Boom Supersonic

[David L]

I'm struggling to understand why this is news

https://news.sky.com/story/boom-supersonics-xb-1-prototype-jet-breaks-sound-barrier-for-first-time-13298478

I watched an interesting video-doc on the Fairey Delta 2 just the other day. In 1956 it flew at 1,147mph

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2015/8/60/1956-fastest-aircraft-393027

[The Picnic Wasp]

China is trying to develop hypersonic civil aircraft. The West seems to have been left behind.

[David L]

China is trying to develop hypersonic civil aircraft. The West seems to have been left behind.

And how fast are their trains?   

In the UK, it's always been politicians that screw things up. We've had no end of world-beating aircraft over the years including the TSR2 and the Fairey Delta 2 that were great designs but short-sighted governments canned them. In the case of the Delta 2, it was the decision to concentrate on missile design rather than a supersonic interceptor aircraft. Of course, history shows that those decisions are mostly misguided as we are later forced into multi-national collaboration (due to cost) which inevitably leads to delays and compromise or we end up buying from the US. It's sad to see what our politicians did to our aviation industry in the post-war period.
In both civil and military fields, it's mostly political short termism that has killed good British designs.