I will admit that I skimmed bits of this long piece on the rise and fall of supersonic aviation (i.e. the Concorde)
Why Did Supersonic Airliners Fail?
Progress in aviation has traditionally been associated with speed. Following the Wright Brothers’ flight in 1903, aircraft speeds steadily increased each decade, and increasing aircraft speeds was one of the primary goals of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NASA’s predecessor).
construction-physics.com