With the last year having had so many travel restrictions, it’s no wonder airlines are coming back with a boom – a supersonic boom that is!
Flying faster than the speed of sound is something you’d expect to see in a sci-fi movie – but not anymore.
One airline reveals they will soon be offering its elite passengers a flight so quick, they’ll arrive at their destination before their legs ever get a chance to cramp up!
Proud American Traveler has already reported on billionaire Yusaku Maezawa who wants to award a select few artists with free tickets to a trip to the moon on Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket.
But while an extraterrestrial destination may only be achievable for a small number of people (at least for now), United Airlines plans on making flying at Mach speeds a regular occurrence, reports CNN.
U.S. Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager was the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound in the Bell X-1 on October 14, 1947.
Unfortunately, flying that fast does cause a deafening sound known as a sonic boom – a result of all the disturbances in air pressure coming together in one big shock.
These shockwaves can be heard from up to 30 miles away and can give your body a frightening shake.
As you can imagine, Americans were not happy with these shocks randomly occurring above their homes, and in the 50s and 60s, there were nearly 40,000 claims against the Air Force, according to Lockheed Martin.
This led to the FAA banning overland supersonic commercial flights, an ordinance still in effect today.
But Michael Buonanno, chief engineer for NASA’s Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST) X-plane program, says Lockheed Martin is now partnering with NASA to work on lifting the FAA’s ban on overland supersonic commercial travel, although, it could be years before coming to fruition.
In the meantime, a transatlantic flight at Mach speeds is still an attainable goal for the immediate future.
United Airlines has placed an order for 15 new jets set to fly at Mach 1.7 speeds – over 1300mph.
This is a game-changer for airlines!
A passenger would be able to leave New York after lunch and still make their dinner reservations for London’s Chiltern Firehouse that evening.
The Overture Planes, as United’s new fleet is called, are set to carry passengers by 2029 (even though manufacturer, Boom Supersonic, hasn’t begun building them yet).
Transpacific flights are expected to be available as well, making the typical exhausting 9-hour flight from San Francisco to Tokyo only an exhausting 6-hour journey.
It seems in the not-to-distant future, we’ll be able to take an air-taxi to the airport and then get on a plane that can fly us to anywhere in the world within mere hours.
Who needs the DeLorean or Millennium Falcon when advanced travel is here?
If only the Wright brothers could see how far flight has come now!