After the demise of the Concorde I expected the commercial Supersonic Aircraft business to be dead, but thanks to Lockheed Martin I was wrong. Lockheed Martin, under the commission of Supersonic Aerospace International, has begun designing a business jet that can travel at 1,200 mph or Mach 1.8 at 60000ft [2200kph]
A key pattern of the design will be the V tail that will be instrumental in the reduction of sound level.
The Quiet Supersonic Transport will seat 12 and is planned for a 2014 release. In an effort to avoid the supersonic boom that plagued the Concorde, the QSST will use a unique nose/wing design to lessen the boom by up to 40dB.
Lockheed Martin has been awarded a contract to develop the same concept for a big passenger jet by 2030.
I hope that the world remains stable and safe enough to see these dreams of civil aviation advancement fulfilled and we aren't stuck with Boeing 747 technology for ever.
Read more here on this in Popular science.
http://www.popsci.com.au/military-aviation-space/article/2007-03/all-sonic-no-boom Aviator
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