To what extent has subsonic air travel in the 21st century become primitive?

The century following the conception of the first fixed wing aircraft by the wright brothers in 1903 saw a monumental increase in technological advances and breakthroughs regarding flight. Flying at 26 knots or 30 miles per hour, Orville Wright flew for a total of a mere 12 seconds, the first arguably sustained flight in modern history had been established. By 1969, the Arospatiale-BAC Concorde was blasting through the stratosphere at a cruise speed of Mach 2.2 or 1350 miles per hour. It is intriguing to visualise that in 66 years, humanity was able to enrich aircraft systems such as avionics, hydraulics, propulsion and aerodynamics to such an extent, that the cruise speed of Concorde was now 4500% greater than that of the Wright brothers aircraft. The range, which was 120 feet, had now increased to 3900 nautical miles, not to mention that other aircraft at the time such as the Boeing 747-100 had a range of up to 5300 nautical miles. The general size of aircraft increased so dramatically, that the wright brothers could have completed their initial flight within the economy class section of the Boeing 747-100. All being said, it is evident that there were enormous advances in the discipline of commercial flight within this time frame, however, beyond this era (circa 1970) there has been, to a large extent, a stagnation of evolutionary and revolutionary developments regarding commercial flight. As of 2013, Concorde no longer exists, and one of Boeings most state of the art aircraft, the Boeing 747-8 is rather similar to the 747-100 that first flew in 1969 as illustrated below.

Figure 1, Image 1: An early 747-100 (1969). Source: Aviation Model store [2010]

Figure 2, Image 2: A Boeing 747-8, the most modern version of the 747 (2010) Source: Airliners illustrated [2013]

To what extent has subsonic air travel in the 21st century become primitive?

At this point it is evident that the majority of the aircraft used today for travel are fundamentally based on the technological breakthroughs of the 20th century that have been implemented in hundreds of aircraft throughout the globe and continue to be until this day. Of course, there have been major developments in terms of efficiency such as the successful introduction of cleaner and quieter engines, the upgrade of computer systems to such an extent that crew members such as the flight engineer is no longer needed. Aircraft are being introduced manufactured out of carbon fiber instead of the conventional aluminium but in essence, the question arises due to these advances, why does it take approximately the same amount of time to travel a particular distance today, as it did in the 1970s? In actual fact the answer to this question is that indeed, planes do not fly quicker today than in the 1970s but slower, it takes more time due to the permanent withdrawal of Concorde from service. The fastest commercial transatlantic crossing in the 1970s was approximately 3 hours and 20 minutes; today that time has more than doubled. This is the basis of this project, why do we, in the 21st century still rely on subsonic air travel a time where it is ever so important to increase efficiency, reduce time and become leaner in the processes that run our world, why do we settle with subsonic air travel to transport the most valuable commodity across the globe, man. The objective is to establish the main barriers thwarting the implementation of supersonic airliners by assessing the issues that supersonic airliners in recent modern history experienced, the reasons why they were indefinitely grounded, assessing whether these problems were significant enough to cause what they did especially on Concorde, whether these problems could have been overcome and whether any advances in the 21st century could eradicate any barriers and therefore give potential for further development. From this, it will become clear if subsonic air travel really is primitive or if the barriers are too high to successfully overcome.

To what extent has subsonic air travel in the 21st century become primitive?

