Kirby Harrison is a freelance writer for The Weekly of Business Aviation, Business & Commercial Aviation and others in the Informa publishing chain. Harrison joined the Navy in 1962 and spent 20 years in the service, virtually all of it as a photojournalist, traveling from small islands in the South Pacific to Vietnam to the bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon. When Harrison retired from the Navy, he went back to college and graduated in 1971 from Syracuse University with a Bachelor's Degree in Photojournalism. Along the way, he spent two years as a news photographer at the Daily Press & Times Herald in Newport News, Virginia, and three years working for Studio Sebe in Nice, France as a photographer. More recently, before retiring, he worked nearly 20 years for Naval Aviation News.
Spike Aerospace says the so-called sonic boom of its S-512 supersonic business jet will be reduced to something approaching “a very soft, muffled clap,” allowing the Mach 1.6 aircraft to fly supersonic over land without slowing down to subsonic speeds.
The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Convention & Exhibition 2015 will offer new speakers, a National Safety Day and an emergency response simulation on the trade show floor when it returns to the Las Vegas Convention Center Nov. 17-19.
For travelers with a true need for speed, Spike Aerospace is developing the supersonic Spike S-512 with a maximum cruise speed of Mach 1.8 and capability of taking 18 passengers from Los Angeles to Tokyo in 6 hr. at Mach 1.6.
