concord plane?

Question

Does anyone know if we will ever get a passenger jet like the concord again. It would be nice to travel faster than sound.

Answer 1

It would be amazing wouldn't it. But in the present economic climate about as likely as me becoming a millionaire!

Answer 2

Concorde came about because of the cold war. The west needed to prove to the russians that they could create a supersonic aircraft capable of cruising at mach 2 and could carry a huge bombload. Although Concorde was an airliner, the challenges of creating a similar sized supersonic strategic bomber would just be an extension of the original design.
Without a similar war or some other motivation I think it will be a long time before we see another supersonic airliner.
Concorde was operated at a loss for many years, it cost so much to fly, but only carried 100 people in the first class luxury it was kitted out for.
Also all this carbon emissions business will make any manufacturer deeply unpopular so they wont take the risk.

The cost of development (the UK and French governments paid for Concorde, no government could justify that now with simple things like everyone not getting equal drugs access or such inequality in the world), and running costs will probably prohibit a new jet for many years.

Although the Russians starting to kick off again might make that closer then It would have been orginally.

Answer 3

Yes there will be an aircraft some time in the near future that will travel at the speed of sound. But not at this time, the problem with passenger supersonic aircraft is that they do not have a high payload they are fuel thirsty they only have a limited range.

These are some of the main problems that designers are trying to overcome to make a new Concorde possible. Fuel efficiency and payload being the most important so they can sell the aircraft.

They are some cool designs of future supersonic aircraft being drawn and its just a matter of time, will it 10 years 20, 30 , 40 who knows how many exactly, but some time in the near future.

Answer 4

Fair question, even if you did spell it wrong.

It's not likley in the forseeable future. The reason that Concorde (note, it has an 'e' at the end) was built was to carry businessmen for trans-Atlantic meetings.

The internet and tele-conferencing meant that these journeys became less necessary and the aircraft were left carrying "celebrities" and journalists.

When the fleet became too old for economic use they were scrapped. There's not really enough "leasure" market to keep then viably flying. It's not just the cost of the aeroplane itself, it's the spares and crews and maintenance expertise. All of which are extremeley costly overheads for half a dozen aeroplanes.

Finally, the upper-atmospheric pollution created by even the best of current engines would be a show-stopper.

The future of supersonic passenger travel probably lies with sub-orbital ballistic cruisers. The theory is already welll worked out but if one were flying at the moment it might cost about £250,000 for a ticket to Australia.

Answer 5

Very un doubtful that we will ever have a passenger jet like concorde again: for a number of reasons
1. Currently the airline industry favours hub to hub flights, high capacity aircraft in order to reduce prices on seats in order for for the high costs of fuel and other services, this all helps to reduce passenger prices meaning the passenger pays less.
2. Concorde or a similar would not be viable to compete with other airlines, as airlines tend to follow a low cost strategy.
3.A similar plane would also need to be very friendly to the enviroment concorde burned 25000litres of fuel an hour.
3. New aircraft currently coming to the airliner market suggest that the industry wants large aircraft or aircraft with a long range and enviromentally viable.
4. There are now airlines that offer passengers a service similar to concorde on same routes for a lower cost.

Answer 6

Boeing began development of a Super Sonic Transport in. Although it had been planned for Mach 3 and seating 300 passengers it culminated in the Boeing 2707-300, 2.7 Mach and 234 seats. Although two prototypes were begun in 1969 the project was canceled due to the Sonic Boom Controversy. (New York, the obvious destination for an Euro-based SST, refused entry to the Concorde until May of '76.) http://www.unrealaircraft.com/classics/sst.php

It would be easy to resurrect an SST project but there may be more on the drawing boards in engine development first.

The Hub to Hub (Airbus) versus Direct Fast Flights (Boeing) strategy has received a lot of press but Boeing is definitely ahead in orders. One major problem with the A380 is it's dependent on high capacity air travel. If the economy takes a down turn or another pandemic situation like the SARS epidemic comes along I think they will either see a lot of Hanger time or operate at a deficit.

I can remember when you could fly across the Pacific in a 747 and have your pick of empty seats to stretch-out in. The difference was it had been in service for years and recovered it's capital costs.

Answer 7

Na !! I don't think so. The present form is size matters like the new Airbus A380 . The airlines are more interested in number of seats at the moment not speed.
Who needs it anyway?

If there was a market for it then the Americans would have jumped on it by now,afterall Concordes been out of commision for about three years now and as far as I'm aware there's no plans for a replacement.

Answer 8

Concorde was one of those amazing engineering achievements which were a product of their era and political conditions. It is unlikely to be repeated in the aviation world as the emphasis is on low profile rather than high profile achievement because nowadays air travel is seen as a dirty word.

You are far more likely to see a new airplane that is slow, but carries 500 passengers silently for a teaspoon of fuel and spews floral perfume from its exhaust - that's what everyone wants, apparently.

Answer 9

The answer is probably yes.
But it depends on what you call 'like'.
If you think concord was the most amazing commercial aircraft of it time, then Virgin Galactic is the same but for now Look here. And view the movie.

http://www.virgingalactic.com/flash.html

This is the new and most amazing commercial aircraft now.

If you want small scale 4 seater almost 400 mile an hour flying car the (Moller 400) then look here. And select Videos.

http://www.moller.com/

These are real aircraft, not pipe dreams.

Hope this is what you are dreaming about.

Answer 10

2 companies in America are working on supersonic business jet projects. There are plenty of larger supersonic passenger jets on the drawing board, the demand is there, the willingness of manufacturers and funding sponsors isn't. It would probably take 8 - 10 years for a design to get to the flying stage and no one is really willing to risk another 9/11.

Nothing to do with cost of fuel, it's the financial risk involved.

Answer 11

France and Japan are jointly working on the development of a supersonic passenger plane that will replace the concord.