Supersonic Aircrafts are planes that are made to transport passengers at a speed that is greater than that of sound. They move at a speed that is three times faster than the regular planes and they can replace three regular planes that are in use. A supersonic airplane was first flown by NASA in 1978 and it ceased in1998 since it had no partner to proceed with the project. The only supersonic plane that has ever been used by airlines to transport passengers is Concorde. Concorde was in operation last in 26th November 2003. Supersonic aircrafts have never operated since the cessation of Concorde since some individuals argue that supersonic aircrafts are too expensive. However, this is not the case since some countries such as Japan have embarked on building a commercial supersonic airplane with a capacity of 300 passengers.
Boeing, a commercial airplane industry, has come up with a research showing that supersonic aircrafts can be the most economical and quiet planes. This is because they can be used instead of many planes leading to fewer workers and a lower maintenance cost. In addition, the Concord airplane had proved profitable to Britain airlines over the years that is was in operation whereby it used an approximate amount of one billion pounds with revenues of 1.75 billion pounds over 28 years. However, this has proved impossible because in building a supersonic aircraft, for any required amount of lift, the plane will have to supply twice the thrust of a subsonic aircraft leading to the use of more fuel.
Despite all these arguments that have been brought forth concerning the use of supersonic aircraft, other human factors also contribute as follows.
- High Costs
For a supersonic airplane to be built, it needs a lot of resources for it to reach completion and start operating. For instance, a huge compressor and turbine wheels are required to make it function properly. Besides, after building the plane and putting it in operation, it will use a lot of fuel in transporting fewer passengers. This is because supersonic planes need a double thrust to lift compared to their counterpart subsonic planes. If supersonic aircrafts are to be put in operation, they will drain the economy due to their expensive nature of building and operating them.
2. Loud take-off Noise
Supersonic planes have a very loud take-off noise as witnessed with the use of Concorde. This noise originates from the plane engines due to the extremely high velocities and it affects the communities over which it flies while taking off. The loud noise can affect the eardrums and lead to medical disorders. Furthermore, it affects communication among the people around the take-off point.
3. Skin Temperature
When supersonic jets move, they compress the air in front of it. As the air gets compressed, it is heated up and it in turn heats up the aluminium material used to make the aircraft. This makes the plane hot and therefore unfavourable for human use. Contact with the aluminium material may lead to burns, which is dangerous to the passengers.
4. Sonic Boom
This is the booming that is produced by a supersonic aircraft as it approaches the supersonic speed. This sends shock waves to the earth leading to a tremble in the earth. Frequent sonic booms may lead to earth movements that can cause destruction of property and loss of lives.
5. Destruction of the Ozone Layer
The engine of supersonic aircrafts releases exhaust fumes such as Nitrogen oxides that may damage the ozone layer. During the operation of Concorde, Russell Train said that if a large number of supersonic planes were allowed to take flights over a prolonged period of time, they could hamper the formation of the ozone layer. This is because of the ground level heat that shall have accumulated as a result of air compression. The destruction of the ozone layer can lead to global warming which will cause adverse effects to life. Besides, it will lead to the penetration of ultra-violet rays that will not only destroy plant life but as well cause cancers to humanity.
In the year 1971, the US Congress stopped funding the United States Supersonic Transport program and banned all supersonic flights due to the ozone layer threat that was being posed. Train said that continual supersonic flights could lead to high ground-level heat that could prevent the formation of the ozone layer. Later on in the years, a danger was posed on the ozone layer destruction through the Nitrogen Oxides that were released from engine fumes. This led to a critical observation of the ozone layer in order to make comparison between the past years and the then current ozone layer.
Although challenges have been experienced in the establishment of supersonic aircrafts, they can be solved to allow the success of its continuity. First, the supersonic aircrafts should be built with a higher carrying capacity of passengers. This will lower the costs since the higher passenger capacity will cater for the extra fuel used. In this manner, the plane will be able to incur lesser costs with higher revenues to the responsible airline. This will not only cut down on costs, but as well increase the income of the citizens.
Secondly, the supersonic jets should be designed in a way that the engines will have variable cycles with low velocity at take-off. This will help reduce the noise made by the engine when the plane is taking off.
Also, the sonic boom can be avoided by maintaining the speed of the aircraft at a normal pace at lower altitudes and then accelerating the speed to supersonic rate after the aircraft has sufficiently reached a high altitude. This will prevent the shock waves from reaching the earth and causing destruction.
The increase in skin temperature can be handled by building the planes using a better coating material which can resist adverse temperatures. The manufacturers can use materials such as Carbide ceramic to coat the aluminium materials that are used in the building process.
The supersonic aircrafts are most preferred by airlines because they move at a very fast speed and hence they make more flights in a day and therefore more returns. Faster aircrafts also save on time and cut down on maintenance costs and required personnel. It is therefore prudent that supersonic speed aircrafts be reintroduced into the aviation field so as to help increase the Gross Domestic Product of the country and as well provide better living standards to the citizens. Curbing the challenges and implementing this technology shall enable the world to move to a higher level and promote higher fields of research in aviation. It will improve transport and communication among nations in the world and bring cohesion and unity. In return, trade affairs will improve among nations and the economy will be made better.
The United States of America recently allocated a fund to NASA for experimenting on a supersonic aircraft that could be used in transporting people faster than the subsonic planes. The first supersonic plane is expected to take its first flight in 2021. This will create more job opportunities and reduce the time used to travel across countries by half. The aim of funding NASA is to build supersonic planes that are quieter with a lesser sonic boom and we hope that this shall surely be achieved in the near future.
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