Wed, Dec 19, 2007
Aerospace Team To Help Research Sonic Booms
Aerospace companies
Rolls-Royce Deutschland and Gulfstream Aerospace, a subsidiary of
General Dynamics, recently entered into an agreement with the
Department of Aerospace Engineering (AE) at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to conduct research relevant to the
potential development of a supersonic business jet.
"Illinois is involved in research to mitigate the sonic boom
from supersonic business jets," said Michael B. Bragg, an aerospace
engineering professor and associate dean for research and
administrative affairs in the College of Engineering. "This is the
largest industrial research agreement ever for the aerospace
engineering department. While specific details of the agreement are
commercially confidential, we have signed a five-year research
agreement with funding for the first three years."
In addition to Bragg, other AE faculty researchers involved in
the project include Joanna Austin, Craig Dutton, Gregory Elliott,
Jonathon Freund, and Eric Loth, as well as a half-dozen or more
graduate students. Bragg said the companies' investment will
provide research funding that will support the faculty and students
as well as provide for some special facilities to do computational
and experimental work.
"Current Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations prohibit supersonic
flight over land," said Bragg. "One of the prime objectives of this
research is to show the FAA and environmentalists that the sound
produced by a jet flying at supersonic speeds over land can be
reduced to an acceptable level."
Rolls-Royce Deutschland supplies engines for aircraft built by
Gulfstream, headquartered in Savannah, GA. Preston Henne, an
Illinois Aerospace Engineering alumnus, provided assistance in the
companies reaching an agreement with the AE department. Henne is
senior vice president for programs, engineering and test at
Gulfstream.
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