Do you remember the days when we had a car but then had to turn it in and go back to the horse and buggy? Of course you don’t because humans never go backward with technology but wait, that’s exactly what we did in 2003.
Are you trying to remember back to this time? Here are a few things that happened in 2003 not so long ago for some of us. Others might be in dismay and are wondering where have all the years gone?
The Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates over Texas upon re-entry, killing all seven astronauts. Super Bowl XXXVII: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeat the Oakland Raiders 48–21. (Which I watched in Las Vegas at the Stardust Hotel…also gone) Elf, directed by Jon Favreau, is released in theaters, and the Concorde aircraft fleet is retired from service.
The Concord was quite simply the best in luxury travel, back in the day and a technological masterpiece. Your seat might not have been all that big, but who cares because you won’t be spending that much time in it. You could fly from New York to London in three hours at a maximum cruising speed of 1,354 miles per hour, or Mach 2.04 more than twice the speed of sound. Basically, your ticket price of around $6,187.00 was the cost for you to not waste time.
High-class government officials, millionaires, models, and CEOs all took advantage of this massive time savings, and no one even blinked an eye at the cost. You could leave New York late morning and arrive in London in time for a spot of tea that night. When the Concord was retired, it was a big thing to a young me, dreaming of the day I could save my pennies and jump aboard the supersonic magic red carpet ride, but it was not to be. Sadness filled my dreams, and all hopes were crushed. Sniffle Sniffle, well, maybe not all that bad.
The only thing I could dream about after that was an overnight flight from Denver to London, Gatwick, at about 10.5 hours. OUCH!! Flight attendant, can I have like five beers and a shot of Cognac. I need to get some sleep on this nightmare of a trip, and to the idiot behind me, STOP kicking my seat!
BUT WAIT!!!
United Airlines Says It’s bringing back supersonic passenger flight with new jets on order just in time for 2029. (Sniffle, Sniffle) This is excellent news that United announced Thursday that it had agreed to purchase a fleet of supersonic airliners from Boom Aviation, a Colorado-based aerospace firm. This aviation news is better than the “Balloon Boy” and Falcon Heene fiasco back in 2009 to come out of Colorado. Let’s just hope Boom Aviation doesn’t go Boom as a company before then.
It appears that United Airlines has committed to Boom Aviation to initially buy 15 Supersonic aircraft capable of Mach 1.7, or almost 1,300 mph at sea level, allowing travel times for some transcontinental routes to be cut by half. This is done by burning up to 100-percent sustainable aviation fuel, which would be subsidized by a bill introduced in Congress last month. The first Boom prototype is planned to take to the skies in 2026.
United has not turned over the money or Dogecoin (Sorry Elon) for the planes just yet, but merely agreed to buy Boom aircraft if and only, they meet its “demanding safety, operating, and sustainability requirements.” Should they meet these conditions and satisfy upon entering passenger service as soon as 2029, United will have the option to purchase an additional 35 aircraft.
This is starting to sound weaker and weaker because Boom hasn’t even produced a single aircraft as of yet, but we can still hope. They do have a one-third-scale model of its XB-1 “Baby Boom” demonstrator model, but this doesn’t really count; now does it. Boom has a reported $240 million in venture capital, but for an aerospace company, this is not much; just ask Elon Musk again.
Even if Boom proves not to be yet another startup that doesn’t go BOOM and delivers on its promises, don’t expect these planes to be pushing the frontiers of supersonic passenger flight.
Carbon-neutral or not, supersonic flight still comes at the cost of increased fuel consumption, plus noise pollution in the form of sonic booms. Such noise problems were one of many reasons why the Concorde flew a restricted number of routes, none of them overland where their speed would disturb large populations. The Concorde’s aerodynamic but narrow fuselage also meant passenger space was often lacking. Between its cramped confines and pricey tickets, the Concorde’s passenger capacity was regularly under-utilized.
So, let’s see where we sit. We have an aircraft company that hasn’t made a single airplane and only has limited funds. We might have a market for this aircraft if and only if you can keep cost low, aircraft space inside large, noise levels down, and finally, you can’t fly supersonic over mainland America. Sniffle Sniffle yet again. Then again, United just wouldn’t announce this with no intention of never fulfilling their promise. All I have to say is, so you’re saying there’s a chance.
P.S.
Just be careful if you take a guitar on a United Flight, just saying.