Civil commercial aviation enjoyed only one supersonic passenger and that was Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde. It was the result of a governmental treaty between the French and British governments, combining the efforts of Aerospace and British Aircraft Corporation. With only 20 of aircraft built in total, the cost of the development phase was a major economic failure.
Flying for the first time in 1969, Concorde began its commercial service in 1976 and continued for 27 years. It operated transatlantic flights from Heathrow, London (British Airways) and Charles de Gaulle, Paris (Air France) to JFK, New York and Dulles, Washington; flying at record speeds, it travels these distances in less than half the time of the other planes. Concorde also set other records, including the official FAI world record "Westbound Around The World" and "Eastbound Around the World" at speed.
As a result of the unique 25 accident in July 2000, the economic effects that followed the events of September 11 and other factors, the flights ceased on October 2001 24. The last flight took place on 2003 November of that year.
And that was the glory period for the only supersonic dedicated to civilian racing. I wonder why another one wasn't built anymore? From 1969 to 2012, the technology has evolved a lot and I think there are solutions to something better. Plus that in 27 years of activity, only one serious accident happened!
It seems that the hope of a new supersonic comes from Boeing, Gulfstream and NASA. The companies have announced that they plan to join forces to make a high-speed aircraft. The first prototype is to be exhibited at the Farnborough air show next month.
To begin with, the new supersonic passenger plane will be dedicated to the business market. Designers are optimistic and have declared for dailymail that the new plane will be able to fly at speeds of up to 2500mph (Concorde flew at a maximum speed of 1350mph) and it is assumed that a London-Sydney flight can be completed in just 4 hours (currently takes just over 20 hours). I'm not saying it's impossible, but it seems a little too SF. Will people withstand the rapid time zone differences and these long-term speeds?
The aircraft will be made of composite materials, the fuselages will be smaller and equipped with more technologically advanced engines. A plane will have up to 12 seats and will cost about $ 80 million. The slogan will be "To the USA and back in a working day".
The new supersonic is a challenge for designers and builders, but also for passengers. Is the public prepared for such a thing? Anyway, there's more to the first flight of this supersonic!