Futuristic quiet supersonic jet could fly London-New York in four hours

Next generation of high-speed aircraft eliminates sonic boom

A new breed of quiet supersonic jets could substantially cut flight times, enabling travellers to go from London-New York in just over four hours instead of seven.

The Quiet Supersonic Technology Airliner, designed by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, would travel at speeds of Mach 1.8 (2,223kph) but without the loud “sonic boom” that’s usually created when an aircraft outstrips the speed of sound.

This means that, unlike its supersonic predecessors, the jet might be able to operate overland routes – Concorde was prevented from doing so due to sonic boom regulations, and could therefore only fly to a handful of coastal destinations.

The QSTA would be a commercial jet capable of carrying 40 passengers in a single aisle formation and flying up to 5,200 nautical miles.

This means New York-London, Tokyo-Los Angeles, London-Beijing and Tokyo-Sydney routes would all be possible.

Flying London Heathrow-JFK in New York, the QSTA could trim three hours off the current flight time of seven hours and 10 minutes, taking just over four hours.

The new design was unveiled at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference in Dallas, where Mike Buonanno, an LM aerospace engineer, told CNN Travel: “Right now, we’ve only done early conceptual design studies to establish that the design is feasible, do sizing for the concept, how big it should be, how much it should weigh... Those early sensitivity studies to make sure it all makes sense.”

The twin-engine jet design features an extended sharp nose that helps send the shockwaves along the aircraft minus the deafening bang that characterised Concorde’s breaking of the sound barrier.

While the aircraft is still at the concept stage, it is building on the design of the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology X-plane, created in conjunction with Nasa. When this model reaches the speed of sound, the design will result in a noise that is, at ground-level, similar to the slamming of a car door.

The X-59 is a research aircraft that is not designed to carry passengers, but instead will be used to collect data that Nasa can provide to regulators, enabling them to make an informed decision on whether to overturn current regulations banning commercial supersonic flight over land.

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“Overturning this ban welcomes the opportunity for an entire new industry,” said Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in a statement. “With the ability to fly anywhere in the world in half the time it takes today, there is a tremendous amount of market potential for aircraft manufacturers to develop quiet commercial supersonic aircraft leveraging what we’ve learned on X-59.”