Tyler Wynn
The speed of sound is approximately 761.2 mph, which is faster than the peak speed of a typical civilian jet plane flying from Chicago to New York. However, some planes, mostly used by the military, can match or exceed the speed of sound. On October 14, 1947, Captain Charles E. Chuck Yeager became the first person to fly faster than sound in the Bell X-1 plane, reaching a speed of 660 mph. Supersonic airplanes are now used for military and research purposes, and scientists are working on developing quiet supersonic aircraft for passenger flights.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Possibility of airplanes travelling faster than sound | Yes, first achieved by Captain Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager on October 14, 1947, in the Bell X-1 aeroplane |
| Speed achieved | 660 mph (Mach 1), about 700 mph peak speed |
| Conditions | 43,000 feet altitude, temperature affecting speed of sound |
| Challenges | Sound waves pile up, leading to increased atmospheric pressure and drag, requiring a special aircraft design and technique |
| Sonic boom | A loud noise created by compressing sound waves into a single shockwave |
| Hearing inside the cockpit | Pilots can hear internal noises but not external sounds like the sonic boom |
| Usage | Mostly military and research, previously Concorde and Tu-144 were commercial supersonic planes |
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What You'll Learn
The first plane to break the sound barrier
On October 14, 1947, Captain Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager became the first person to travel faster than sound. He flew the experimental purpose-built Bell X-1 aeroplane at 700 miles per hour over the Mojave Desert in California.
The Bell X-1 was modelled on a .50-caliber machine gun bullet, an object known to travel faster than sound. The plane had a single 6,000-pound-thrust rocket engine to power it to supersonic speeds. On the day of the flight, Yeager's plane was carried up to an altitude of about 29,000 feet by a B-29 Bomber and dropped from the bomb bay. The rocket engines then fired, and the X-1 climbed to over 40,000 feet where it reached 660 mph.
Yeager encountered problems in previous flights at speeds close to the speed of sound. The compression of the air by the speeding plane caused the flight control system on the tail to stop working, and Yeager lost control. However, with modifications to the X-1, Yeager and his team were able to overcome these issues and finally broke the sound barrier.
Yeager's achievement demonstrated that safe flight at the speed of sound was achievable in purpose-designed aircraft. By the 1950s, new designs of fighter aircraft routinely reached the speed of sound and faster. However, flying faster than sound proved too expensive for all but military applications, so the age of civil supersonic transport was brief. Nevertheless, the data gathered on transonic and supersonic flight has made new generations of subsonic civil airliners safer and more efficient.
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Sonic booms
On October 14, 1947, Captain Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager flew the Bell X-1 aeroplane at 700 miles per hour over the Mojave Desert in California, becoming the first person to travel faster than sound and creating the first-ever sonic boom.
A sonic boom is a shockwave that follows a jet when it breaks the sound barrier. People on the ground hear it a little after the jet passes. The loudness of the sonic boom depends on factors such as the height of the jet, the weather, and the landscape. As air gets colder with height, sound bends upward, meaning that less sound travels downwards towards the ground. Therefore, a sonic boom will only reach the ground if the jet is travelling faster than sound in the air near the ground, not just at its flying height.
While sonic booms cannot be entirely prevented, research suggests that careful shaping of the vehicle may reduce the nuisance of sonic booms to the point that overland supersonic flight becomes feasible.
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Sound waves and supersonic speed
When an object, like an airplane, travels through the air, it generates sound waves that propagate in all directions. As the airplane accelerates, it starts to catch up with its own sound waves. This results in a phenomenon known as wave pile-up, where the sound waves in front of the aircraft start to compress and create a high-pressure region. This compression of sound waves leads to increased atmospheric pressure and drag, making further acceleration challenging.
To break the sound barrier and achieve supersonic speed, a special aircraft design and flying technique are required to overcome this wave pile-up and the associated increase in drag. On October 14, 1947, Captain Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager became the first person to accomplish this feat by piloting the Bell X-1 aircraft at supersonic speeds over the Mojave Desert in California. Yeager's aircraft reached a speed of 660 mph, which was faster than the speed of sound at that altitude.
