Bell X-1 Rocket-powered research plane

• First aircraft to fly at supersonic speeds

• Piloted by Major Charles E. Yeager of US air Force

• Flown in October 14, 1947

XS-1

• Broke (local) sound barrier @ 1,066 km/hr speed

• Attained a top speed of 1,126 km/hr or Mach 1.06

• Dropped from the belly of a Boeing B-29 Mother ship

Soviet Tupolev Tu-144

• First Supersonic Transport

• First flight in June 1969

• Flying Mail between Moscow and Alma-Ata (Almaty) in 1975

Concorde

• First Supersonic Passenger-Carrying commercial airplane

• Built by aircraft manufacturers in Great Britain and France

• Made it first Transatlantic crossing on September 26, 1973

• Entered regular service in 1976

• 20 Concordes were built

• 14 Concordes were sold

  • 7 British Airways

  • 7 Air France

  • the rest were built as prototypes and flight test aircraft

• British Airways and Air France stopped flying it in 2003

Demise of Concorde

• Very Costly

  • Manufacturing Cost

  • Operating Cost

  • Maintenance Cost - Complexity

• Expensive to Operate (3 times as much fuel per passenger mile as a Subsonic aircraft) (Oil Cost)

  • 1970 - 1980

    • Golden Era for Oil Prices

• High Subsonic Noise Levels during Takeoffs and Landings (High Subsonic Noise near residential area complaints)

• Generally priced at about twice the regular first-class airfare (due to high cost expenses)

• Impractical for carrying cargo or mail due to limited space (too narrow thus, no space for cargo and mail)

• Fatal crash at the 1973 Paris Air Show (same year of debut)

• Need for Considerable federal funding (pioneer for supersonic air transportation)

• Lack of interest by the airlines (businessmen see this as not profitable)

• Major Challenges of addressing environmental concerns (Noise Pollution)

Disadvantages of High-Speed Flights

• Cost

• Noise

• Profitability

Advantage of High-Speed Flights

• Speed and Range

Main Source of income of Concorde

• Rich People specifically businessman and politicians who needs to be at a certain place at a certain time

High Speed Flight Limitations

• Circadian Dysrhythmia (Severe Jet Lag)

  • It is caused by the body regular asleep and awake cycle being out of sync with local time

  • Certain amount of time to rest is needed before they inboard another flight

• High Altitude

  • High Speed Flight is conducted much efficiently on high altitude due to less sonic boom effect

  • However, it compromises the pressurization system.

• Radiation

• Noise (Sonic Boom)

Sonic Boom

• It is a major problem which all supersonic aircrafts face

• it is used to refer to the shocks caused by the supersonic flight of an aircraft

Factors Affecting Sonic Boom Strength

• Aircraft Weight, Shape and Length

  • The Larger the Aircraft, More Air Molecules tends to push back

  • “The larger the Aircraft, the greater the effect of Sonic Boom”

• Aircraft Altitude

  • Supersonic flights are conducted at high altitudes to lessen the effect of sonic boom

  • “The higher the Altitude, the lesser the effect of Sonic Boom”

• Aircraft Maneuvers

  • More maneuvers made by the aircraft, more prone to Sonic Boom.

  • “More steady the aircraft, the lesser the effect of Sonic Boom”

• Location in Sonic Boom Carpet

  • Special topographic features in each area such as mountains, hills and valleys can create multiple reflections of shock waves thus affecting intensity.

• Attitude

  • orientation of the aircraft’s axes relative to its direction of motion.