined to discuss financial terms, but Boom CEO Blake Scholl said the deal was worth $3 billion, or $200 million per plane with none of the discounting that is typical in the aircraft business.

It has been nearly two decades since the last flight of the supersonic Concorde, which British Airways and Air France began using in 1976 to zip passengers in luxury across the Atlantic. The last one was retired in 2003, three years after an Air France Concorde crashed into a hotel shortly after takeoff from Paris, killing everyone on board and four people on the ground.

Several companies are working to come up with new supersonic jets that would be more economical on fuel — and create fewer climate-changing emissions — than the Concorde.

Boom is working to develop an 88-seat plane it calls Overture, which it says will be the first supersonic airliner to fly on so-called sustainable fuel. Scholl said that a one-third sized prototype will make its first test flight later this year or early in 2022.

The Denver company said the plane will be capable of speeds up to 1.7 times the speed of sound, or about 1,300 mph. That is slower than the Concorde but more than twice as fast as many current airliners.

The endorsement from United is a huge lift for Boom. Another supersonic contender, Aerion, said last month that it was running short of money to get its plane, the AS2, into production.

Supersonic jets are often banned over populated areas because of the sonic booms they create. That eliminates many potential overland routes because the planes would have to fly at less efficient subsonic speeds.

Chicago-based United believes that its coastal hubs in San Francisco and Newark, New Jersey, and its corporate-traveler clientele make it better suited than its rivals to offer supersonic service.

Mike Leskinen, United’s vice president of corporate development and a former aerospace analyst, said United hopes to offer both premium and economy seating but that no final decisions have been made on cabin layout.

United is sensitive about the high fares that helped doom the Concorde, and is trusting that the cost to operate the Boom plane will come down over time as it has for other jets.

The Concorde was the pride of British and French aircraft companies, and it ushered in a new era of rapid travel over long distances. The plane had a distinctive delta-wing design that made it easily recognizable as it streaked overhead on its way to New York or Dulles Airport outside Washington.

Supersonic Aircraft Promises To Fly From New York To London In 11 Minutes

The Antipode would be able to reach Mach 24 or speeds of 12, 427 miles an hour. (Charles Bombardier/Imaginactive)

As the age of supersonic travel fast approaches, there is yet another concept aircraft that promises to go from New York to London in an unbelievable 11 minutes.

Called the Antipode, it would be powered by rocket boosters on its wings for takeoff and climb to 40,000 feet at Mach 5.

The acceleration boosters would then separate from the Antipod and fly back to the airbase by themselves. If that’s not impressive enough, the Antipod pilot would ignites its supersonic engines to hit Mach 24 – or speeds of 12,427 miles an hour, reports Forbes.  

The jet would be powered by liquid oxygen or kerosene rockets and in theory, it could carry up to 10 passengers.

(Charles Bombardier/Imaginactive)

Its designers say it would take a mere 11 minutes to fly from New York to London, 24 minutes to travel from New York to Shanghai and 32 minutes to get from New York to Sydney.

The industrial engineer behind the Antipod is Charles Bombardier, who designed another high-speed aircraft called the Skreemr jet – which was unveiled in October and claims to travel from London to New York in a half an hour.

Bombardier worked on the Antipod design in collaboration with Lunatic Koncepts founder Abhishek Roy.

To achieve speeds past Mach 5, the engineers had to solve the problem of extreme heat from air friction and the massive sonic boom it would create over land. Objects traveling at that speed can reach upwards of 170 F, and there are few materials that can sustain those temperatures.

To combat these effects, the hypersonic jet would use an aerodynamic technique called long penetration mode (LPM) that would channel air flowing over the aircraft, cooling it down and helping to muffle the noise as it breaks the sound barrier.

 “I wanted to create an aircraft concept capable of reaching its antipode — or diametrical opposite — as fast as possible,” Bombardier told Forbes.

Right now the design is just that—a design.  But Bombardier hopes the aircraft could be used for military or business travelers.  Let’s hope it comes with a frequent flier program, because the costs will be out of this world.

Source: FoxNews.com

10 Ways Air Travel Will Change In 2016, Including Better Food.

Alamy

Long-haul flights will increase thanks to widebody planes like the new Airbus A350.

Creative seating, upscale airports, and more affordable private air travel are all on the horizon in the new year.

