Elon Musk Thinks Supersonic Jets are the Thing to Do

November 12, 2013 -- Elon Musk was at the New York Times Dealbook conference earlier today, where he discussed his interest in supersonic travel. "I do think there's an interesting opportunity to create a supersonic, electric, vertical-takeoff-and-landing jet," Musk said. "It seems unlikely to come from Boeing (BA) or Airbus, given…

Why Are There No Supersonic Jets Today?

July 2013: Over the past 20 years, there have been a number of companies that have worked on supersonic commercial aircraft. Many large organizations (like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, NASA, JAXA, etc.) have been doing basic research with the hope of building a jet in 30-50 years (2050 or so). I…

What Happened to the Concorde?

March 2013: The Concorde, one of only two supersonic commercial jets in service to date, was retired in late 2003 - after flying for 27 years. Following a farewell tour around North America and the United Kingdom, British Airways and Air France retired all 20 Concordes that were built, of…

Having Dreams, Pursuing Them

Mar 2013: As kids, we all had crazy dreams of being firemen, astronauts, movie stars, presidents, quarterbacks, rock stars, or some other seemingly outlandish vision. Our parents and teachers supported our dreams while we were kids. They told us that anything we dreamed of doing was possible - we just…

The Future of Aviation Is Bright

February 2013: The Wright brothers' first flight, just over 100 years ago, was less than the length of a football field. Since then, aviation has come a long, long way. Planes can now fly from NYC to Tokyo in just 13 hours at 500+ miles per hour. The largest plane,…