What was the world's first supersonic airliner to fly commercially?
"are about the same size as traditional subsonic business jets. Projects for both large-scale and business jet (see lower) passenger supersonic and hypersonic airliners (Aerion SBJ, Spike S-512, HyperMach SonicStar, Next Generation Supersonic Transport, Tupolev Tu-444, Gulfstream X-54, LAPCAT, Reaction Engines A2, Zero Emission Hyper Sonic Transport, SpaceLiner, etc.) were proposed and now are under development. A strategic bomber must carry a large bomb load over long distances. Consequently, it is a large aircraft typically with an empty weight exceeding 25,000 kg. Some have also been designed for related roles such as strategic reconnaissance and anti-shipping strike. Typically the aircraft"
"a supersonic business jet, which may bring supersonic transport back again. Supersonic airliners have been the objects of numerous recent and ongoing design studies. Drawbacks and design challenges are excessive noise generation (at takeoff and due to sonic booms during flight), high development costs, expensive construction materials, great weight, and an increased cost per seat over subsonic airliners. Despite these challenges, Concorde was claimed to operate profitably, although that was due to write off of all development and construction costs plus the willingness of passengers to pay high fares. In 2016, NASA announced it had signed a contract for the"
"passengers. In 1975 Aeroflot started regular service on the Tu-144—the first supersonic passenger plane. In 1976 British Airways and Air France began supersonic service across the Atlantic, with Concorde. A few years earlier the SR-71 Blackbird had set the record for crossing the Atlantic in under 2 hours, and Concorde followed in its footsteps. In 1979 the Gossamer Albatross became the first human powered aircraft to cross the English channel. This achievement finally saw the realization of centuries of dreams of human flight. The last quarter of the 20th century saw a change of emphasis. No longer was revolutionary progress"
"Supersonic transport A supersonic transport (SST) is a civilian supersonic aircraft designed to transport passengers at speeds greater than the speed of sound. To date, the only SSTs to see regular service have been Concorde and the Tupolev Tu-144. The last passenger flight of the Tu-144 was in June 1978 and it was last flown in 1999 by NASA. Concorde's last commercial flight was in October 2003, with a November 26, 2003 ferry flight being its last airborne operation. Following the permanent cessation of flying by Concorde, there are no remaining SSTs in commercial service. Several companies have each proposed"
"the first civilian jet – and the first jet airliner – to make a supersonic flight. The aircraft was DC-8-43 registered CF-CPG later delivered to Canadian Pacific Air Lines. The aircraft, crewed by Captain William Magruder, First Officer Paul Patten, Flight Engineer Joseph Tomich and Flight Test Engineer Richard Edwards, took off from Edwards Air Force Base in California, and was accompanied to altitude by an F-104 Starfighter supersonic chase aircraft flown by Chuck Yeager. On September 18, 1959, the DC-8 entered service with Delta Air Lines and United Airlines. According to the Delta Air Lines website, the air carrier"
"technology. It would have a high capacity utilization, being able to cross the Atlantic four or five times a day, up from a possible twice a day with the Concorde. Supersonic transport A supersonic transport (SST) is a civilian supersonic aircraft designed to transport passengers at speeds greater than the speed of sound. To date, the only SSTs to see regular service have been Concorde and the Tupolev Tu-144. The last passenger flight of the Tu-144 was in June 1978 and it was last flown in 1999 by NASA. Concorde's last commercial flight was in October 2003, with a November"
"a single and entirely different aircraft: relatively high-tech, supersonic, and optimised for ground-attack in a high-threat environment. The first of eight prototypes flew on 8 September 1968, a two-seat design fitted with the first production model Adour engine. This aircraft later went supersonic on its third flight but was lost on landing on 26 March 1970 following an engine fire. The second prototype flew in February 1969; a total of three prototypes appeared in flight at the Paris Air Show that year. The first French ""A"" prototype flew in March 1969. In October a British ""S"" conducted its first flight."
