This plane has no windows! But it is really fast

Concorde is a thing of the past, but a number of companies are racing to release the first supersonic business jet.

Aerion Corporation is working on a jet that would reach Mach 1.6 and would possibly be ready for release by 2020, while Spike Aerospace has announced plans for the S-512, a business jet that could travel at speeds of Mach 1.8 and would be available by 2018. So why has it taken nearly 50 years to revisit the concept?

According to Vik Kachoria, president and CEO of Spike Aerospace, one of the main issues that plagued the Concorde was the sonic boom -- the disruptive noise that results from the shockwaves created when an object travels faster than the speed of sound.

"At its worst, the sonic boom would sound like a loud thunder clap over your head. It would rattle windows and loosen roof tiles. It was pretty jarring. If you lived under the Concorde's flight path, you might hear it several times a day," he says.

The effect was so disturbing that most countries either banned supersonic flights, or restricted them from traveling over land. Understandably, this is an issue that the aerospace industry has needed to address in order to make supersonic flight viable.

A plane without windows?

Kachoria notes that currently, it makes more sense to develop supersonic business jets than larger commercial aircraft, because the plane's diminutive size results in a smaller boom.
While he's remained tight-lipped about many aspects of the design (some are still awaiting patent), he recently announced that the S-512 will be built without windows (except for the one the pilots see out of), a feature that will reduce drag and overall cost of the unit.

"Even at subsonic speeds, windows add a tremendous cost to the aircraft because the fuselage has to be designed to support those windows. If you eliminate all that, you create piece with less structural issues, less manufacturing costs, and less parts count," he says.

It sounds like a claustrophobe's nightmare, though Kachoria has attempted to compensate for the windowless design by installing flatscreens, which can either display the view outside, or can be used to show a movie or PowerPoint presentation -- should a conference need to take place in the air.