Ten years ago, Concorde (unique and one of its kind!) made its final flight after a long stint of around three decades. It had four giant engines and a top speed of Mach 2. The flying time between New York and London was only three-and-a-half hours. The plane was special and exclusive. It had rich clientele and the pilots were so special that the US astronauts exceeded them in number.
Travelling faster than the speed of sound still allures scientists and so there are several projects trying to create the next generation of supersonic planes. Concorde being the benchmark flight, they are trying to correct all the faults of Concorde.
The new design will be better than the Russian Tupelov Tu-144 (nicknamed Concordeski. The designers hope to create a plane which will fly while others can only imagine such a flight.
Though the US Air Force’s SR-71 Blackbird Spyplane reached speeds of Mach 3.3, a supersonic commercial plane poses a completely different kinds of challenges as follows:
- It has to be economically viable.
- The safety standards are to be strictly adhered to.
- Travellers have to develop confidence.