"Tupolev Tu-144 The Tupolev Tu-144 (; NATO reporting name: Charger) is a retired jet airliner and commercial supersonic transport aircraft (SST). It is the first of only two SSTs to enter commercial service, the other being the Anglo-French Concorde. The design was a product of the Tupolev design bureau, headed by Alexei Tupolev, of the Soviet Union and manufactured by the Voronezh Aircraft Production Association in Voronezh, Russia. It conducted 55 passenger service flights, at an average service altitude of and cruised at a speed of around (Mach 1.6). The prototype first flew on 31 December 1968 near Moscow, two"
"months before the first flight of the Concorde. The Tu-144 first went supersonic on 5 June 1969 (Concorde first went supersonic on 1 October 1969), and on 26 May 1970 became the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2. A Tu-144 crashed in 1973 at the Paris Air Show, delaying its further development. The aircraft was introduced into passenger service on 1 November 1977, almost two years after Concorde, because of budget restrictions. In May 1978, another Tu-144 (an improved version, named Tu-144D) crashed on a test flight while being delivered, and the passenger fleet was permanently grounded after only"
"Dassault Super Mystère The Dassault Super Mystère is a French fighter-bomber and was the first Western European supersonic aircraft to enter mass production. The Super Mystère represents the final step in evolution which began with the Dassault Ouragan and progressed through the Mystère II/III and Mystère IV. While earlier Mystère variants could attain supersonic speeds only in a dive, the Super Mystère could exceed the speed of sound in level flight. This was achieved thanks to the new thin wing with 45° of sweep (compared with 41° of sweep in the Mystère IV and only 33° in Mystère II) and"
"of two airlines to own and operate the supersonic Aerospatiale-BAC airliner. Simultaneously with Air France, BA inaugurated the world's first supersonic passenger service on 21 January, a daily service between Heathrow and New York becoming one of the airline's hallmarks. Initially, Concorde was a financial burden, required of the national carrier by the government, and it attracted criticism from the press as a white elephant. Several significant destinations suggested for Concorde, such as Tokyo, Japan, and Sydney, Australia never emerged as viable in reality. In 1981, Sir John King, later Lord King, was appointed Chairman of British Airways with the"
"result, American Airlines replaced its fleet of Boeing 747-100 aircraft with DC-10 trijets after only four years. Within its own category in commercial aviation, the supersonic airliner Concorde began service in 1976. Its four Rolls Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 turbojets allowed it to cruise at twice the speed of sound. At the time of inception it was regarded as the future of air transportation. However, in large part due to high operating costs and noise issues, Concorde never achieved the predicted level of success.In the 1980s, the increased reliability of jet engines prompted the introduction of ETOPS ratings for twinjets, allowing"
"Supersonic business jet A supersonic business jet (SSBJ) would be a small business jet, intended to travel at speeds above Mach 1.0 (supersonic aircraft). No SSBJs are currently available, although several manufacturers are working on or have worked on designs. Typically intended to transport about ten passengers, proposed SSBJs would be about the same size as traditional subsonic business jets. Only two large commercial supersonic transports ever entered service: the Aérospatiale/British Aerospace Concorde and Tupolev Tu-144. They had relatively high costs, high noise, high fuel consumption and some environmental concerns. Both were operated under large government subsidy and did not"
"service (the de Havilland Comet), the first aircraft capable of supercruise (the English Electric Lightning), the first supersonic commercial jet airliner to enter service (the Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde), the first fixed-wing V/STOL combat aircraft to enter service (the Hawker Siddeley Harrier), the first twin-engined widebody commercial jet airliner (the Airbus A300), the first digital fly-by-wire commercial aircraft (the Airbus A320), and the largest commercial aircraft to enter service to date (the Airbus A380). Private flying initially stimulated the UK aviation industry and by October 1913 there were over 80 private airworthy aeroplanes, more than the airworthy planes in the recently formed"
"Vickers VC10 The Vickers VC10 is a mid-sized, narrow-body long-range British jet airliner designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd and first flown at Brooklands, Surrey, in 1962. The airliner was designed to operate on long-distance routes from the shorter runways of the era and commanded excellent hot and high performance for operations from African airports. The performance of the VC10 was such that it achieved the fastest crossing of the Atlantic by a jet airliner, a record still held to date for a sub-sonic airliner, of 5 hours and 1 minute; only the supersonic Concorde was faster. The VC10"
