Supersonic Jet To Fly From London To Sydney In Four Hours

Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Gulfstream - with the help of NASA - are working towards the first supersonic commercial passenger airliner, aimed initially at the business jet market.  "The fact that the big boys are all close confirms industry rumours that a new generation of supersonic planes is now, finally, within reach," a Gulfstream engineer told the Sunday Times. All three companies claim they are close to overcoming what was Concorde’s biggest obstacle - the ‘sonic boom’ which rolls in the jet’s wake. The aircraft will create a sound described by the engineer as “closer to a puff or plop”. The design will be sketched out at next month's Farnborough air show in London along with other supersonic prototypes, say show executives. "Lighter composite materials, more advanced engines and smaller fuselages could enable new jets to travel about twice as fast as Concorde, which flew at up to 2187 km/h" says The Sunday Times. "The jets will carry passengers at speeds in excess of 4000 km/h, allowing them to cruise in luxury from London to Sydney, just over 16,000km away" in four hours. The jet, codenamed X-54, wouldn’t fly until after 2020, which means a full-sized jet could be available by 2030, assuming the new technology was reliable and successful. The sonic boom was the major factor that prevented Concorde from ever being developed beyond an expensive experimental aircraft. It flew for the last time in November 2003.