Dear MEL Topic Readers,
United plans supersonic flights by 2029
The speed of sound is 343 meters per second or 1,236 kilometers per hour, which is called Mach 1.0. The typical cruising speed of a long-distance commercial passenger aircraft is around 900 km/h while top-level fighter jets can fly at Mach 2.5, or nearly 3,000 km/h. After the first commercial supersonic aircraft, Concorde was grounded in 2003 because of its poor economy and notorious sonic boom, no such supersonic commercial jet has been seen in the sky. Now, United Airlines wants to fly the first net-zero carbon supersonic flights by the end of the decade. The new sonic airliner is called “Overture,” which is designed by a Denver-based aero design company Boom Supersonic. It can travel at speeds up to Mach 1.7, about twice as fast as other airliners. Since fuel-guzzler will be accepted neither on the road nor in the air by 2030, it designed to fly on sustainable aviation fuel, or biomass-derived fuel, which is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 20% to 98%. So, passengers could fly from London to New York only in three and a half hours instead of seven hours 50 minutes, or from San Francisco to Tokyo in six hours instead of 10 hours 50 minutes, without feeling guilty about CO2 emission. United Airlines is planning to build a fleet of 50 such sonic airliners. So, if you want to save a few hours and experience a supersonic speed, wait until the tickets go on sale, which is expected to cost a first-class airfare plus premium. By the way, there may be even faster flying opportunities by then, such as space flight, a trip to Moon, or even Mars. Which is your choice?
Enjoy reading the article and think about your future flying experience.
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/03/investing/united-supersonic-flights/index.html
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