This past year fliers experienced plenty of turbulence in the skies, what with labor disputes disrupting international flying, and new security fears after the bombing of a Russian airliner. But 2015 was also a time of stability for U.S. airlines, with on-time performance and baggage handling showing big improvements. So what’s in store for fliers in 2016? Here are some trends to watch in the coming year.

AIRLINES WILL GET CREATIVE WITH SEAT SOLUTIONS.

Overcrowding in the skies isn’t going away; the typical flight in the U.S. takes off with more than 80 percent of its seats occupied. So look for more unusual seating ideas to hit patent offices—and perhaps your next flight—as airlines seek ways to cram us in further. Among the weirder ones: Airbus’ latest seat patent would stack people in a split-level, mezzanine-style layout. But the most far-out design, literally, would create a bubble on top of the plane for a privileged few who presumably would pay more for the 360-degree view. And in a more practical design that would be welcomed by many a suffering traveler, B/E Aerospace applied for patent for a unique seat that would adjust legroom based on the height of the passenger.

AFFORDABLE WAYS TO FLY ON A PRIVATE JET? DO TELL.

Who wouldn’t want to fly private—if they could afford it? We may find out in 2016, as a new class of aviation entrepreneurs offers more alternatives to traditional air transportation, building on the success thus far of companies like Surf Air and Beacon, which offer reasonably priced trips out of private air terminals on the West and East Coasts, respectively. Their secret: smaller turbo props that can keep costs down. Look for a new jet-based variation on this theme to emerge in the L.A. area early in the year—plus more apps like Blade to make booking these services even easier.

THE WORLD WILL SHRINK AS LIGHTER, FASTER PLANES ARRIVE.

Airbus’s newest widebody plane, the A350, made its first transatlantic flight in December under Qatar Airways’ colors; the 300-passenger craft, along with its direct competitor, Boeing’s Dreamliner, is already reshaping route maps as airlines use the carbon-body jets—built with composite materials instead of the usual aluminum—to launch new ultra-long-haul flights. Singapore will fly the A350 as it revives its 19-hour nonstop between Newark and Changi by 2018.

SUPERSONIC AIR TRAVEL WILL STAGE A COMEBACK.

Ever since Concorde faded into aviation history in 2003, airline travelers have been waiting for the return of supersonic service. Their wait may soon be over, as next year the world’s first supersonic business jet will will get closer to reality as part of an Airbus-backed project. The 12-passenger jet will make a trip fromNew York to London in under one hour—flying at just under twice the speed of sound, or 1,300 mph, when it’s over the ocean—and below Mach 1 over land. If all goes well, test flights should begin in five years.

TSA WILL PUT THE BRAKES ON EXPEDITED SCREENING.

When TSA came out with its PreCheck expedited screening program a few years ago, it felt like an exclusive club—with airlines inviting their most elite fliers to be charter members. TSA may now be wishing it could return to those days; after working hard to expand the popular program, which costs $85 for five years, the agency also began allowing regular passengers to sail through on a random basis to ease backlogs during peak travel times. Frequent fliers were annoyed, and now, with security concerns on the rise, TSA is restricting these lanes yet again to members only. Even still, fliers have been noticing that the special lanes—which free passengers from having to remove shoes, laptops, and jackets—have been open less frequently due to "security and staffing" issues, putting everyone into the same slow-moving lines. Expect this trend to continue in 2016, but for international fliers returning home, things may improve as the U.S. adds Global Entry facilities to more customs gateways abroad.

Courtesy Blue Smoke

Apps like Airgrub help travelers find the best spots—like Blue Smoke on the Road in JFK's Terminal 4—to grab a meal.

THE ELECTION YEAR WILL BRING SCRUTINY OF AIRLINES’ PRICING, PROFITS.

If it’s an election year, then it must be time for airline bashing; after all, fed-up fliers do go to the polls. In the past, candidates have successfully seized on popular resentment of high airfares and deteriorating service. But in the presidential race in 2016, the focus will more likely be the airlines’ high profits and whether airfares should drop along with the price of oil. The Justice Department is already investigating airlines for collusion on prices. Airlines and their workers’ unions may get some support from politicians in their battle against the Middle East carriers; charges that those airlines are unfairly subsidized and are costing U.S. jobs could gain traction as election day nears.

NICHE AND BUDGET AIRLINES WILL GROW ABROAD, BUT NOT STATESIDE.

