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Boeing's Circa 2001 Sonic Cruiser concept for near supersonic air travel
(8 pix + 1 video)
Now that the 787 era is finally off the ground, it’s kinda cool to look back at what Boeing was telling us the future of air travel was circa 2001. This very cool collection of renderings, models, and a video can sure stir the imagination!
It was December of 2000 when Airbus committed to the A380 project with the hope of knocking the 747 off of the throne as the high capacity airliner to the world. Boeing certainly had to respond, especially since it had already been 7 years sine the 777 had first flown. Boeing needed to show the industry how it was planning to meet the changing needs of the world’s travelers.
Enter the Sonic Cruiser concept. In March 2001, Boeing went public with a pretty radical looking design for a 200 to 250 seat airliner capable of cruising just short of the speed of sound, .95 - .98 Mach. The general idea was that the bulky hub and spoke method of moving people around was not what the airlines or passengers ultimately wanted. But the A380 with its rather massive pax capacity was certainly not going to fit a direct point-to-point model of operation. Boeing reasoned that smaller capacity aircraft would fit the point-to-point, nonstop model that travelers clearly preferred, and best of all, the Sonic Cruiser would get ’em there fast.
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