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.

FMI: www.engr.uiuc.edu, www.gulfstream.com, www.rolls-royce.com