JOURNAL OF AIRCRAFT Vol.42.No.3.May-June 2005 Case for Small Supersonic Civil Aircraft Preston A.Henne* Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation,Savannah,Georgia 31402 Civil aviation progress in the last 40 years has included a significant expansion of the small civil aircraft market involving regional jets,business jets,and the emerging personal jets.A significant factor in the growth of the small civil aircraft market is the value of time.Recognition of the ever-increasing value of time has lead to increased interest in the feasibility of a small supersonic civil aircraft.The step to supersonic speeds offers the potential of a dramatic decrease in travel time.Feasibility studies of a small quiet supersonic jet (QSJ)have been conducted. Market research,environmental concerns,program and design requirements,and vehicle characteristics are sum- marized.Areas for concentrated future supersonic aeronautics research and development efforts are highlighted. Introduction York City heading westbound or eastbound and,with one stop,be HE remarkable progress and growth in civil aviation in the essentially anywhere in the world in 10 h. last 40 years has been fueled by advancements in a broad History range of aeronautical technologies,combined with strong economic growth.Continued advancements in aerodynamics,structures,ma- As shown in Fig.3,supersonic aircraft progress from the first su- terials,avionics,and engine technology have provided the techni- personic flight in 1947 has been impressive.In less than 15 years,the cal basis for the development of many different predominantly jet- B58 was setting records for flights at Mach 2 between New York and powered civil aircraft models.These aircraft range from the very London in less than 4 h.However,progress was almost completely large transports used by scheduled air carriers to the very small limited to military aircraft.In the 1960s,three projects were initiated personal jets emerging currently.Technical advancements coupled to bring supersonic civil transportation to market.The three differ- with economic growth have produced an exceptional record of avi- ent projects were nationally oriented.The U.S.supersonic transport ation market growth,as shown in Fig.1.This growth has included (SST)program was stopped before an aircraft was even built.The a significant expansion of the small civil aircraft market involving Russian Tu144 was first to flight but ultimately was removed from regional jets,business jets,and,now,personal jets. service.Only the British/French Concorde continued service until One of the market factors that has proven important in the growth 2003. of small civil aircraft market is the value of time in transportation Continuation of the Concorde service was largely related to na- needs.Air travel provides the highest travel speeds for trips of sig- tionalistic pride in the remarkable aeronautical achievement em- nificant distance.Scheduled carrier use of the regional jet satisfies bodied in the Concorde.Concorde economics and environmental the need to bring the time value of jet transport to low-density routes impacts limited its utility and represent a challenge in the contem- and markets.Business jet use by charter operators,fractional own- plation of future advancements in supersonic civil transportation. ers,public companies,private companies,and individuals is strongly The lesson of Concorde,as well as the other two less successful at- tied to the value of time.Business jet use and the emerging personal tempts,is that aeronautical prowess is a necessary but not sufficient jet use provide time value through jet aircraft speed and through condition for the creation of successful programs in supersonic civil broad destination flexibility.Exceptional field length performance aviation.Economic justification and environmental compatibility enables the small civil aircraft to operate into a remarkable number are also required.Subsequent to the original SST Program,the U.S.. of locations.Combine destination flexibility and jet aircraft speed in on at least two occasions-supersonic cruise research(SCAR)and a competitive business environment and one has a highly valuable high speed civil transport(HSCT)7-attempted to promote and de- means to satisfy transportation needs. velop a large supersonic civil transport,only to see the projects fail. In these later cases.the technical.environmental.and economic Attraction equations still could not be satisfied.Quite coincidentally,the an- Recognition of the ever-increasing value of time has lead to nouncement of Concorde service termination in 2003 coincides with increased interest in the feasibility of a small supersonic civil the first flight centennial celebration year. aircraft.