Concorde was the only supersonic airliner that was introduced into consistent passenger service, although it should be mentioned that a soviet version, the Tupolev TU-144 also entered service two years after Concorde but was plagued with mechanical and structural faults with regular catastrophic failures of the on board computers which lead to the TU-144 being converted into a cargo plane and then discontinued. Concorde however was largely successful, and is therefore the only example that can be effectively studied; however there were of course underlying problems that subsequently lead to its demise. These are listed below: The Concorde effectively operated in a niche market, that is, a subset of the market on which a specific product is focusing. In this case, that market was successful & wealthy businessmen and celebrities. A typical transatlantic crossing during the final years of Concorde cost in the region of 5000-10,000, with subsonic fares costing a fraction of this amount. Despite this, Concordes profit margins were still slim, tickets sold in vast numbers, but the thirsty Concordes fuel supply diminished at an astonishing rate, burning 2 tonnes of fuel just taxiing to the runway prior to take off, this was 2% of its fuel capacity, which in turn had detrimental effects on the aircrafts range. Concorde could fly 3900 nautical miles on a full tank, which was just about sufficient for its popular London to New York service, however Concorde was unable to reach other important worldwide destinations in the American west coast or Asia (where a large market existed) without re-fuelling. Re-Fuelling took up time, which was undesirable for time conscious passengers of Concorde. The TU-144 had a range which was even less than Concordes, which signifies that this was a problem on supersonic airliners due to the enormous quantities of fuel that they required. A particular feature of supersonic flight that distinguishes it from subsonic flight is the sonic boom, the sound associated with the shock waves created by an object that travels through air faster than the sound it creates. This isnt a problem for the aircraft; however, it has an effect on its surroundings no matter what altitude the plane is flying at. The shockwaves produced have the ability to cause vibrations sufficiently powerful to damage buildings. This severely restricted Concorde due to the fact that it was limited to sub sonic speeds whenever over land. It could only establish super cruise (sustained periods of supersonic flight) when it was over water, thus making transatlantic crossings ideal for Concorde, which is why the London to New York route was so popular. Travelling at such high speeds, supersonic aircrafts such as Concorde encountered vast amounts of air friction, which in turn generated heat. At the end of flights, surfaces used to be hot to the touch, demonstrating the level of friction. This meant that the livery Concorde was painted in was limited to a heat-reflecting majority white, otherwise non reflecting generic paint would cause the aircraft structure to heat to unsafe temperatures. Today, airlines distinguish themselves from other carriers through use of different liveries and even advertise by painting their websites and other information to stimulate sales, concurrent with todays global economic market.

To what extent has subsonic air travel in the 21st century become primitive?

As altitude increase, the air becomes thinner and therefore air resistance is less. For this reason Concorde used to travel at altitudes higher than conventional aircraft (60,000 ft), so high that it was possible to see the curvature of the earth at some instances. At such altitudes, passengers received twice the flux of extraterrestrial ionisation as that as passengers on a conventional long haul flight would receive. Solar flares or other unusual solar activity could potentially have detrimental effects on flight schedules and Concorde was equipped with a radiometer, which allowed it to decrease its altitude to below 47,000 ft if the radiation level became to high. High altitude flight also meant, that in the result of a rupture in the cabin, the low air density outside would cause a drop in pressure severe enough to render the emergency oxygen supply useless and result in rapid hypoxia or death. It is generally accepted that air travel is the safest method of travel, however, there is no denying that due to the enormous volumes of air traffic, accidents to occur, with disastrous consequences. Take for example the most popular jet in operation, the Boeing 737, which has had 150 hull loss accidents. Despite this, 737s still continue to operate without problem in almost every corner of the world, mainly due to the fact over 7000 have been built since 1969. Only 20 Concordes were ever built due to it operating in a niche market, this made it vulnerable to some extent and the crash of Air France flight 4590 marked the beginning of the end for Concorde. Air France, unlike BA was operating Concorde on a loss and only kept doing so due to national pride. Rising fuel and maintenance costs, a slump in air travel due to the 9/11 attacks and a dated design lead to the joint announcement of Concordes retirement in April 2003. Concorde, the first supersonic airliner was undoubtedly way ahead of its time. This technological marvel brought with it repercussions so great, that they finally overtook Concorde in the early 2000s. It is clear that these problems were significant enough to bring the supersonic jet down and underpin the plausibility of supersonic flight, however it also shows how it is bound my economical constraints. The 21st century saw major improvements in efficiency and the upgrade of analogue cockpits to digital with the elimination of a flight engineer (Concorde was the only aircraft in the British Airways fleet at the time of retirement that required a flight engineer). Of course, these improvements could have been introduced into Concorde; however, supersonic flight and super-cruise still entail a monumental quantity of fuel, which in todays world is scarcer than it ever was. In conclusion it can be said that although arguably potential for further development exists, it is not yet credible and financially viable to introduce fuel thirsty jets into an already well established infrastructure of modern and efficient sub sonic jets that more than satisfy the needs for the 21st century passenger. Sub sonic airliners can operate without the constraints and implications that come with surpassing mach1 and are in conclusion, fast enough. They allow for budget airlines to arise and establish healthy competition along with manageable fuel and maintenance costs that can be satisfied by an influx of passengers willing to pay a humble price for staying a short while