Budget carriers are already crossing the Atlantic, but mainly it’s a one-way street, with European players like Norwegian and Iceland’s Wow Air launching new nonstop flights to the U.S., but no U.S. discounter has yet jumped in. Next year we’ll see more mainstream lines getting into the act, with Lufthansa, for one, planning new routes to the U.S. on its low-cost subsidiary Eurowings. But in the states, the outlook fornew low-fare airlines is dismal due to the difficulty in securing financing and getting past government regulators: a couple of upstart wannabes have gone nowhere, including recent attempts to revive thePeople Express and Eastern Airlines brands.

AIRPORTS WILL GO UPSCALE.

If you’ve been noticing a lot of “pardon our appearance” signs at airports lately, take note: Passengers are beginning to reap the rewards of these construction projects as airport restaurants, shops, and other amenities get a facelift. Already the reviews are positive with J.D. Power, in its just-released North America Airport Satisfaction Survey, declaring that travelers “are substantially more satisfied with retail experiences in the airport.” Major hubs are also opening new hotels, like the luxury lodging that will abut the iconic TWA terminal at JFK, as well as improving transit links. In 2016, look for airports to devise more ways to part you from your money; at Newark, for example, at United’s Terminal C, you can pay for meals and merchandise with miles instead of cash.

Creative seating, upscale airports, and more affordable private air travel are all on the horizon in the new year.

This past year fliers experienced plenty of turbulence in the skies, what with labor disputes disrupting international flying, and new security fears after the bombing of a Russian airliner. But 2015 was also a time of stability for U.S. airlines, with on-time performance and baggage handling showing big improvements. So what’s in store for fliers in 2016? Here are some trends to watch in the coming year.

AIRLINES WILL GET CREATIVE WITH SEAT SOLUTIONS.

Overcrowding in the skies isn’t going away; the typical flight in the U.S. takes off with more than 80 percent of its seats occupied. So look for more unusual seating ideas to hit patent offices—and perhaps your next flight—as airlines seek ways to cram us in further. Among the weirder ones: Airbus’ latest seat patent would stack people in a split-level, mezzanine-style layout. But the most far-out design, literally, would create a bubble on top of the plane for a privileged few who presumably would pay more for the 360-degree view. And in a more practical design that would be welcomed by many a suffering traveler, B/E Aerospace applied for patent for a unique seat that would adjust legroom based on the height of the passenger.

AFFORDABLE WAYS TO FLY ON A PRIVATE JET? DO TELL.

Who wouldn’t want to fly private—if they could afford it? We may find out in 2016, as a new class of aviation entrepreneurs offers more alternatives to traditional air transportation, building on the success thus far of companies like Surf Air and Beacon, which offer reasonably priced trips out of private air terminals on the West and East Coasts, respectively. Their secret: smaller turbo props that can keep costs down. Look for a new jet-based variation on this theme to emerge in the L.A. area early in the year—plus more apps like Blade to make booking these services even easier.

THE WORLD WILL SHRINK AS LIGHTER, FASTER PLANES ARRIVE.

Airbus’s newest widebody plane, the A350, made its first transatlantic flight in December under Qatar Airways’ colors; the 300-passenger craft, along with its direct competitor, Boeing’s Dreamliner, is already reshaping route maps as airlines use the carbon-body jets—built with composite materials instead of the usual aluminum—to launch new ultra-long-haul flights. Singapore will fly the A350 as it revives its 19-hour nonstop between Newark and Changi by 2018.

SUPERSONIC AIR TRAVEL WILL STAGE A COMEBACK.

Ever since Concorde faded into aviation history in 2003, airline travelers have been waiting for the return of supersonic service. Their wait may soon be over, as next year the world’s first supersonic business jet will will get closer to reality as part of an Airbus-backed project. The 12-passenger jet will make a trip fromNew York to London in under one hour—flying at just under twice the speed of sound, or 1,300 mph, when it’s over the ocean—and below Mach 1 over land. If all goes well, test flights should begin in five years.

TSA WILL PUT THE BRAKES ON EXPEDITED SCREENING.

When TSA came out with its PreCheck expedited screening program a few years ago, it felt like an exclusive club—with airlines inviting their most elite fliers to be charter members. TSA may now be wishing it could return to those days; after working hard to expand the popular program, which costs $85 for five years, the agency also began allowing regular passengers to sail through on a random basis to ease backlogs during peak travel times. Frequent fliers were annoyed, and now, with security concerns on the rise, TSA is restricting these lanes yet again to members only. Even still, fliers have been noticing that the special lanes—which free passengers from having to remove shoes, laptops, and jackets—have been open less frequently due to "security and staffing" issues, putting everyone into the same slow-moving lines. Expect this trend to continue in 2016, but for international fliers returning home, things may improve as the U.S. adds Global Entry facilities to more customs gateways abroad.

