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Thursday, June 22, 2017 5:30:52 AM
Back To The Future: This Plane Will Make The Jet Set Feel Supersonic Again
The AS2 could take a first flight as soon as 2023 and enter service two years later.
No mention of additive manufacturing (Arcam EBM or laser) but there's no doubt in my mind that both technologies will be used in this application.
At gereports.com - Back To The Future: This Plane Will Make The Jet Set Feel Supersonic Again - Jun 21, 2017
The Concorde, the iconic pointy-nosed supersonic jet that shuttled passengers between Paris, London, New York and other choice destinations, landed for the last time 14 years ago, after 27 years in service. The only civil supersonic airplane to enter service apart from Russia’s TU-144 jet, the plane was never replaced. “The Concorde was successful from a technical standpoint, but in terms of economics, it was too expensive to operate, its range was limited, it was noisy and its fuel consumption was high,” says Jeff Miller, vice president of marketing at the U.S. aircraft design firm Aerion.
But engineers at Aerion are working to change that. They’ve spent the last 15 years developing AS2, a supersonic jet that could carry up to 12 people in high comfort from London to Seattle, Miller says. “We’ve been focusing on improving efficiency so we can lower the cost of operations and extend the range of the plane so it’s not limited to just barely getting across the Atlantic,” he says. “Now you’ve got an airplane that will really take you places.”
The company has been working with NASA and Airbus’ Defense & Space unit on finding the most optimal design for the aircraft, and with GE Aviation on selecting the best engine for the jet. “We’ve reached the conclusion that it’s not feasible to start with a clean-sheet engine design,” Miller says. “It would cost too much and take too long. With GE, we have a good opportunity to take an existing engine core and adapt it.”
The key to Aerion’s design is a concept called natural laminar flow proposed by aerodynamicist and Aerion founder Richard Tracy, who has had a hand in such diverse and innovative aircraft as the Canadair Challenger business and the single-stage-to-orbit Rockwell X-30 spaceplane concept. Supersonic natural laminar flow allows smooth layers of air to travel over wings without turbulence. Aerion has used proprietary software to design thin, composite wings with a low “aspect ratio” similar to jet fighter wings.
Unlike the delta-shaped wings of the Concorde, the Aerion wing design has a modestly swept leading edge, which promotes laminar flow. The design allowed Aerion to reduce drag over the wing by as much 60 percent. Together with a laminar flow tail and an optimized airframe, the net friction drag of the entire plane is up to 20 percent lower, “which, in aeronautical terms, is a huge leap in efficiency,” the company says.
Lower drag means that the plane can use smaller, more efficient engines and still achieve speeds of up to Mach 1.5, or 50 percent faster than the speed of sound. That’s about 1,000 mph. “Clearly, GE’s experience with supersonic engines is going to be tremendously valuable to us,” Miller says.
Published on Jun 21, 2017
Engineers at Aerion are developing AS2, a supersonic jet that could carry up to 12 people in high comfort from London to Seattle. The company has been working with GE Aviation on selecting the best engine for the jet.
“Now you’ve got an airplane that will really take you places,” Miller says
Aerion says the laminar flow design will allow its plane to fly at Mach 1.5 over the ocean and also cruise efficiently just under the speed of sound overland. Image credit: Aerion.
“Aerion sees an opportunity to pioneer a new segment in business aviation and more broadly for civil aviation,” says GE Aviation’s Brad Mottier. Image credit: Aerion.
The AS2 could carry up to 12 people in high comfort from London to Seattle, Miller says. Image credit: Aerion.
The AS2 could take a first flight as soon as 2023 and enter service two years later.
No mention of additive manufacturing (Arcam EBM or laser) but there's no doubt in my mind that both technologies will be used in this application.
At gereports.com - Back To The Future: This Plane Will Make The Jet Set Feel Supersonic Again - Jun 21, 2017
The Concorde, the iconic pointy-nosed supersonic jet that shuttled passengers between Paris, London, New York and other choice destinations, landed for the last time 14 years ago, after 27 years in service. The only civil supersonic airplane to enter service apart from Russia’s TU-144 jet, the plane was never replaced. “The Concorde was successful from a technical standpoint, but in terms of economics, it was too expensive to operate, its range was limited, it was noisy and its fuel consumption was high,” says Jeff Miller, vice president of marketing at the U.S. aircraft design firm Aerion.
But engineers at Aerion are working to change that. They’ve spent the last 15 years developing AS2, a supersonic jet that could carry up to 12 people in high comfort from London to Seattle, Miller says. “We’ve been focusing on improving efficiency so we can lower the cost of operations and extend the range of the plane so it’s not limited to just barely getting across the Atlantic,” he says. “Now you’ve got an airplane that will really take you places.”
The company has been working with NASA and Airbus’ Defense & Space unit on finding the most optimal design for the aircraft, and with GE Aviation on selecting the best engine for the jet. “We’ve reached the conclusion that it’s not feasible to start with a clean-sheet engine design,” Miller says. “It would cost too much and take too long. With GE, we have a good opportunity to take an existing engine core and adapt it.”
The key to Aerion’s design is a concept called natural laminar flow proposed by aerodynamicist and Aerion founder Richard Tracy, who has had a hand in such diverse and innovative aircraft as the Canadair Challenger business and the single-stage-to-orbit Rockwell X-30 spaceplane concept. Supersonic natural laminar flow allows smooth layers of air to travel over wings without turbulence. Aerion has used proprietary software to design thin, composite wings with a low “aspect ratio” similar to jet fighter wings.
Unlike the delta-shaped wings of the Concorde, the Aerion wing design has a modestly swept leading edge, which promotes laminar flow. The design allowed Aerion to reduce drag over the wing by as much 60 percent. Together with a laminar flow tail and an optimized airframe, the net friction drag of the entire plane is up to 20 percent lower, “which, in aeronautical terms, is a huge leap in efficiency,” the company says.
Lower drag means that the plane can use smaller, more efficient engines and still achieve speeds of up to Mach 1.5, or 50 percent faster than the speed of sound. That’s about 1,000 mph. “Clearly, GE’s experience with supersonic engines is going to be tremendously valuable to us,” Miller says.
Published on Jun 21, 2017
Engineers at Aerion are developing AS2, a supersonic jet that could carry up to 12 people in high comfort from London to Seattle. The company has been working with GE Aviation on selecting the best engine for the jet.
“Now you’ve got an airplane that will really take you places,” Miller says
Aerion says the laminar flow design will allow its plane to fly at Mach 1.5 over the ocean and also cruise efficiently just under the speed of sound overland. Image credit: Aerion.
“Aerion sees an opportunity to pioneer a new segment in business aviation and more broadly for civil aviation,” says GE Aviation’s Brad Mottier. Image credit: Aerion.
The AS2 could carry up to 12 people in high comfort from London to Seattle, Miller says. Image credit: Aerion.
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