"supersonic jet to enter service was the North American F-100 Super Sabre, in 1954. Meanwhile, commercial jetliners were being developed with the first of these, the British de Havilland Comet, first flying in 1949 and entering service in 1952. The Comet suffered from a new and unexpected problem now known as metal fatigue, several examples crashed and by the time a new version was introduced, American types such as the Boeing 707 had overtaken its design and it was not a commercial success. These types and their descendants contributed to an era of great social change, typified by popular phrases"
"1970s, both were later retired without being replaced by similar designs. The last flight of a Concorde in service was in 2003. Although Concorde and the Tu-144 were the first aircraft to carry commercial passengers at supersonic speeds, they were not the first or only commercial airliners to break the sound barrier. On 21 August 1961, a Douglas DC-8 broke the sound barrier at Mach 1.012 or 1,240 km/h (776.2 mph) while in a controlled dive through 41,088 feet (12,510 m). The purpose of the flight was to collect data on a new design of leading-edge for the wing. A"
"Paul Patten (copilot), Joseph Tomich (flight engineer), and Richard H. Edwards (flight test engineer). This is the first supersonic flight by a civilian airliner. In total, 20 Concordes were built: two prototypes, two development aircraft and 16 production aircraft. Of the sixteen production aircraft, two did not enter commercial service and eight remained in service as of April 2003. All but two of these aircraft are preserved; the two that are not are F-BVFD (cn 211), parked as a spare-parts source in 1982 and scrapped in 1994, and F-BTSC (cn 203), which crashed outside Paris on July 25, 2000, killing"
"North American F-100 Super Sabre The North American F-100 Super Sabre is an American supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard (ANG) until 1979. The first of the Century Series of USAF jet fighters, it was the first USAF fighter capable of supersonic speed in level flight. The F-100 was designed by North American Aviation as a higher performance follow-on to the F-86 Sabre air superiority fighter. Adapted as a fighter-bomber, the F-100 was supplanted by the Mach two-class F-105 Thunderchief for strike missions"
"KAI T-50 Golden Eagle The KAI T-50 Golden Eagle (골든이글) is a family of South Korean supersonic advanced trainers and light combat aircraft, developed by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) with Lockheed Martin. The T-50 is South Korea's first indigenous supersonic aircraft and one of the world's few supersonic trainers. Development began in the late 1990s, and its maiden flight occurred in 2002. The aircraft entered active service with the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) in 2005. The T-50 has been further developed into aerobatic and combat variants, namely T-50B, TA-50, and FA-50. The F-50 single-seat multirole fighter variant was"
"HyperMach SonicStar SonicStar is a supersonic jet airliner project envisaged by HyperMach CEO Richard Lugg. Lugg said at the 2011 Paris Air Show he plans to get the plane airborne by June 2021. It would reach speeds of up to Mach number 4.4 () and fly at an altitude of 60,000 feet (18,300 m). The propulsion is projected to be 30% more fuel efficient than the Rolls Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 Engine in the Concorde. The SonicStar would, hypothetically, fly at twice the speed of the Concorde. It is planned to be powered by two (theoretical) 54,700 thrust SonicBlue S-MAGJET (Supersonic-Magnetic"
"Base. The crew were William Magruder (pilot), Paul Patten (copilot), Joseph Tomich (flight engineer), and Richard H. Edwards (flight test engineer). This was the first and only supersonic flight by a civilian airliner other than the Concorde or Tu-144. Supersonic speed Supersonic travel is a rate of travel of an object that exceeds the speed of sound (Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately 344 m/s, 1,125 ft/s, 768 mph, 667 knots, or 1,235 km/h. Speeds greater than five times the speed of sound"
"De Havilland Comet The de Havilland DH 106 Comet was the world's first commercial jet airliner. Developed and manufactured by de Havilland at its Hatfield Aerodrome in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, the Comet 1 prototype first flew in 1949. It featured an aerodynamically clean design with four de Havilland Ghost turbojet engines buried in the wing roots, a pressurised cabin, and large square windows. For the era, it offered a relatively quiet, comfortable passenger cabin and was commercially promising at its debut in 1952. However, within a year of entering airline service, problems started to emerge, with three Comets lost within"
"such as ""the jet set"" and introducing new medical syndromes such as jet lag. The pure turbojet engine is not fuel-efficient. The turbofan engine improves thermodynamic efficiency by passing some air around the engine core and mixing it with the exhaust. This reduces the fuel burned, increasing the range and lowering the cost of operation for a given aircraft. Development had begun in both Britain and Germany during the war but the first production version, the Rolls-Royce Conway did not come into use until around 1960. Attempts were made to develop a supersonic airliner, with the Anglo-French Concorde and Soviet"
