Lockheed Martin unveils plans for quiet supersonic passenger airplane

It's still at the conceptual stage, but a new supersonic airplane design unveiled this week by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics could be the clearest indication yet that we're on the brink of a new golden age of super-fast air travel. The Quiet Supersonic Technology Airliner, a sleek twin-engined jet plane that will carry up to 40 passengers at speeds of Mach 1.8, was revealed on Wednesday at an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference in Dallas. Though still a ways off being built, the design leverages Lockheed Martin's work with NASA to create the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology X-plane -- a supersonic jet that does not create the intense sonic boom typically associated with aircraft breaching the sound barrier. The loud noise created by Concorde when it crossed the Mach 1 speed threshold prevented the aircraft from operating over-land routes, greatly reducing its economic viability. Lockheed Martin says, because there are tests underway on X-59 that could pave the way for a rethinking of regulations that prevent overland supersonic flight, it wanted to be ready with a commercial aircraft that could capitalize on newly opened routes.But Mike Buonanno, the LM aerospace engineer who briefed AIAA on the concept, says the technology is pretty much in place to go ahead once the concept is proved from NASA's X-59 program. The QSTA isn't the only new commercial supersonic passenger jet on the drawing table. US startup Boom Supersonic has attracted a $10m investment from JAL and reportedly dozens of pre-orders for its envisioned 55-seat jet capable of Mach 2.2. <br/>