Supersonic Business Jet News
11-23-2007, 08:48 AM
#21
Speed, Power, Accuracy
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I can't recall exact numbers, but Aerion claims their design will depart from less than 7000 feet of runway at ISA conditions with 4 pax and fly more than 4000 NM at transonic speed over the U.S. (.95M-1.1M) without a sonic boom or supersonic (about 1.5M to avoid needing exotic materials) overwater. Projected cost was about $80 million in 2005 dollars. Even at $100 million a copy by the time they reach market, I think there are enough buyers out there to justify development.
11-23-2007, 09:04 AM
#22
Gets Weekends Off
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The supersonic bizjet concept has failed multiple times for the same reason. Due to the area rule, the cabin size is fairly small. The market segment that would pay for rapid transcontinental or transoceanic travel in their own aircraft would much rather have a subsonic ride with amenities and network connectivity to make a productive use of their time than a cramped supersonic ride where they can get nothing accomplished.
11-23-2007, 09:13 AM
#23
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Aerion (website here) claims their jet must have around 6,000 ft. for takeoff, which I think is pretty optimistic since rotation speed is around 150 kts. while small airports typically have 50 ft. obstacles to get over and are mostly shorter than that. JT8D's are some of the noisiest engines, and spooling them up is likely to generate objections from the locals who are used to Citations and Falcons. Aerion would have to choose another engine for their plan to work, something with a higher bypass ratio to reduce noise. Or they could come up with a way to take off using far less thrust at a lower rotation speed. This could be done if they were to develop a closed-circulation wing for the plane (NASA report here) but it would be expensive.
My other point was the lack of success of over-specialized jets in general. Citation X is a current product in this area, which as a M.92 airplane draws quite a few buyers. And don't forget supersonic operation in the US is prohibited. If the Aerion were to succeed, it would have to be cheap enough to sell 75 or more units, and there is historically a small chance of that happening.
I think the development to look for in this area will be mainly in larger subsonic models. Between the BBJ and the Gulfstream V there is a gap which needs to be filled. Cessna and Learjet are both currently developing large cabin, high subsonic bizjets to fill this demand. When going to Europe or somewhere overseas, buyers appear to be more interested in comfort than in saving two or three hours. I am not saying the Aerion cannot go forward, but I am very doubtful it ever will.
My other point was the lack of success of over-specialized jets in general. Citation X is a current product in this area, which as a M.92 airplane draws quite a few buyers. And don't forget supersonic operation in the US is prohibited. If the Aerion were to succeed, it would have to be cheap enough to sell 75 or more units, and there is historically a small chance of that happening.
I think the development to look for in this area will be mainly in larger subsonic models. Between the BBJ and the Gulfstream V there is a gap which needs to be filled. Cessna and Learjet are both currently developing large cabin, high subsonic bizjets to fill this demand. When going to Europe or somewhere overseas, buyers appear to be more interested in comfort than in saving two or three hours. I am not saying the Aerion cannot go forward, but I am very doubtful it ever will.
Last edited by Cubdriver; 11-23-2007 at 04:33 PM.
11-23-2007, 04:19 PM
#24
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I have had Citation X owners whine when I showed up in the Gulfstream: "Now I'll be late for my meeting." Believe me, there are people out there willing to pay for speed.
Richard Tracy from Aerion is a pretty smart guy. Brian Barents is on board too. If they can line up the risk sharing partners they need, I think they can get the product to market. Their plan does not require a regulatory change, uses off the shelf engines (by the way, the -219 Pratt is a later model of the JT8D engine and the quietest of the series), does not require exotic materials, and features a cabin that rivals the Falcon 50. Extensive Computational Fluid Dynamics computer modeling has verified the concept.
The real stumbling blocks I see are the barriers to entry of a small company playing with the big boy defense contractors who will try and keep Aerion from playing in their pond, and the hard-core, wackjob environmentalism sweeping the planet.