When an airplane exceeds the speed of sound, it moves faster than the sound waves it generates, leaving them behind. This means that sound waves from the aircraft's engines, for example, have to travel faster to catch up with the plane. As a result, pilots and passengers onboard supersonic planes experience a notably quiet ride, as they are moving faster than the sound waves produced by their own aircraft. However, they would not hear any external sounds, such as a sonic boom, as the plane outpaces those sound waves.
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Military use of supersonic aircraft
Supersonic aircraft are aircraft capable of supersonic flight, that is, flying faster than the speed of sound (Mach 1). Supersonic aircraft were developed in the second half of the twentieth century, with the first successful flight occurring on October 14, 1947, by the experimental Bell X-1 research rocket plane piloted by Chuck Yeager.
Fighter jets are the most common example of supersonic aircraft. Military supersonic fighters and similar aircraft are currently under development in several countries, including Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Iran, and the United States. The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21, Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, and Dassault Mirage III are examples of military supersonic aircraft that have been produced in large numbers.
Most supersonic aircraft, including many military fighter aircraft, are designed to spend most of their flight time at subsonic speeds, only exceeding the speed of sound for short periods, such as when intercepting an enemy aircraft. A smaller number, such as the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft, have been designed to cruise continuously at speeds above the speed of sound. These aircraft often face more severe problems associated with supersonic flight, such as increased heat generation due to air compression and friction, and higher fuel consumption due to the low lift-to-drag ratio of supersonic aircraft.
The development of civil supersonic aircraft has faced challenges due to environmental concerns and the sonic boom created by supersonic flight. Only two supersonic aircraft, the Tupolev Tu-144 and the Concorde, have ever entered service for civil use as airliners. The Concorde, in particular, brought public awareness to the power of the sonic boom, leading to laws restricting supersonic flight over land in major industrial countries. While scientists are currently working on the prototype of a quiet supersonic aircraft, civil supersonic flight remains prohibited in countries like the United States.
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Supersonic passenger flights
Historically, the Concorde and the Tupolev Tu-144 (or "Concordski") were the only supersonic transport (SST) aircraft to see regular service. The Concorde was a Franco-British supersonic airliner operated by British Airways and Air France from 1976 to 2003. It had a capacity of up to 128 passengers and cruised at Mach 2, regularly travelling from London to New York in around three hours. The Tu-144 was a Russian aircraft that first flew in 1968 and entered commercial service in 1977. The Tu-144's last passenger flight was in June 1978, and it was last flown in 1999 by NASA.
The development of the Concorde set off panic in the US industry, as it was thought that it would soon replace all other long-range designs. This led Congress to fund an SST design effort, selecting the Lockheed L-2000 and Boeing 2707 designs. The Boeing 2707 design was eventually selected for continued work, with design goals of ferrying around 300 passengers and having a cruising speed of Mach 3. However, the SST was seen as particularly offensive due to its sonic boom and the potential for its engine exhaust to damage the ozone layer. These concerns led Congress to drop funding for the US SST program in March 1971.
Despite the termination of the US SST program and the end of Concorde flights in 2003, there is renewed interest in developing supersonic passenger aircraft. Several companies have proposed supersonic business jet designs, and small SSTs have less environmental impact. Boom Technology, for example, plans to build an airliner called Overture that can fly at Mach 1.7. Flying supersonically can drastically decrease flight times, with a trip from New York to Rome on Overture taking just four hours and 40 minutes instead of eight hours. Spike Aerospace is another American firm developing a supersonic business jet, with the tagline "delivering the world in half the time".
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, airplanes can travel faster than sound. The first plane to do so was the Bell X-1, flown by Captain Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager on October 14, 1947, over the Mojave Desert, California.
The speed of sound is approximately 761.2 mph at sea level. However, the speed can vary depending on factors such as temperature. For example, at 43,000 feet, the temperature reduces the speed of sound to around 660 mph.
Inside the cockpit, pilots can still hear internal noises such as engine hum and radio communications because sound travels normally in the controlled, pressurized environment. However, they cannot hear any external sounds, such as the sonic boom created by the plane, as the plane is moving faster than those sound waves.
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