"new technologies. The increasing availability of nuclear weapons led to the introduction of nuclear-armed long-range strategic bombers such as the American Boeing B-52 and the British V-bombers. Soviet bombers continued to use turboprops for a longer period. The first supersonic jet to enter service was the North American F-100 Super Sabre, in 1954. The delta wing was found to offer several advantages for supersonic flight and became commonplace, with or without a tail, alongside the more conventional swept wing. It offered a high fineness ratio with good structural strength for low weight, and the Dassault Mirage III and Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21"
"When supersonic transport (SST) aircraft were developed, the tailless ogival delta wing was chosen for both the Anglo-French Concorde and the Soviet Tupolev Tu-144, the Tupolev first flying in 1968. Delta wing The delta wing is a wing shaped in the form of a triangle. It is named for its similarity in shape to the Greek uppercase letter delta (Δ). Although long studied, it did not find significant applications until the jet age, when it proved suitable for high-speed subsonic and supersonic flight. At the other end of the speed scale, the Rogallo flexible wing proved a practical design for"
"have been supersonic passenger aircraft, namely Concorde and the Tupolev Tu-144. Both these passenger aircraft and some modern fighters are also capable of supercruise, a condition of sustained supersonic flight without the use of an afterburner. Due to its ability to supercruise for several hours and the relatively high frequency of flight over several decades, Concorde spent more time flying supersonically than all other aircraft combined by a considerable margin. Since Concorde's final retirement flight on November 26, 2003, there are no supersonic passenger aircraft left in service. Some large bombers, such as the Tupolev Tu-160 and Rockwell B-1 Lancer"
"SAI Quiet Supersonic Transport The SAI Quiet Supersonic Transport (QSST) is/was a project by Supersonic Aerospace International (SAI) to develop a ""virtually boomless"" commercial supersonic business jet. It's unknown whether or not this project is still in development, since as of 2018, there still has been no cancellation announcement; however, there have been no updates on the project for several years now. The Lockheed Martin Skunk Works began developing the QSST in May 2001 under a $25-million contract from SAI. Designed to cruise at an altitude of 60,000 feet at speeds of Mach 1.6 to 1.8 (approximately 1,218 to 1,370"
"withdrawing political support to the project and putting an end to the production. Despite official versions indicating the indefinite suspension of supersonic flights within the Soviet Union, a re-engined version of the aircraft was put on a test flight between Moscow and Khabarovsk in , and the long route was later covered with scheduled services; it was not a nonstop flight, however, since the aircraft had to make a refuelling stop, as the engines consumed more fuel than expected. First flown in , the 120-seater Yakovlev Yak-42 entered service with Aeroflot in 1980. The 350-seater Ilyushin Il-86, the first Russian-made"
"Postal Service issued a fiftieth anniversary commemorative stamp recognizing the Bell X1-6062 aircraft as the first aeronautical vehicle to fly at supersonic speed of approximately . Later variants of the X-1 were built to test different aspects of supersonic flight; one of these, the X-1A, with Yeager at the controls, inadvertently demonstrated a very dangerous characteristic of fast (Mach 2 plus) supersonic flight: inertia coupling. Only Yeager's skills as an aviator prevented disaster; later Mel Apt would lose his life testing the Bell X-2 under similar circumstances. Ordered by the Air Force on 2 April 1948, the X-1A (serial 48-1384)"
"airliner for 75 PNLdB compared with 105 PNLdB for Concorde. The market for supersonic airliners costing $200 million could be 1,300 over a 10-year period, worth $260 billion. Development and certification is probably a $4 billion operation. The TsAGI exhibited at the 2017 MAKS Air Show in Moscow a scale model of its Supersonic Business Jet / Commercial Jet which should produce a low sonic boom permitting supersonic flight over land, optimised for 2100 km/h / 1,133 knots cruise and 7,400-8,600 km / 4,000-4,640 nm range. The scientific research aims to optimise for both Mach 0.8-0.9 transonic and Mach 1.5-2.0"
"1943, the Messerschmitt Me 262, the first operational jet fighter aircraft, went into service in the German Luftwaffe. In October 1947, the Bell X-1 was the first aircraft to exceed the speed of sound. The first jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet, was introduced in 1952. The Boeing 707, the first widely successful commercial jet, was in commercial service for more than 50 years, from 1958 to 2010. The Boeing 747 was the world's biggest passenger aircraft from 1970 until it was surpassed by the Airbus A380 in 2005. An aircraft propeller, or ""airscrew"", converts rotary motion from an engine"
"Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine jet airliner manufactured by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner, and the airports at which it operates have upgraded facilities to accommodate it. It was initially named Airbus A3XX and designed to challenge Boeing's monopoly in the large-aircraft market. The A380 made its first flight on 27 April 2005 and entered commercial service on 25 October 2007 with Singapore Airlines. An improved version, the A380plus, is under development. The A380's upper deck extends along the entire length of the fuselage; it is narrower than the lower deck but"