Civil aviation - supersonic again?

It was possible to technically realize the idea of ​​building an aircraft flying at supersonic speed as early as the 50s. But then no one could clearly voice the economic viability of such projects. Some clarity was introduced by the construction of the world's only two serial models of supersonic liners - Concorde (France) and Tu-144 (USSR). It seems that the practice of their use proved the economic inexpediency of the production of such machines.




Nevertheless, there are developments of supersonic liners, concepts are being created - the idea has not been abandoned. But after all, there were specific and rather serious reasons why the operation of the Tu-144 and Concorde ceased and no one else was going to produce new cars.



This means that the developers of modern supersonic airliners have ways to somehow solve the problems associated with flying at speeds of more than 1 Mach. Otherwise, it turns out "to step on the same rake." To date, there are several real projects, according to which the world should see serial supersonic aircraft within about the next five years.

Spike S-512 Supersonic Jet

The development of this aircraft began in the early 2010s. Initially, the project was financed by Spike Aerospace, but later all rights to the aircraft were transferred to Aerion Corporation. If we talk about the appearance of the concept, the first thing that catches your eye is the absence of windows. This technical solution is justified by the need to maintain the integrity of the structure, which increases flight safety.



Also, the absence of windows reduces the noise from running engines. The head of Spike Aerospace said that the sound level in the cabin will not exceed 60 dB. For comparison: in a modern liner, this parameter is 85 dB, and the noise emitted by two talking interlocutors does not exceed 65 dB. However, this does not mean that passengers will be deprived of the opportunity to see what is happening overboard. The designers provided for video cameras projecting an image from the outside onto the inside of the fuselage throughout the cabin.



Spike S-512 is a business class aircraft with a capacity of 18 passengers (22 in the economy version). Therefore, the interior can be decorated in several versions: if VIP, then sleeping places are also provided. In any case, there will be telephone communication, high-speed Internet. The estimated cost of the jet is 60-80 (somewhere the figure 100 flashes) million dollars. However, the developers assure that over time the ticket price will fall and will be available to ordinary citizens, motivating such a “development of events” by accelerating scientific and technological progress.

What is real with the Spike S-512

Money has been invested in the project, but what about the return? For the first time, the model “lit up” in 2014 at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh air show. In early 2017, it was planned to launch a subsonic prototype of the SX-1.2 to make sure the aerodynamic characteristics were correct. And it was possible - the flights were recognized as successful. In the future, there were projects for a supersonic liner with 40 and 50 seats.



At first, the prototype was planned to be launched in 2021. Technical characteristics of the "aircraft of the future":

✅ wingspan - 18 m
✅ length - 37 m
✅ empty weight (maximum) - 21,432 tons (52,163 tons)
✅ average speed - 1700 km / h
✅ range - 11500 km
✅ highest height - 15 km

As of mid-2021, it is only known that the development of the 18-seat version is still underway. Spike Aerospace is far from the only company developing supersonic passenger liners.

Aerion AS2

Another business jet, which should already carry out commercial transportation of passengers. The project started in 2014 and was quite successful: in the next 2015, the developer already received an order for 20 aircraft, and in total managed to collect 11,2 billion dollars at a cost of one aircraft of 120 million. And this despite the fact that, as the head company Tom Weiss at the beginning of 2020, the development of the liner will take approximately 4 billion "green".



Among the investors are Boeing, General Electric and other eminent companies. An agreement was signed with Airbus for 100 million to modernize the company's previous project - Aerion SBJ. The first demonstration flight from New York to London is scheduled for 2023. Certifications are scheduled for 2025 and commissioning is scheduled for 2026.



In April 2020, Aerion announced the construction of an updated version of the supersonic AS2 with the following characteristics:

✅ wingspan - 24 m
✅ aircraft length - 44,2 m
✅ maximum takeoff weight - 68 tons
✅ payload - up to 11 passengers

In the summer of 2020, due to the pandemic, Boeing disbanded the groups of designers who worked on AS2. As a result, Aerion moved the date of the first flight to 2025. In the fall of 2020, tests began in a wind tunnel at a speed of 3M. For undisclosed reasons, in the last spring month of 2021, Aerion stopped its operations, having not completed orders for 10 billion dollars.

Supersonic boom

The goal of the company was announced immediately after its foundation in 2014 - the development and construction of supersonic passenger aircraft (SPS). The first stage of the program is the implementation of the XB-1 demonstrator aircraft project, after which they will begin to make a commercial aircraft.



The model was demonstrated in 2016, but finances were found after a few months. Separate components of the aircraft were manufactured and tested. But everything went on for a very long time: the plumage was ready in 2018, the fuselage, wings - in 2020. In the summer of the same year, they began to assemble the individual components of the aircraft together. In October 2020, the prototype (reduced by 3 times and named Baby Boom) was finally rolled out of the hangar and demonstrated to the general public, but through an online broadcast (due to the pandemic).

Design

The power elements of the fuselage, wings, plumage are made of aluminum and titanium. The cladding is partly composed of composites that are resistant to high temperatures. Some parts of the liner, even at cruising speed, heat up to 150 °. The fuselage has a spindle-shaped appearance, while a pair of engines are located at the rear from the sides, and the third is placed in the body of the aircraft.



Thanks to improved aerodynamics and an improved engine, the noise level in the cabin will be 30 times less compared to the Concorde. Technical characteristics of the production aircraft:

✅ wingspan - 18 m
✅ length - 50 m
✅ speed - 2,2M
✅ range - 8300 km
✅ passenger capacity - 45-55 people
✅ The cost of the aircraft (without interior design) is $200 million.

To date, Boom Technology has contracts with 5 companies for the supply of 76 aircraft. It is known that only the Japanese JAL ordered 20 vehicles. According to the most optimistic forecasts, the Boom Overture series will be launched no earlier than 2028. The exact timing depends on the test results of the XB-1 Baby Boom demonstrator. The latest news about the experimental aircraft refers to January of this year. The media reported that Boom Supersonic finally installed engines on an experimental aircraft and is now testing them. The next stage is running along the runway.



In February, it was announced that the production of the supersonic aircraft would begin in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Conclusions

They are extremely contradictory: on the one hand, in the last example, everything seems to be going well, albeit slowly. On the other hand - continuous failures with huge investments. It seems that under the guise of project development, someone is “mastering” money into his pocket. However, the author may be wrong ...