Richard Tracy from Aerion is a pretty smart guy. Brian Barents is on board too. If they can line up the risk sharing partners they need, I think they can get the product to market. Their plan does not require a regulatory change, uses off the shelf engines (by the way, the -219 Pratt is a later model of the JT8D engine and the quietest of the series), does not require exotic materials, and features a cabin that rivals the Falcon 50. Extensive Computational Fluid Dynamics computer modeling has verified the concept.
The real stumbling blocks I see are the barriers to entry of a small company playing with the big boy defense contractors who will try and keep Aerion from playing in their pond, and the hard-core, wackjob environmentalism sweeping the planet.
11-23-2007, 05:40 PM
#25
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04-05-2012, 01:48 AM
#26
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(Thread revival.) Projects like Aerion move very slowly. Boom reduction research could lead to an NPRM to allow supersonic cruise over CONUS in time for the Aerion to make good use of it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~
NASA Claims Supersonic Breakthrough For Biz Jets.
(4/2/12, G.Warwick, AviationWeek) NASA is claiming a breakthrough in the design of supersonic aircraft, with wind-tunnel tests proving it is possible to design configurations that combine low sonic boom with low cruise drag, characteristics once thought to be mutually exclusive. The tests involved scale models of small supersonic airliners designed by Boeing and Lockheed Martin and aimed at entry into service about 2025. Although the measured shock wave signatures are at the high end of what would be publicly acceptable, they proved the design tools could produce a supersonic business jet capable of unrestricted overland flight, says Peter Coen, NASA’s Supersonic Fixed-Wing project manager. NASA’s target for the under-track boom from a 2025-timeframe small airliner is a perceived noise level of 85 decibels (PNLdB). Boeing’s design achieved 81 PNLdB, and Lockheed’s 79 PNLdB. “That’s 25dB less than Concorde and 20dB less than the best we achieved under HSR [NASA’s High Speed Research supersonic-transport program, canceled in 1999],” he says.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~
NASA Claims Supersonic Breakthrough For Biz Jets.
(4/2/12, G.Warwick, AviationWeek) NASA is claiming a breakthrough in the design of supersonic aircraft, with wind-tunnel tests proving it is possible to design configurations that combine low sonic boom with low cruise drag, characteristics once thought to be mutually exclusive. The tests involved scale models of small supersonic airliners designed by Boeing and Lockheed Martin and aimed at entry into service about 2025. Although the measured shock wave signatures are at the high end of what would be publicly acceptable, they proved the design tools could produce a supersonic business jet capable of unrestricted overland flight, says Peter Coen, NASA’s Supersonic Fixed-Wing project manager. NASA’s target for the under-track boom from a 2025-timeframe small airliner is a perceived noise level of 85 decibels (PNLdB). Boeing’s design achieved 81 PNLdB, and Lockheed’s 79 PNLdB. “That’s 25dB less than Concorde and 20dB less than the best we achieved under HSR [NASA’s High Speed Research supersonic-transport program, canceled in 1999],” he says.
12-14-2012, 08:19 PM
#27
pants on the ground
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not specifically business jet but nontheless....
Travel Anywhere in Under 4 Hours?! - SourceFed
A British company’s air-breathing rocket engines have passed the European Space Agency’s initial safety tests, meaning that Hypersonic travel will soon be possible.
Reaction Engines has designed a new engine style that enables the engine to “breathe air“. Essentially allowing an aircraft to move at speeds roughly five times the speed of sound, and making travel from one destination to another within 4 hours time possible.
The company spent over 20 years developing the Reaction SABRE (Synthetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine), that can operate in two modes: “air-breathing” and “rocket“. The dual system is being described a major breakthrough in propulsion systems worldwide.
The “air-breathing” mode allows vehicles equipped with the engine to significantly lighten their load of the on-board oxidant (like liquid oxygen for example). The oxidants are usually used to keep most conventional rocket engines going, but the SABRE’s air-breathing system makes it so vehicles can suck in atmospheric air as a source of oxygen akin to a jet engine. Then the engine switches to rocket mode above the atmosphere. According to Reaction, the transformation:
“removes the necessity for massive throw-away first stages that are jettisoned once the oxidant they contain has been used up, allowing the development of the first fully re-usable space access vehicles such as Skylon.”