Courtesy Blue Smoke

Apps like Airgrub help travelers find the best spots—like Blue Smoke on the Road in JFK's Terminal 4—to grab a meal.

THE ELECTION YEAR WILL BRING SCRUTINY OF AIRLINES’ PRICING, PROFITS.

If it’s an election year, then it must be time for airline bashing; after all, fed-up fliers do go to the polls. In the past, candidates have successfully seized on popular resentment of high airfares and deteriorating service. But in the presidential race in 2016, the focus will more likely be the airlines’ high profits and whether airfares should drop along with the price of oil. The Justice Department is already investigating airlines for collusion on prices. Airlines and their workers’ unions may get some support from politicians in their battle against the Middle East carriers; charges that those airlines are unfairly subsidized and are costing U.S. jobs could gain traction as election day nears.

NICHE AND BUDGET AIRLINES WILL GROW ABROAD, BUT NOT STATESIDE.

Budget carriers are already crossing the Atlantic, but mainly it’s a one-way street, with European players like Norwegian and Iceland’s Wow Air launching new nonstop flights to the U.S., but no U.S. discounter has yet jumped in. Next year we’ll see more mainstream lines getting into the act, with Lufthansa, for one, planning new routes to the U.S. on its low-cost subsidiary Eurowings. But in the states, the outlook fornew low-fare airlines is dismal due to the difficulty in securing financing and getting past government regulators: a couple of upstart wannabes have gone nowhere, including recent attempts to revive thePeople Express and Eastern Airlines brands.

AIRPORTS WILL GO UPSCALE.

If you’ve been noticing a lot of “pardon our appearance” signs at airports lately, take note: Passengers are beginning to reap the rewards of these construction projects as airport restaurants, shops, and other amenities get a facelift. Already the reviews are positive with J.D. Power, in its just-released North America Airport Satisfaction Survey, declaring that travelers “are substantially more satisfied with retail experiences in the airport.” Major hubs are also opening new hotels, like the luxury lodging that will abut the iconic TWA terminal at JFK, as well as improving transit links. In 2016, look for airports to devise more ways to part you from your money; at Newark, for example, at United’s Terminal C, you can pay for meals and merchandise with miles instead of cash.

Written by Barbara Peterson

 www.cntraveler.com

This Jet Would Travel From NYC To L.A. in Under 3 Hours

The miracle of flight has grown stale. Our great grandparents may have been impressed by the ability to travel from New York to Los Angeles in five hours, but today, we're less than excited to spend that much time cramped in a 737.

Lockheed Martin is now working on an aircraft for commercial airlines that would make that trip much shorter.

The N+2 jet would cut the time spent traveling across the United States in half, from five hours to two and a half, and would seat 80 passengers.

One challenge the Lockheed Martin engineers are facing is building a craft that can travel at supersonic speeds but not make sonic booms, which are created by objects traveling faster than 760 miles per hour, the speed of sound. The N+2 has one engine on the topside of the craft, and two under the wings, in a configuration designed to reduce noise.

"To achieve revolutionary reductions in supersonic transportation airport noise, a totally new kind of propulsion system is being developed," Michael Buonanno, Lockheed Martin's manager of the NASA N+2 program, told the Daily Mail. "We are also exploring new techniques for low noise jet exhaust, integrated fan noise suppression, airframe noise suppression and computer customized airport noise abatement."

Lockheed isn't the only company developing supersonic aviation. Airbus is working with aerospace firm Aerion to create a jet that would make the trip from London to New York in three hours; a trip from Los Angeles to Tokyo could potentially take only six hours.

Earlier this year, Aerion revealed plans for its first supersonic business jet.

Although the Aerion AS2 business jet would fly much faster than a typical commercial airliner (1,217 miles per hour), it wouldn't fly as fast as the Concorde (1,350 miles per hour).

The last Concorde was retired in 2003. Operating the Concorde was an economic loss for the airlines that took it on, and the downturn in the aviation industry around the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 led to the decision to retire it.

It remains to be seen whether or not the new supersonic jets would succeed where the Concorde failed.

Contributed by Jessica Plautz, mashable.com

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