Running head: REVIVING SUPERSONIC FLIGHTS 1
REVIVING SUPERSONIC FLIGHTS 5
REVIVING SUPERSONIC FLIGHTS
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Introduction
The world has seen to a great advancement in the sector of travel and this has led to the introduction of means of travel that had not been brought up for centuries. The world being seen as a global village due to advancing communication has been increased even more to a smaller village by quick and accessible means of travel. The fastest means of travel known to man today is the means of flight. This sector has recorded great achievements and has continued to impact positively on the world and has kept improving its technology to impact positively on the world. This sector of transport is however known to be very expensive and when accidents occur they are almost always very fatal (Trimble, 2013, p 934). Beside all these heavy demerits this sector has continued to be trusted because of its speed and effectiveness. This means that air transport has mainly been accepted and invested in because of it abilities in terms of speed. For this reason, air transport has made mega machines that have been able to achieve great speeds and at the same time achieve transportation abilities.
These machines include the Concorde and Tupolev which were passenger planes designed to transport people and at the same time be able to move at speeds higher than the speed of sound. The planes were a great achievement and a pride of the builders and the people who owned them but even more so to the air travel community (Trimble, 2013, p 935). During the time they were in service the flights were of known to be the fastest way of travel and at one time Concorde managed to travel from the United States to the United Kingdom London within a period of two hours. It was shocking and at the same time amusing to have that long distance covered within a short period and these planes were seen as the thing that had come to revolutionize the field of air transport. It had been accepted as a great and positive advancement and the countries that had been in a position to possess these planes were seen as great nations capable of dominating the air transport sector.
However, there was a sudden and unexpected occurrence when the use of these flights was stopped. This was a shocking to the whole world because it was unexpected as people had been looking forward to the spread of these planes and not to their dismissal. The Concorde ceased operations in 2003 while the Tupolev had done so earlier in 1997 (Trimble, 2013, p 935). The reasons for this step on the use of these flights were different but there was never a clear enough reason as to why they were brought down from the skies. This issue was brought up many times in an effort of people trying to persuade the makers and owners of these planes to bring them back into service. The Tupolev was however said to have been called out of operations because of safety concerns and that is a reason sensible enough. There is clearly no need to continue using something that will cause more harm to humans than it will good and therefore anything arguing that fact should be done away with without hesitation (Trimble, 2013, p 935). This issue brought a lot of concern to people who had come to love these planes and there have therefore been efforts to push for the reinstallation of these flights back to service. I will, therefore, give a comprehensive study and presentation of the reason why this issue should be looked into and be give the necessary attention to bring supersonic flights back on.
Background Data
Supersonic flights are known to have dominated the world or rather to have been in service for only 30 years before they were banned and their production and use stopped. The idea of these flights began with the U.S being the first nation to begin research in this sector. The government of the United States begun this projects through NASA and it came up with the first ever supersonic flight the Supersonic Transport (SST) but did not complete its production. However, France and Britain jointly managed to create the Concorde which was able to achieve the speeds and showed the abilities of the supersonic flights in commercial transport (Steenhuis, & Eriksson, 2015, p 364). The first successful supersonic transport was, however, the Tupolev which was built by the Soviet Union.
The United States, however, launched a long-term research and investment in supersonic transport by launching the HSR program at NASA in 1985 which aimed at seeing to its conclusion in the 21st century. The HSR has faced many problems since it was launched because the main issue that usually hinders supersonic transport is environmental regulations and this is a sector that has continued to tighten its regulations even as the HSR program continues (Steenhuis, & Eriksson, 2015, p 364). The emission rate and quantity of the supersonic transport are high and that was a contributing factor to its banishment. This just proves that the prospects of bringing back supersonic travel are going to be even more difficult because the recent high and rising rates of environmental change have pushed for the tightening of emission regulations this has pushed supersonic transport to a tight corner.
Emission Research
Every machine that man has ever created is reliant on a means of fuel and other than just the fuel expenses there are other additional costs put in place. The fuel that man has relied upon during his endeavors in the transportation industry is demanded that man pays for it financially and it has also added the expense of having emissions (Holt, 2013, p 874). The emissions are the major concerns when it comes to the case of supersonic transport. Anything that is expected to move at a speed faster than that of sound and with an approximate of 300 passengers on board must be a heavy fuel consumer and the more the fuel the more the emission. This is the case presented by supersonic transport because they will have to consume many gallons of fuel and therefore their emission is going to be high thus there should be certain measures taken to ensure this aspect of their making is dealt with to suit the regulations set aside (Holt, 2013, p 874). The major concern for environmental conserves today is carbon (IV) oxide which happens to be a major emission on various platforms. Research has it that planes that fly far up in the stratosphere of the atmosphere cause more severe effects on the environment or rather they cause higher climatic effects than the planes flying lower. This is because at a lower level there is water vapor emission thus a relative control force to the emissions of the planes. This water vapor is not available at a higher level in the atmosphere, this becomes an issue because the supersonic transport flights are most effective when flying at such high levels.
