AVIATION: The Exosonic supersonic jet could take over air transport for future US presidents
Supersonic aircraft projects have multiplied in recent years, despite the forced retirement of the Concorde in 2003, the first commercial supersonic aircraft to date. It must be said that the latter suffered from many faults; huge budget, significant noise pollution and poor reliability. And yet, many startups are on a war footing to be the first to fly supersonic planes again. And this is particularly the case of the start-up Exosonic.
Last September, this company signed a contract with the US Air Force to take care of the transport of future presidents of the United States on board their supersonic aircraft. The objective is obviously to reduce the duration of the presidential trips.
Faster than a Rafale
This is how the start-up created less than two years ago by engineers Tom MacDonald and Norris Tie aims to create a supersonic jet 60 meters long and with 70 seats on board, in its commercial version. The model intended to transport future American presidents would be a little different and would only have 31 seats. The start-up hopes to be able to deliver its supersonic jet by 2030.
Exosonic estimates that its machine will be capable of reaching Mach 1.8, i.e. a flight speed of 2205 km / h, surpassing the French Rafale fighter plane by a few tens of kilometres per hour, but also the speed of sound (1.224 km / h). But the ambitions of the American start-up do not stop there. The company hopes that its supersonic jet will be able to exceed 9,000 km / h.
Thanks to its particularly thin nose, the plane would not cause the famous disruptive boom when it passes the sound barrier, Norris Tie assured CNN. An aspect that earned the Concorde many criticisms, before it was shelved in 2003.
Comfort
The presidential supersonic plane would have all the necessary comfort to transport the President of the United States and his team in the best conditions; suites, two kitchens, two toilets, plenty of storage space, etc.
At present, the project is still in the design phase. It therefore has nothing concrete. The start-up that imagined it still makes great promises. It remains to be seen if the project will take shape and if the promises made will be realizable. Either way, we should see a lot of supersonic planes appear over the next few years. There are indeed many such projects.