-The step to supersonic speeds offers the potential of Whereas the stunning attraction of Fig.2 is clear to most air trav- a dramatic decrease in travel time.As shown in Fig.2,when speed elers,the supersonic stagnation reflected in Fig.3 demands a new is doubled from today's subsonic 0.8-0.85 Mach number to a 1.8 approach.The studies conducted in the last few yearsprovide Mach number,global transportation paradigms transforms.Leaving compelling evidence that the new approach should be focused on a New York City at 0700 hrs in a quiet supersonic jet(QSJ),one can much smaller vehicle as the first commercially and environmentally be anywhere in the indicated circle for at least 2 h and be back in successful step in supersonic civil aviation.The history of advances New York City by 1900 hrs.Alternatively,one could depart New in transportation has been more often defined by the introduction of a paradigm shift,first on a modest scale rather than a giant scale These advances in transportation technology were usually aimed at the more affluent as a means of introductory affordability.Once Presented as Paper 2003-2555 at the AlAA/ICAS International Air and the concept has been proven on a small scale for the more afflu- Space Symposium and Exposition:The Next 100 Years,Dayton,OH. ent,then technical advances and commercial competition have typ- 14-17 July 2003;received 10 September 2003;revision received 11 January ically led to larger-scale vehicles that appeal to a broader segment 2004;accepted for publication 14 January 2004.Copyright C 2004 by of the population.This small-to-large stepping stone approach has Preston A.Henne.Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and clearly occurred throughout ship and aircraft transportation system Astronautics,Inc.,with permission.Copies of this paper may be made for personal or internal use,on condition that the copier pay the $10.00 per-copy history and reflects an intuitive risk management.In hindsight,it fee to the Copyright Clearance Center,Inc.,222 Rosewood Drive,Danvers. would seem that the aeronautical community has been trying to run MA 01923:include the code 0021-8669/05 $10.00 in correspondence with supersonically before it can walk supersonically.It has been try- the CCC. ing to create the giant supersonic transport before it developed the *Senior Vice-President,Programs,Engineering,and Test.Fellow AlAA supersonic DC-3.Supersonic long-term vision took priority over 765JOURNAL OF AIRCRAFT Vol. 42, No. 3, May–June 2005 Case for Small Supersonic Civil Aircraft Preston A. Henne∗ Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, Savannah, Georgia 31402 Civil aviation progress in the last 40 years has included a significant expansion of the small civil aircraft market involving regional jets, business jets, and the emerging personal jets. A significant factor in the growth of the small civil aircraft market is the value of time. Recognition of the ever-increasing value of time has lead to increased interest in the feasibility of a small supersonic civil aircraft. The step to supersonic speeds offers the potential of a dramatic decrease in travel time. Feasibility studies of a small quiet supersonic jet (QSJ) have been conducted. Market research, environmental concerns, program and design requirements, and vehicle characteristics are sum￾marized. Areas for concentrated future supersonic aeronautics research and development efforts are highlighted. Introduction T HE remarkable progress and growth in civil aviation in the last 40 years has been fueled by advancements in a broad range of aeronautical technologies, combined with strong economic growth. Continued advancements in aerodynamics, structures, ma￾terials, avionics, and engine technology have provided the techni￾cal basis for the development of many different predominantly jet￾powered civil aircraft models. These aircraft range from the very large transports used by scheduled air carriers to the very small personal jets emerging currently. Technical advancements coupled with economic growth have produced an exceptional record of avi￾ation market growth, as shown in Fig. 1. This growth has included a significant expansion of the small civil aircraft market involving regional jets, business jets, and, now, personal jets. One of the market factors that has proven important in the growth of small civil aircraft market is the value of time in transportation needs. Air travel provides the highest travel speeds for trips of sig￾nificant distance. Scheduled carrier use of the regional jet satisfies the need to bring the time value of jet transport to low-density routes and markets. Business jet use by charter operators, fractional own￾ers, public companies, private companies, and individuals is strongly tied to the value of time. Business jet use and the emerging personal jet use provide time value through jet aircraft speed and