After heavy evaluations by the European Space Agency, the engine has been given the thumbs-up. The technology could revolutionize the future of air travel all together, but for now future testing awaits the remarkable engine.
Travel Anywhere in Under 4 Hours?! - SourceFed
A British company’s air-breathing rocket engines have passed the European Space Agency’s initial safety tests, meaning that Hypersonic travel will soon be possible.
Reaction Engines has designed a new engine style that enables the engine to “breathe air“. Essentially allowing an aircraft to move at speeds roughly five times the speed of sound, and making travel from one destination to another within 4 hours time possible.
The company spent over 20 years developing the Reaction SABRE (Synthetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine), that can operate in two modes: “air-breathing” and “rocket“. The dual system is being described a major breakthrough in propulsion systems worldwide.
The “air-breathing” mode allows vehicles equipped with the engine to significantly lighten their load of the on-board oxidant (like liquid oxygen for example). The oxidants are usually used to keep most conventional rocket engines going, but the SABRE’s air-breathing system makes it so vehicles can suck in atmospheric air as a source of oxygen akin to a jet engine. Then the engine switches to rocket mode above the atmosphere. According to Reaction, the transformation:
“removes the necessity for massive throw-away first stages that are jettisoned once the oxidant they contain has been used up, allowing the development of the first fully re-usable space access vehicles such as Skylon.”
After heavy evaluations by the European Space Agency, the engine has been given the thumbs-up. The technology could revolutionize the future of air travel all together, but for now future testing awaits the remarkable engine.
05-03-2013, 05:24 AM
#28
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Related Flying article- pretty far out.
Bizjet concept aims to shatter sound barrier in near-silence
(J. Moore, Flying, 05/02/2013) If Richard Lugg has his way, the next generation of supersonic civilian aircraft will shoot through the sky powered by engines that turn out a massive electrical charge, much of it converted into thrust with megawatts left over to silence the sonic boom. Lugg, a veteran of past NASA efforts to shatter the sound barrier, founded a pair of companies—HyperMach Aerospace Industries and SonicBlue Aerospace—that have worked quietly for more than a decade to refine revolutionary designs aimed at near-silent supersonic flight—one focused on the airframe, and the other building the powerplant...
...The engine Lugg has in mind would incorporate turbine stages not connected by a shaft, each able to rotate independently at the optimal speed for maximum aerodynamic efficiency at any given phase of flight. They would spin in electromagnetic fields, using the same principle that allows high-speed trains to float frictionless above an energized track. The engine is a hybrid of turbofan, turbojet, and turbo ramjet, able to generate 40 MW of electricity that powers engine components with about 9 MW of surplus electricity available to power a plasma field generator used to reshape airflow around the aircraft and tame the pressure wave, turning sonic boom into a sound similar to rustling leaves on the ground, “which is not what people experienced when Concorde was flying,” Lugg said.
Bizjet concept aims to shatter sound barrier in near-silence
(J. Moore, Flying, 05/02/2013) If Richard Lugg has his way, the next generation of supersonic civilian aircraft will shoot through the sky powered by engines that turn out a massive electrical charge, much of it converted into thrust with megawatts left over to silence the sonic boom. Lugg, a veteran of past NASA efforts to shatter the sound barrier, founded a pair of companies—HyperMach Aerospace Industries and SonicBlue Aerospace—that have worked quietly for more than a decade to refine revolutionary designs aimed at near-silent supersonic flight—one focused on the airframe, and the other building the powerplant...
...The engine Lugg has in mind would incorporate turbine stages not connected by a shaft, each able to rotate independently at the optimal speed for maximum aerodynamic efficiency at any given phase of flight. They would spin in electromagnetic fields, using the same principle that allows high-speed trains to float frictionless above an energized track. The engine is a hybrid of turbofan, turbojet, and turbo ramjet, able to generate 40 MW of electricity that powers engine components with about 9 MW of surplus electricity available to power a plasma field generator used to reshape airflow around the aircraft and tame the pressure wave, turning sonic boom into a sound similar to rustling leaves on the ground, “which is not what people experienced when Concorde was flying,” Lugg said.
