Bell X-1 Rocket-powered research plane
- First aircraft to fly at supersonic speeds
- Piloted by Major Charles E. Yeager of US air Force
- Flown in October 14, 1947
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XS-1
- Broke (local) sound barrier @ 1,066 km/hr speed
- Attained a top speed of 1,126 km/hr or Mach 1.06
- Dropped from the belly of a Boeing B-29 Mother ship
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Soviet Tupolev Tu-144
- First Supersonic Transport
- First flight in June 1969
- Flying Mail between Moscow and Alma-Ata (Almaty) in 1975
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Concorde
- First Supersonic Passenger-Carrying commercial airplane
- Built by aircraft manufacturers in Great Britain and France
- Made it first Transatlantic crossing on September 26, 1973
- Entered regular service in 1976
- 20 Concordes were built
- 14 Concordes were sold
- 7 British Airways
- 7 Air France
- the rest were built as prototypes and flight test aircraft
- British Airways and Air France stopped flying it in 2003
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Demise of Concorde
- Very Costly
- Manufacturing Cost
- Operating Cost
- Maintenance Cost - Complexity
- Expensive to Operate (3 times as much fuel per passenger mile as a Subsonic aircraft) (Oil Cost)
- 1970 - 1980
- Golden Era for Oil Prices
- High Subsonic Noise Levels during Takeoffs and Landings (High Subsonic Noise near residential area complaints)
- Generally priced at about twice the regular first-class airfare (due to high cost expenses)
- Impractical for carrying cargo or mail due to limited space (too narrow thus, no space for cargo and mail)
- Fatal crash at the 1973 Paris Air Show (same year of debut)
- Need for Considerable federal funding (pioneer for supersonic air transportation)
- Lack of interest by the airlines (businessmen see this as not profitable)
- Major Challenges of addressing environmental concerns (Noise Pollution)
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Disadvantages of High-Speed Flights
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Advantage of High-Speed Flights
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Main Source of income of Concorde
High Speed Flight Limitations
- Circadian Dysrhythmia (Severe Jet Lag)
- It is caused by the body regular asleep and awake cycle being out of sync with local time
- Certain amount of time to rest is needed before they inboard another flight
- High Altitude
- High Speed Flight is conducted much efficiently on high altitude due to less sonic boom effect
- However, it compromises the pressurization system.
- Radiation
- Noise (Sonic Boom)
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Sonic Boom
- It is a major problem which all supersonic aircrafts face
- it is used to refer to the shocks caused by the supersonic flight of an aircraft
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Factors Affecting Sonic Boom Strength
- Aircraft Weight, Shape and Length
- The Larger the Aircraft, More Air Molecules tends to push back
- “The larger the Aircraft, the greater the effect of Sonic Boom”
- Aircraft Altitude
- Supersonic flights are conducted at high altitudes to lessen the effect of sonic boom
- “The higher the Altitude, the lesser the effect of Sonic Boom”
- Aircraft Maneuvers
- More maneuvers made by the aircraft, more prone to Sonic Boom.
- “More steady the aircraft, the lesser the effect of Sonic Boom”
- Location in Sonic Boom Carpet
- Special topographic features in each area such as mountains, hills and valleys can create multiple reflections of shock waves thus affecting intensity.
- Attitude
- orientation of the aircraft’s axes relative to its direction of motion.
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