”Aerodynamics, materials, propulsion
There have been only two civil supersonic planes: the Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 and the British-French Concorde, which flew for the last time in October 2003, more than two decades ago.
Now, the industry is abuzz with supersonic and hypersonic projects – from NASA and Lockheed Martin’s “quiet” X-59 aircraft, which limits sonic boom, to Atlanta-based Hermeus, which this week unveiled its first flyable aircraft.
“The advent of digital engineering is a huge enabler for why supersonic flight’s coming back,” explains Scholl. “Aerodynamics, materials,…