05-23-2013, 09:13 AM
#29
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Aerion Considers Engine, Airframe Changes To Supersonic Jet.
Flightglobal (5/23, Trimble) reports that, almost nine years after launching its 12-seat supersonic jet program, Aerion, as part of in a wide-ranging program rebaseline, “has reopened the engine selection and airframe configuration.” Chief technology officer Richard Tracy says that “a new standard for Stage 5 noise regulations earlier this year that would require Aerion to make more costly changes to the” supersonic variant of the Pratt & Whitney JT8D-219. So “the company is setting up meetings with engine suppliers General Electric, P&W and Rolls-Royce, revisiting certain concepts...or a clean-sheet supersonic derivative it considered more than a decade ago.”
Flightglobal (5/23, Trimble) reports that, almost nine years after launching its 12-seat supersonic jet program, Aerion, as part of in a wide-ranging program rebaseline, “has reopened the engine selection and airframe configuration.” Chief technology officer Richard Tracy says that “a new standard for Stage 5 noise regulations earlier this year that would require Aerion to make more costly changes to the” supersonic variant of the Pratt & Whitney JT8D-219. So “the company is setting up meetings with engine suppliers General Electric, P&W and Rolls-Royce, revisiting certain concepts...or a clean-sheet supersonic derivative it considered more than a decade ago.”
09-23-2014, 03:17 PM
#30
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Hard to believe this project is still crawling along, but if there is one clear lesson learned from the last 5 years it is the singular fact that truly big spenders in the private aircraft segment (ie. the Gulfstream crowd) are not affected by recessions. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aerion Partners with Airbus on Supersonic Bizjet
(S. Pope, 9-23-14, Flying) Aerion Corp., the company that has been working for more than a decade to bring a supersonic business jet to market, will receive technical and certification support from Airbus in its quest to fly the revolutionary would-be airplane before the decade is out. For its trouble Airbus will receive access to Aerion's proprietary natural laminar flow technology, which could be applied in the designs of future Airbus airliners. Led by billionaire investor Robert Bass, Aerion for the last several years has sought to engage a certification and manufacturing partner for its proposed supersonic jet, the latest iteration of which is a three-engine design that would be capable of cruising at Mach 1.6 over oceans and sparsely populated regions and at high subsonic speeds over populated areas. With a projected price tag of $100 million, Aerion predicts there will be no shortage of buyers for the jet, dubbed the AS2, certification of which is targeted for 2021. While the full details of the collaboration have yet to be revealed, Aerion said its engineering staff will work alongside professionals from Airbus Group's Space and Defense division at newly expanded offices in Reno, Nevada, where Aerion is based.
Aerion Partners with Airbus on Supersonic Bizjet
(S. Pope, 9-23-14, Flying) Aerion Corp., the company that has been working for more than a decade to bring a supersonic business jet to market, will receive technical and certification support from Airbus in its quest to fly the revolutionary would-be airplane before the decade is out. For its trouble Airbus will receive access to Aerion's proprietary natural laminar flow technology, which could be applied in the designs of future Airbus airliners. Led by billionaire investor Robert Bass, Aerion for the last several years has sought to engage a certification and manufacturing partner for its proposed supersonic jet, the latest iteration of which is a three-engine design that would be capable of cruising at Mach 1.6 over oceans and sparsely populated regions and at high subsonic speeds over populated areas. With a projected price tag of $100 million, Aerion predicts there will be no shortage of buyers for the jet, dubbed the AS2, certification of which is targeted for 2021. While the full details of the collaboration have yet to be revealed, Aerion said its engineering staff will work alongside professionals from Airbus Group's Space and Defense division at newly expanded offices in Reno, Nevada, where Aerion is based.
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