Supersonic Airbus jet would fly from London to New York in just one hour
- Airbus is developing a supersonic aircraft that could get across the Atlantic in less than an hour
- Patent documents suggest the ‘ultra-rapid’ jet could get from New York, US, to London in record time
- That’s because its max speed is 4.5 times the speed of sound
Published on Jul 17, 2024 at 6:42 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Jul 17, 2024 at 6:56 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
A new supersonic aircraft under development by Airbus is set to make the Atlantic Ocean seem like a puddle as it would travel from New York, US, to London, UK, in under one hour.
In other words – you wouldn’t even have time to finish your in-flight entertainment film from wheels up to touchdown.
Patents have already been filed for the ‘ultra-rapid’ aircraft.
READ MORE! Elon Musk is excited about Boom Supersonic’s next-gen Concorde – and we can see why
The supersonic Airbus
More than two decades since the supersonic Concorde took its swan-song flight, a new supersonic aircraft from Airbus is on the horizon.
According to patent documents, the ‘ultra-rapid’ jet could travel up to about 4.5 times the speed of sound.
That speed could get its 20 passengers from London to New York in just an hour or Paris, France, to San Francisco, US, in less than three hours.
That smashes the British Airways Concorde passenger aircraft record of London Heathrow to JFK airport in New York in two hours 52 minutes and 59 seconds.
It’s described in the patent as a supersonic ‘air vehicle including a fuselage, a gothic delta wing positioned either side of the fuselage, and a system of motors able to propel the air vehicle’.
It would sidestep the sonic boom issue faced by Concorde, which saw it banned from flying at supersonic speeds above land.
This hypothetically could be one via its unique conceptual design featuring propulsion systems, and a somewhat unusual flight path.
The Airbus jet boasts three engine types working in sequence.
A pair of traditional jet engines under the fuselage power the aircraft during take-off and landing.
These then retract into the fuselage to reduce drag with two rocket engines at the rear coming into play.
This would see the supersonic jet flying vertically – similar to a space rocket – until it hits its cruising altitude at above 100,000 feet.
Almost at the edge of space, the rocket motors retract behind a flap with a pair of wing-mounted ramjets taking over.
These would propel the aircraft to a top speed of Mach 4.5 (about 5,557 km/h/3,453 mph).
Delta-shaped winglets rotate around the aircraft’s central axis to limit the sonic boom.
However despite speed being important – passenger comfort is also key with hammock-like seats.
Other contenders to succeed Concorde
Several companies are working to bring back supersonic commercial air travel.
Dawn Aerospace, a New Zealand-based company, has been certified to fly their rocket plane at supersonic speeds.
NASA also have the X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft.
DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
