As ever, we here at Matouring are, at heart, techno-geeks. We love the latest materials and manufacturing techniques, and the sheer cleverness of the builders and designers who are creating some of the most unfathomable products for all of us to behold and, soon, to enjoy. We may not see the fruits of the effort of these techie miracles for some time to come, but it’s encouraging that the brains behind these breakthroughs are pressing on and making things happen.
One technological aspect that we have been missing for a very long while is supersonic flight. We write a lot about it because its incredible tech, but it also has the potential to bring us all together, much faster than is possible now. We have written in the past about the tech group Boom, who are chasing that dream and finding ways to make it happen. For background, Boom Technology, Inc. is an American company designing a supersonic airliner named the Boom Overture. The company is also developing a one-third-scale demonstrator: the Boom XB-1 Baby Boom.
And if you think that this is another tech pipe dream, On June 3, 2021, United Airlines announced they had signed an agreement to purchase 15 Overture aircraft with an additional 35 options, expecting to start passenger flights by 2029.[14][15] On August 16, 2022, American Airlines announced an agreement to purchase 20 Overture aircraft with an additional 40 options. (Wikipedia.)
The company says that five hundred daily routes would be viable: at Mach 1.7 over water, New York/Newark and London would be 3 hours and 30 minutes apart; Newark and Frankfurt would be 4 hours apart. With 4,500 nmi (8,300 km) range, transpacific flights would require a refueling stop: San Francisco and Tokyo would be 6 hours apart. There could be a market for 1,000 supersonic airliners by 2035. Some content courtesy of Wikipedia.org and the always excellent Simple Flying.
Want to know what is the fastest commercial plane in the air these days? It’s the Boeing 747-8i. Believe it or not, but the Boeing 747-8 (actually the 747-8I variant) can propel itself at a cruising speed of 564 miles per hour, or at a maximum speed of 594 miles per hour. Pretty amazing considering that it first made its commercial flight on February 9, 1969. Lufthansa still fly the 747. Click here to book a thrilling ride before the beautiful bird is finally retired.