However, despite impressive engineering, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has banned supersonic flight over the U.S. making popular flights such as LA to New York unlikely in the near future.
Companies including Nasa and Boeing are currently trying to develop supersonic aircraft of their own to reduce the noise – or boom – that the jets make when breaking the sound barrier.
Spike Aerospace unveiled the latest update to the Spike S-512 Supersonic Jet, a stunningly elegant, sleek and innovative business jet that will sweep passengers to their destinations at supersonic speeds. Flying 450 mph faster than any other civilian jet, the Spike S-512 will enable customers to do more and enjoy more out of life. London will be just 3 hours away from NYC – making day trips for business possible. Or Paris to Dubai for shopping and entertainment and back home in time for dinner.
The most noticeable change to the aircraft design is that the wings are now a modified delta wing. According to Senior Engineer Dr. Anutosh Moitra “the new delta wing of the S-512 delivers high aerodynamic efficiency and improved flight performance in both low-speed flight and supersonic cruise. The highly swept leading-edge reduces wave drag and consequently reduces fuel burn and increases range.”
We’ve also modified the tail to reduce drag and improve aircraft control in supersonic conditions. “Improved stability characteristics of the new S-512 design allowed us to eliminate the horizontal tail resulting in further reduction of drag and weight,” adds Dr. Moitra.
Spike Aerospace S-512 Ssupersonic Jet Specifications
Length: 131ft
Wing span: 60ft
Cabin length, height and width: 40ft, 6.2ft and 6.2ft
Basic operating weight: 38,000lbs
Maximum takeoff and landing weight: 84,000lbs
Maximum Payload: 6,000 lbs
Useable Fuel: 40,000lbs
Maximum range: 4,000 nautical miles (7,408km)
Engines:P W JT8D – there are two
Thrust: 19,000lbs per engine
Maximum passenger capacity: 18
Top speed: 1,100mph of Mach 1.6
Price: $60million to $80million or £36.3million to £48.4million
Anticipated delivery: December 2018
Aerion supersonic jet around 2021
US-based aircraft manufacturer Aerion has developed the Mach 1.5 Aerion AS2 supersonic business jet in collaboration with Airbus, which has been available to order since May and is priced at $120m (£78m, €107m), although test flights are not expected to begin until 2019. Aerion expects to be flying commercially in 2021.
Hypermach plans to go mach 4
UK-based HyperMach is developing the SonicStar, a business jet it claims will be capable of reaching Mach 4 (about 2,600 mph, or almost twice the speed of the Concorde), and which it says will be able to make the flight from New York to Dubai “in the time it takes to watch an inflight movie.”
The company has said the plane could enter production in the 2020s
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.
1 thought on “Aerion and Spike Aerospace racing to supersonic business jets around 2018-2021”
Comments are closed.