Plans To Place Aircraft in Service by 2011
Details are emerging
about the first of TWO SSBJ projects that were to be discussed at
the 2004 NBAA Convention. Aerion Corporation, an advanced
engineering group formed to reintroduce commercial supersonic
flight, has taken the wraps off a new business jet design that
could enter service in less than six years.
"The Concorde may have been relegated to museums, but the world
has not slowed down. Indeed the reverse is true," noted Aerion Vice
Chairman Brian Barents. "The world's major businesses and
governments have a clear need for faster travel. Aerion's engineers
have been at work for many years developing the fundamental
technologies to make this possible."
The Aerion supersonic business jet (SBJ) incorporates patented
supersonic natural laminar flow technology that substantially
reduces drag at supersonic as well as high subsonic cruise speeds.
This efficient design allows the development of an aircraft that
can use existing powerplant technology.
Moreover, the aircraft will be fuel efficient at cruise speeds
just below the speed of sound, allowing it to perform short and
long-haul overland missions with the same economies as today's
large business jets. Range is roughly the same at both subsonic and
supersonic speeds and will exceed 4,000 nautical miles. The
aircraft has a low boom signature and boomless cruise up to Mach
1.1. Its maximum cruise speed will be Mach 1.6.
In the Aerion SBJ, New York to Paris flights will be reduced to
four hours and 15 minutes versus about seven and a half hours in
subsonic models. The SBJ will fly coast to coast at speeds up to
.99 Mach in less than four hours. Thanks to its straight-wing
design and full-span flaps, typical approach speed will be 125
knots and the aircraft will be able to operate routinely from
business airports with runways of no more than 6,000 feet.
Aerion's design philosophy is to utilize demonstrated
technologies and to minimize complexity. The Aerion SBJ therefore
is designed to cruise efficiently up to 51,000 feet, its
certification limit. The aircraft's wings will be made from carbon
fiber composites for the required level of stiffness to weight,
employing construction methods common on modern fighters. The
fuselage will be of conventional aluminum alloys. The aircraft's
top speed of Mach 1.6, eliminates the requirement for special
high-temperature materials and complex systems.
Aerion is engaged in advanced development and has recently
completed the initial design cycle. To date this has included:
in-flight testing of a supersonic natural laminar flow wing
section; extensive computational fluid dynamics analysis of the
entire airframe; finite element analysis; engine/airframe
integration studies; and initial systems design. By next summer,
the company will have completed a second design cycle that includes
high- and low-speed wind tunnel tests, as well as continued
optimization and CFD analyses. The company has selected the Pratt
& Whitney JT8D-219 to power the aircraft. Engine and nacelle
integration will allow the aircraft to meet strenuous Stage IV
noise requirements.
Over the next year and a half the company will be engaged in
discussions with major airframe manufacturers and first-tier
suppliers to establish risk-sharing partnerships to conduct
detailed design, testing and certification of the aircraft. Aerion
projects a five-year program with two ground test articles and
three flight test aircraft. The company expects the price of the
aircraft to be competitive on a price/performance basis with
today's largest business jets.
Aerion Supersonic Business Jet
Specifications
|
Maximum cruise speed
|
1.6 Mach
|
Long range cruise (supersonic)
|
1.5 Mach
|
No boom cruise (supersonic)
|
1.1 Mach
|
High speed cruise (subsonic)
|
.99 Mach
|
Maximum takeoff weight
|
90,000 pounds
|
Basic operating weight
|
45,100 pounds
|
Maximum fuel
|
45,400 pounds
|
Engines
|
Two PW JT8D-219
|
Thrust
|
Flat-rated to 18,000-lb
class
|
Wing area
|
1,400 sq. ft.
|
Balanced field length
|
Less than 6,000 feet, ISA,
S.L.
|
Landing distance, wet runway
|
Less than 5,000 feet
|
Range (NBAA IFR)
|
Greater than 4,000 nm at 1.5
Mach
|
Ceiling
|
51,000 feet
|