To what extent has subsonic air travel in the 21st century become primitive? longer on board than they would (if they could afford) on Concorde. Wealthy businessmen and celebrities are today content by 1st and business classes where they are able to enjoy a much more comfortable environment than that that could have been offered by supersonic airlines (Passengers seated next to each other on the Tupolev Tu-144 had to shout to communicate with each other due to the excessive noise in the cabin).

To what extent has subsonic air travel in the 21st century become primitive? To understand the physics behind the problem of the sonic boom, one must fathom that a sound wave is a longitudinal wave, meaning its displacement of the medium it is travelling in (air) is parallel to the propagation of the wave. An important feature of the amplitude of sound waves is that the amplitude of sound waves are finite.

Figure 3, Image 3: An illustration of the behaviour of sound waves on a slinky. Source: Transverse And Longitudinal Waves, [2000] Air is known as an inhomogeneous medium as it is not 100% consistent. Due to this fact, the speed of sound varies because the particle velocity varies due to alternating resistance of the medium (air resistance). The wave propagation speed can be given by c0 + u where c0 is the sound speed, u is the particle velocity and is a pressure/density constant. The speed of sound varies because depends on pressure, temperature and salinity so the change is noticeable mostly over the ocean (where Concorde super-cruised), however the change is small so it is negligible.

Figure 4, Image 4: A sound wave moving through air. The air motion is alternating due to differences of air resistance. Source: Transverse And Longitudinal Waves, [2000] At sea level and a typical atmospheric environment of 23 degrees Celsius, the speed of a sound wave is approximately 770 miles per hour. If the temperature were to drop, then so would the speed of sound. As sound wave propagation is finite, objects emitting sound that are travelling can start to approach the waves that they are creating. Once the aircraft velocity matches the velocity of the sound waves around it, they start to accumulate in front of the travelling aircraft. Depending on if the aircrafts acceleration is sufficient enough, it can erupt through these accumulated waves and passage in front of the sound barrier. This creates a change in pressure that creates a massive sonic boom.

To what extent has subsonic air travel in the 21st century become primitive? The coefficient of linear expansion is the ratio of the original length by which a structure expands per degree rise in temperature. At Mach 2.0, Concorde experienced monumental rises in its aluminium airframe due to thermal heating.

Figure 5, Image 5 showing the extent of thermal heating on the structure of Concorde at Mach 2 or 1320 miles per hour. Source: Celebrating An Aviation Icon, [2004] Concorde was limited to the speed of Mach 2.2 due to the fact it was constructed from aluminium instead of titanium, which would have allowed for greater speeds but was problematic to use at high altitudes. A unique alloy of aluminium allowed for an acceptable level of kinetic heating and expansion along with sustainable thermal fatigue. Primitive understanding of particles teaches us that once heat is supplied to metals, the particles obtain more kinetic energy, vibrate, excite and take up more room. To summarise the above, I will calculate the temperature of Concordes outer skin during super-cruise. Taking into account the length of Concorde is 61.6m whilst sitting on the tarmac at 14 degrees celsius. It is generally known that at twice the speed of sound, Concordes fusalage lengthens by 0.25m. Taking the coefficiant of linear expansion of aluminum = 2.40105 or alpha for simplicity allows the following calculation where: The change in length = alpha(the initial length)x(the change in temperature) Therefore 0.25 = (2.4 x 10^-5)(61.6)(-14) (0.25/2.4x10^-5/61.6)+14=T T=183 degrees celsius. Comparison between this and the image illustrated above highlight discrepancies in the results. It must be acknowledged that the calculation is an approxiamation and does not take into account factors such as cooling of the airframe at high altitudes where the outside temperature can be as low as -57 degrees celcius.

