Could The Rich and Famous Fly Supersconic to TIFF ?Yes

[Ken Gigliotti]

Could movie stars and the rich and famous be traveling to from Los Angeles or France to Toronto's TIFF  at supersonic speeds on a passenger plane much like the Concorde? The Concorde was not allowed to fly over land because of it's sonic boom and retired in 2003.
When I was a kid I watched as a Canadian F-104 Starfighter streaked low across the sky at high speed just on the edge of Thunder Bay where I lived. I watched it with fascination as the plane disappeared heading west. From behind me came this thunderous explosion louder than any thunder boom I have ever heard in my life. The Starfighter had gone supersonic at low altitude not much higher than the tree tops, less than a thousand feet but, hard to estimate. (but it was low).

NASA and Lockheed Martin working together have designed a Concorde like prototype that can fly at supersonic speeds over land with only a sonic thump instead of a sonic boom. The task was to reintroduce high speed transcontinental passenger service with no sonic boom. Joe Biden actually made a passing mention of  the innovation in a recent speech.

Lockheed created  aviation history in the past through innovation creating the P-38 Lightning in WW2,today's F-35 Lightning II,the U-2 spy plane and the supersonic and super secret SR-71 Black Bird.The company was once so secret it had it's own area in the Nevada Desert called AREA 52.

In 2023 this prototype plane the X-59 will fly test flights over the US to gather public reaction. It will use a single engine now used on the F-18 located above the delta wing and part of the tail. It also makes use of other proven technologies from the F-16 and F-111 Nighthawk along with environmental heat exchanger developed from a Korean T-50 and an ejection seat from the T-38. The X-59 will be ground tested in late 2021.

Funny thing it has no front windshield  as the long nose is part of the air shaping design. Pilots will use a forward seeing sensors and cameras to assist in landing and takeoffs as well as general flight. Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis also did not have a front windshield as an extra gas tank was put in that area, Lindbergh would use technology of the time, a periscope to see forward.

Supersonic travel is coming, Virgin Galactic's vision of it's Mach 3 delta winged plane will carry 19 passengers at  60,000 ft.  Boom Supersonic is developing a fast passenger plane.  Aerion AS2 is a supersonic business jet. Gulfstream G700 will fly just under Mach 1. Hermeous Corporation has plans for a Mach 5 plane and the artist conception has an Air Force One paint scheme for hypersconic flight project for the Department of Defence.