Is it illegal to go Mach 1?

Currently, U.S. law prohibits flight in excess of Mach 1 over land unless specifically authorized by the FAA for purposes stated in the regulations. The two supersonic rulemaking activities would not rescind the prohibition of flight in excess of Mach 1 over land.



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Fifty years ago, the federal government banned all civilian supersonic flights over land. The rule prohibits non-military aircraft from flying faster than sound so their resulting sonic booms won't startle the public below or concern them about potential property damage.

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Spike Aerospace, founded in 2013 Max Kachoria of NASA, built an 18-passenger supersonic jet with low-sonic boom, fuel efficiency, speeds up to 1,100 mph, and flight times slashed in half. Their current model is the S-512 which can get passengers to cities in a moment's notice: NYC to London: 3 hours.

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What does Mach 1 mean? A Mach number is the ratio of an object's speed in a given medium to the speed of sound in that medium. Mach 1, then, is the speed of sound, around 761 mph at sea level on a standard day. The term is also used as a metaphor for high speeds more generally.

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Of course. Two people sitting in your run-of-the-mill supersonic airplane such as the Concorde can easily carry out conversations, without much trouble.

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The Boeing 747–400 cannot top Mach 1, capped at 988 km/h, or Mach 0.8. The plane cannot exceed Mach 1, because its engines are not fast enough to propel the aircraft forward that fast. This also has to do with the plane's aerodynamics, because it is large and has dihedral wings.

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