Page 50 - cosmos4

A supersonic aircraft is an aircraft able to fly faster than

the speed of sound. Supersonic aircraft were developed in the second half of the 20th
century and have been used almost entirely for research and military purposes. The
first supersonic passenger-carrying commercial airplane, the Concorde, was built
jointly by aircraft manufacturers in Great Britain and France; it made its first
transatlantic crossing on September 26, 1973, and
entered regular service in 1976.

Concorde was unique in so many ways. For
instance, there were more astronauts than there
were Concorde pilots. This elite group of flight and
cabin crew were numbered in their hundreds.
Despite its high fare, it was the preferred means of
travel for many transatlantic commuters. It was not
unusual for executives of big companies to take the morning flight to New York for a
meeting and return with us on the afternoon flight. At supersonic speeds, air foils
generate lift in an entirely different manner than at subsonic speeds and are invariably

less efficient. For this reason, considerable research has been put into designing wing
platforms for sustained supersonic cruise. At about Mach 2, a typical wing design will
cut its Lift/Drag ratio in half.

The annoyance of a sonic boom can be avoided by waiting until the aircraft is at high
altitude over water before reaching supersonic speeds; this was the technique used
by Concorde.