To what extent has subsonic air travel in the 21st century become primitive?

Bibliography.
Boeing 737 Accident reports, 2013. [online] Available at: http://www.b737.org.uk/accident_reports.htm Boeing 747-8R7F Experimental N747EX [online] Available at: http://www.airlinersillustrated.com/Boeing_7478R7F_Experimental_N747EX/p 1737690_8139157.aspx Celebrating An Aviation Icon, 2004. [online] Available at: http://www.concordesst.com/whatsnew.html Edwin D, Sayre. 2005. Development Of New Supersonic Aircraft Gillman, P. 1977. The story of the Concorde. Volume 239, No 1; p72-81 J, Acoust. 1974. Propagation Of Plane Sound Waves Of Finite Amplitude In Inhomogeneous Fluids. Volume 56, Issue S1, p 42 Transverse And Longitudinal Waves, 2000. [online] Available at: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/sound/tralon.html What Happens When An Aircraft Breaks The Sound Barrier? 2002. [online] Available at: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-happens-when-an-airc

To what extent has subsonic air travel in the 21st century become primitive? Source 4 Information collected from this source was in the form of an article. From it I was able to obtain Government plans to develop supersonic aircraft, their advantages and more specifically the performance of Concorde. Mr Edwin D. Sayre composed the article and further reading allowed me to establish the fact that he is a retired engineer residing in Los Gatos, California. Los Gatos, according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek, (a well established and sought after magazine) ranks Los Gatos 33rd in affluence in all of the United States. The fact that Mr Edwin D. Sayre lives in a prosperous town leads me to believe his career as an engineer was successful and thus suggests that his article must be a reliable source of information regarding its familiarity with engineering concepts. On his planet forward account he self declares that he is indeed a retired engineer with 60 years of experience in manufacturing and maintaining energy systems such as jet engines, gas turbines, rocket engines, nuclear power plants and space systems and is a retired naval aviator. The information presented to me allowed me to be reassured by the credibility of information included in my report stemming from his article. Source 5 Peter Gillmans 1977 article gave me a thorough understanding and insight into the life, function and capabilities of Concorde intertwined with the politics of the time that influenced aviation. Mr Peter Gillman is respected British writer specialising in a wide range of topics. Although he doesnt hold any relevant qualifications directly In sync with Supersonic flight, he does 40 years experience writing in the national press, 25 of which involved training other journalists. He is the author/co author of a dozen books and his results are classed as exceptional. The range of experience Peter Gillman has allowed him to construct an article involving a wide range of global factors, which some engineers may have been unaware of at the time. This aided him in publishing a balanced, informative and peer-reviewed document that more than satisfied my criterion for information to be included in this report. Source 6 This source was interesting due to its in depth analysis of wave behaviour. It allowed me to illustrate appropriate formulas for sound waves in different media. The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) published this particular article in 1974. The society was instigated 46 years earlier by a group of 40 scientists and engineers and is one of three scientific societies that form the American Institute of Physics, a gargantuan organisation with more than 135,000 scientists, engineers and educators with an annual budget of $74 million. The ASA published journals, articles, books and videos all relating to the field of acoustics, most of which are peer reviewed. I was content in relying on this document in order to explain the sonic boom, a fundamental concept, critical to the function of supersonic aircraft.