The U.S. should lead the way back to supersonic flight

WASHINGTON - Fifty years ago, the first Concorde prototype roared over the 28th International Paris Air Show, initiating a supersonic era that enabled flight from New York to London in just over three hours. Four years later, in 1973 — only 70 years after the Wright brothers first took to the skies — the Concorde made its debut transatlantic journey, writes Michael Kratsios for the Washington Post. Continue reading original article

The Intelligent Aerospace take:

June 25, 2019- Kratsios, President Donald Trump's nominee to be chief technology officer of the United States, argues that the time is now to re-embrace civil supersonic flight. Acting FAA administrator Daniel Elwell announced at the Paris Air Show that the agency would be overhauling supersonic air travel regulations to open up supersonic travel in and over the United States once again. Engineers have quieted down the once cacophonous sonic boom into something a bit less jarring, though a study shows that supersonic aircraft could consume 5 to 7 times as much fuel as subsonic passenger aircraft and heavily impacted air traffic regions could be exposed to 150 to 200 sonic booms per day. Exposure to aircraft noise has been linked to sleep disturbance, learning delay in children, mental health problems, and heart disease, so it's not all smooth sailing in a world more concerned with noise - and traditional - pollution. 

Related: Aerion and Boeing team up on AS2 supersonic business jet

Related: Study says return of supersonic passenger travel could result in sonic booms every five minutes in parts of Western Europe and North America

Related: Collins to provide avionics for NASA's supersonic X-59

Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Intelligent Aerospace