It has been for a long time that the climatic changes that occur today are mainly due to the emissions of fossil fuels. The emissions are mostly known to be effective in destroying the ozone layer which prevents the ultraviolet rays from reaching the surface which would otherwise lead to high risks of getting skin cancer among the people on the surface (Hart, 2012, p 65). The fuel consumption of supersonic flights is high and the only they will be brought back to service is if a way to cut on the emissions is found by either cutting down on the fuel usage or by ensuring the fuels are burnt out before the emissions are released and thus this will see to a steady decrease in a number of emissions.
Variable Cycle Engines for More Efficiency
This engines would allow for the optimization of the various parts of the flight thus see to more effectiveness in the planes’ delivery. These engines are similar to conventional mixed-flow turbofan but they have the advantage of an extra secondary outer bypass duct. This duct increases the overall bypass ratio and eventually air flow handling capability (Hart, 2012, p 66). Leading designs of this engines have a fan a driven from the core in front of the high-pressure compressor to extremely charge both the core and inner bypass flow streams. These engines are a better way of effectively keeping the supersonic flights for longer in the air and in a more environmentally friendly manner. The engines are appropriate because they will allow better control of the plane because the air flow is what keeps a plane and these engines allow for the pilot to be in total control of the situation because the planes’ engines give it this ability (Sforza, 2014, p 97). This technology would prove resourceful especially to do away with safety concerns expressed about the Tupolev and therefore it will only leave other acceptable issues in the in the existence and the operations of the plane.
Reduction of Sonic Boom
The sonic boom is an important factor in the supersonic flight but should be reduced though not done away with. Various governments and international organizations have created regulations on sonic booms and they have ended up stating that commercial planes should keep low sonic booms that cannot be felt on the ground. Supersonic flights are known to be good at loud and disturbing and this is a challenge they have to go around to meet the challenges that result from its loud booms as per the set regulations (Churchill, 2013, p 28).
Research Opportunities
To bring back the magnificent superfast birds to our skies and keep them there must be several advancements from their former states and this entails doing a lot of research. The reason for the extensive research is to see to it that the supersonic crafts do not make their reentry in their former state of existence which led to their dismissal. The air crafts should be in a good state of performance that will not only allow them to move superfast but will also meet the regulations that have been tightened overt the rising concern of climate change and safety in relation to speed. This research is what will see to reduction in sonic boom to a level that it will not be felt on the ground (Churchill, 2013, p 29). Research is what is being counted on to ensure that the variable cycle engines work on the supersonic flights. All forces that have led to tightening of environmental regulations are purely based on research, therefore, the same research should be counted on to deliver an environmental and safety observant supersonic transport system.
Findings
To create a supersonic aircraft that is accepted as environmentally friendly and cruise at speeds higher than the speed of sound there must be many advances to be made to the first version of this craft (Houston, & Heflin, 2015, p 584).Below are the most crucial areas to be advanced.
• The airframe structural makes up for a low empty weight fraction and durability which will also include speeding methods for collecting data over long periods and effects of validity of thermos-mechanical tests.
• The engine should be able to withstand high temperatures thus be composed of combustor liner and coatings, turbine airfoil alloys and coatings.
• Low noise during propulsion, landing, and takeoff.
• The cockpit to display e good vision system
• Modern operational procedures incorporated in new technology fit for commercial use.
• Cabin depressurization at a height above 40,000 ft
• Appropriate and applicable hazard response strategies especially those pertaining to exposure to radiation
Conclusion
The world has been made a very small place by air travel but the chances of making supersonic travel possible are very small basing this argument on the fact that there has been excessive concern about environmental factors. The very existence of this crafts demands that they overrule certain measures put in place in defense of the environment. However, if enough well-supported research is implemented these birds are not going to have a thing holding them down from the skies because appropriate measures will have been brought up and well. This is the future of air travel and it is time it is given enough thought, it was made possible once so with the great technological advances it can be done again and better.
References
Trimble, S 2013, ‘In Focus Concorde Pictures Russian industry actively pursues supersonic flight’, Flight International, 935, General OneFile, EBSCOhost, viewed 8 June 2016.
Steenhuis, H, & Eriksson, S 2015, The Global Commercial Aviation Industry, London: Routledge, Discovery eBooks, EBSCOhost, viewed 8 June 2016.
Holt, A 2013, Engineering Analysis Of Flight Vehicles, N.p.: Dover Publications, Discovery eBooks, EBSCOhost, viewed 8 June 2016.
Hart, J 2012, ‘HYPERSONIC OR JUST HYPE?’, Buying Business Travel, 55, pp. 64-66, Hospitality & Tourism Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 8 June 2016.
Sforza, PM 2014, Commercial Airplane Design Principles, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, Discovery eBooks, EBSCOhost, viewed 8 June 2016.
Churchill, D 2013, ‘A NEED FOR SPEED’, Buying Business Travel, 65, pp. 28-31, Hospitality & Tourism Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 8 June 2016.
Houston, R, & Heflin, M 2015, Go, Flight! : The Unsung Heroes Of Mission Control, 1965–1992, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, Discovery eBooks, EBSCOhost, viewed 8 June 2016.
