Supersonic Air Travel Recommended Reading

Aviation has a huge number of enthusiasts, which is why essentially every aircraft model ever produced has a book written about it. Supersonic aircraft are no exception. There’s a large number of books written about the Concorde, the Tu-144, and the American SST project. Many of these aren’t particularly great, but there are some real gems in the mix for those interested in reading further.

Recommended reading

High-Speed Dreams by Erik Conway, 2005

This is a fantastic history of the US’s SST efforts, written by a historian at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab covering the period between 1945 and 1999. Most books I found on the subject of supersonic transport had trouble striking the right balance between the technical aspects of the aircraft itself, the process of developing the new technology, and the organizational aspects of marshaling support for the project and fending off opposition. But of course, these all influence each other; the performance requirements dictate the technological development required, and the resulting cost and aircraft economics dictate how much support the project receives, which in turn influences what sort of technology the program has time and funding to develop. Focusing on, say, the performance specifications of the aircraft (as many aviation books love to do) while ignoring the organizational aspects leaves a huge hole in your understanding. But High-Speed Dreams nails this balance, giving a (not too) detailed look at the technical evolution of supersonic flight, and how SST supporters tried (and ultimately failed) to corral support and funding for SST projects amidst various sources of opposition and technical hurdles. If you’re interested in reading a book on American SST efforts, or understanding more deeply why building an SST is a hard problem, this is the one I’d recommend.