Race to build supersonic airliner
The race is on to build a supersonic passenger jet to replace Concorde which was withdrawn from service 13 years ago. In the US, NASA selected a team led by Lockheed Martin to complete a preliminary design for the QueSST X-plane. The aim is to develop a way for an aircraft to fly faster than sound without causing a loud sonic boom. QueSST is designed to fly at Mach 1.4, at a height of 55,000 feet. The aircraft is shaped to separate the shocks generated by air pressure. It is planned to produce a small 'thump' noise which technicians refer to as a 'heartbeat'. Sir Richard Branson has ordered 10 planes being built by a company he has backed, called Boom Technologies. The business says it already has 76 orders for the aircraft which will carry 40 -50 passengers at up to twice the speed of sound. It expects the planes to be operational within six years. In the UK. Oxfordshire firm, Reaction Engines has been developing a turbine that combines both jet and rocket technologie...