Boeing files for patents that imply it may be working on top secret 'Sonic Cruiser' plane.
PUBLISHED: 16:24 GMT, 2 May 2012
When the Concorde went to that great big scrapheap in the sky, the world lost the fastest public transport it had ever known.
With luck, a patent filed by Boeing implies the next leap in aviation technology is not far off, with a 'Sonic Cruiser' perhaps on the cards.
The plane was first mooted in 2001, but was shelved a few years later and plane enthusiasts assumed it would never see the light of day.
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signatures, and engines installed on top of the fuselage rather than un
Old and new: The 2003 Sonic Cruiser patent design versus the 2012 patent
According to Flight Global
the new designs pick up on the previous Sonic Cruiser, with improvements made to reduce the plane's noise and heat der the wings.
The original Sonic Cruiser was expected to fly at Mach 0.95, or about 630mph - keeping it just under the sonic boom level. It was expected to have a range of up to 10,000 miles, but was scrapped as airlines favoured lower operating costs and more capacity.
Several differences to improve the plane's aerodynamics have been spotted when comparing diagrams of the 2003 patent to the April 2012 filing.
Whether the craft is a serious venture by Boeing, or just some experiments by a group of engineers, remains unknown.
The plane also bears similarities to the U.S. Air Force bombing jets - the Valykrie. This Mach 3 bomber was tested through-out the sixties but was only used for test flights due to some technical difficulties.
As gadget site Gizmodo said: 'This doesn't mean that Boeing is going to build the Sonic Cruiser anytime soon. But it's nice to know that someone is working on making it possible one day.'
The plane seems to bear similarities to the The North American Aviation Valkyrie military plane - which itself started as a joint defence project between Boeing and the U.S. airforce
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Boeing files for patents that imply it may be working on top secret 'Sonic Cruiser' plane | Mail Online
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