Spike challenges Boom for supersonic flight: London-Hong Kong in 5,5 hours

Supersonic flight is easy, but doing it without the sonic boom is the holy grail of the next generation of aircraft. Advanced engineering such as the Quiet Supersonic Flight (QSF) technology being developed by Spike Aerospace will make flying faster than speed of sound possible without all the noise. The company announced today that QSF will be one of the key technologies of the S-512 Supersonic Jet to be available in early 2020s.

Without doubt, there is a lot of excitement about the return of supersonic flight. It really is just a few years away. Flying faster, affordably, is going to have a huge impact for business and leisure travel. Key to making supersonic aviation of interest and value to everyone is being able to fly overland as well as over the oceans.

However, in the race to develop a supersonic jet, most efforts are focused on high sonic boom aircraft that can only fly trans-oceanic due their loud disturbing sonic boom. That is fine for passengers headed to or from the Americas. But it severely limits the destinations where these high-boom supersonic jets can fly and their market potential. One option would be to slow down to low-supersonic speed to reduce the sonic boom. Not a problem if you like driving 40 mph when the speed limit is 60 mph.

In contrast, the 18 passenger Spike S-512 with QSF is low-boom and will be able to fly trans-oceanic and trans-continental at top supersonic speeds of up to Mach 1.6. This opens up a much larger global market for passengers that need to fly across Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa. No speed restrictions or sonic boom when flying over cities or the countryside enroute to your destination.

London to Hong Kong in 5.5 hours

By early 2020s, the Spike S-512 Supersonic Jet will be making flights from Paris to Dubai in 3 1/2 hours or London to Hong Kong in 5.5 hours. Day trips for shopping, entertainment or even business.

“Sure, there is a market for high-boom supersonic jets that only fly over water. But there is a much bigger demand for low-boom jets that can fly supersonic everywhere.” said President & CEO, Vik Kachoria.

To make supersonic flight available to the most passengers, Spike Aerospace is in discussions with several premier airlines to offer supersonic service on the S-512 in addition to their business and first class service on subsonic jets. Supersonic ticket prices are expected to be a slight premium to business or first class seats — depending on the route. Fairly reasonable and accessible to most travelers.

Spike Aerospace started developing the Spike S-512 Supersonic Jet in 2013. A global collaboration of aerospace partners and suppliers are working together with Spike on engineering efforts to bring the aircraft to market. Construction of the first scaled prototype will begin this summer.

Quiet Supersonic Flight (QSF) is proprietary technology developed by Spike Aerospace. Essentially it works by optimizing the aerodynamic design primarily through shaping of the wing, fuselage and tail. The design shaping helps to minimize any disturbing sound created by the sonic wake.