through broad destination flexibility. Exceptional field length performance enables the small civil aircraft to operate into a remarkable number of locations. Combine destination flexibility and jet aircraft speed in a competitive business environment and one has a highly valuable means to satisfy transportation needs. Attraction Recognition of the ever-increasing value of time has lead to increased interest in the feasibility of a small supersonic civil aircraft.1−5 The step to supersonic speeds offers the potential of a dramatic decrease in travel time. As shown in Fig. 2, when speed is doubled from today’s subsonic 0.8–0.85 Mach number to a 1.8 Mach number, global transportation paradigms transforms. Leaving New York City at 0700 hrs in a quiet supersonic jet (QSJ), one can be anywhere in the indicated circle for at least 2 h and be back in New York City by 1900 hrs. Alternatively, one could depart New Presented as Paper 2003-2555 at the AIAA/ICAS International Air and Space Symposium and Exposition: The Next 100 Years, Dayton, OH, 14–17 July 2003; received 10 September 2003; revision received 11 January 2004; accepted for publication 14 January 2004. Copyright c 2004 by Preston A. Henne. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., with permission. Copies of this paper may be made for personal or internal use, on condition that the copier pay the $10.00 per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923; include the code 0021-8669/05 $10.00 in correspondence with the CCC. ∗Senior Vice-President, Programs, Engineering, and Test. Fellow AIAA. York City heading westbound or eastbound and, with one stop, be essentially anywhere in the world in 10 h. History As shown in Fig. 3, supersonic aircraft progress from the first su￾personic flight in 1947 has been impressive. In less than 15 years, the B58 was setting records for flights at Mach 2 between New York and London in less than 4 h. However, progress was almost completely limited to military aircraft. In the 1960s, three projects were initiated to bring supersonic civil transportation to market. The three differ￾ent projects were nationally oriented. The U.S. supersonic transport (SST) program was stopped before an aircraft was even built. The Russian Tu144 was first to flight but ultimately was removed from service. Only the British/French Concorde continued service until 2003. Continuation of the Concorde service was largely related to na￾tionalistic pride in the remarkable aeronautical achievement em￾bodied in the Concorde. Concorde economics and environmental impacts limited its utility and represent a challenge in the contem￾plation of future advancements in supersonic civil transportation. The lesson of Concorde, as well as the other two less successful at￾tempts, is that aeronautical prowess is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the creation of successful programs in supersonic civil aviation. Economic justification and environmental compatibility are also required. Subsequent to the original SST Program, the U.S., on at least two occasions—supersonic cruise research (SCAR)6 and high speed civil transport (HSCT)7—attempted to promote and de￾velop a large supersonic civil transport, only to see the projects fail. In these later cases, the technical, environmental, and economic equations still could not be satisfied. Quite coincidentally, the an￾nouncement of Concorde service termination in 2003 coincides with the first flight centennial celebration year. Whereas the stunning attraction of Fig. 2 is clear to most air trav￾elers, the supersonic stagnation reflected in Fig. 3 demands a new approach. The studies conducted in the last few years1,2,8 provide compelling evidence that the new approach should be focused on a much smaller vehicle as the first commercially and environmentally successful step in supersonic civil aviation. The history of advances in transportation has been more often defined by the introduction of a paradigm shift, first on a modest scale rather than a giant scale. These advances in transportation technology were usually aimed at the more affluent as a means of introductory affordability. Once the concept has been proven on a small scale for the more afflu￾ent, then technical advances and commercial competition have typ￾ically led to larger-scale vehicles that appeal to a broader segment of the population. This small-to-large stepping stone approach has clearly occurred throughout ship and aircraft transportation system history and reflects an intuitive risk management. In hindsight, it would seem that the aeronautical community has been trying to run supersonically before it can walk supersonically. It has been try￾ing to create the giant supersonic transport before it developed the supersonic DC-3. Supersonic long-term vision took priority over 765