Meet the new Concorde:
The supersonic jet that
could fly London to New
York in under two hours
Transatlantic flights have never been the same since Concorde flights came to a halt in 2003. The British-French turbojet, which still holds the record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic by a commercial aircraft after cruising at more than twice the speed of sound, made its final flight in June 2003, the last time travellers could fly to the US in under three hours.
While its retirement may have marked the first time in aviation history that we took a step backwards, there is some good news from a new supersonic jet hoping to herald a new era of travelling. As reported by The Telegraph, Spike Aerospace’s Spike S-512 Supersonic Jet might just be our next greatest opportunity to travel from London to the US in record time.
The Telegraph reveals that the new jet offers 'both low sonic boom (the explosive noise caused by the shock wave from an aircraft when they break the sound barrier) and a commitment to offering a "Zero Carbon" flight by 2040.'
The Spike S-512 has been designed to transport up to 18 passengers and travel at a speed of Mach 1.6, with the ability to do 3,000-mile trips including the likes of typically long-haul journeys such as London to New York or Dubai to Hong Kong in around three and a half hours, all 'while maintaining low sonic boom.'
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The developers are said to be working on increasing the speed of the jet to Mach 3.3 meaning travellers could fly from London to New York in an hour and half.
Spike Aerospace are hoping to begin sending humans in the aircraft for trials next year in the hope that it might be ready for commercial flights by 2028.
THE SPIKE S-512 JET
Spike Aerospace founder and CEO Vik Kachoria told the newspaper the jet is focused towards business travel. 'Zoom works great but if you’re doing a billion dollar deal, you really want to be there on the ground, to touch and feel and see it.'
Inside the aircraft, windows have been removed to keep noise to a minimum and instead replaced with screens which can give a panoramic view of the outside of the aircraft.
Kachoria said, 'The Concorde was ridiculously noisy. Most conversations between
two people are between 65 and 75 decibels and the noise level found within most plane cabins is around 85 decibels. Not quite a vacuum cleaner but not far off. Our windowless aircraft will be about 60 decibels, so lower than the sound of a conversation. No noise-cancelling headphones required.'
According to Kachoria, the price tag on flying on the Spike S-512 is likely up be around the same price as a business class seat on a mainstream aircraft, 'Remember, almost every technological innovation we’ve had has started out for the uber-rich: cars, telephones, computers, flat screen TVs – the first ones cost $25,000 in the 90s and now they’re $200.'
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