Professional Pilot, June 2019

PROFESSIONAL PILOT June 2019 47 succeed where the Concorde failed the company cites improvements in efficiency and more sophisticated carbon fiber construction as fulfilling the dream of generating revenue while going as fast as possible Yet when one compares the Overture to the Concorde the performance numbers are quite similar albeit the capacity is slightly lower thus efficiencies on various levels would need to occur for these claims to be valid The company has already tested GEs J85 15 engine with sustainable alternative fuels so the Overture is expected to operate with environmentally friendly low carbon jet fuel in the future At 200 million the Overture is a pricey entrant into the new supersonic race Currently there are no announced customers for the jet Spike Aerospace S 512 The next contender is being offered as a supersonic business jet SSBJ by Spike Aerospace based in Massachusetts Spikes S 512 Quiet Supersonic Jet looks more like a fighter rather than a business jet not that this is a bad thing The aircraft is stated to be able to carry up to 18 passengers with a 6200 nm range while cruising at M 16 1100 mph Takeoff performance is better than the Overtures purported to be 6000 ft and has a landing distance of 4200 ft This will make operators lives easier in terms of finding airports to and from which to operate Although no engine to power the S 512 has been determined it is planned to have 2 engines mounted on the sides of the aft portion of the fuselage each capable of producing 20000 lb of thrust What the company reports as the prime advantage of the S 512 is the proprietary Quiet Supersonic Flight Technology which allows the aircraft to fly at M 16 without producing a sonic boom louder than 75 dB perceived which is somewhere between conversational speech 70 dB and a busy residential road 75 dB For reference the Concordes sonic boom ranged between 110 and 140 dB while the sonic boom of other aircraft can exceed 200 dB The price of the S 512 is set for 100 million which considering its size and capabilities makes it the cheapest option not to mention potential lower operating and maintenance costs due to having fewer engines There are currently no confirmed orders for the S 512 Aerion AS2 The most promising supersonic aircraft option is the Aerion AS2 as it is the furthest along in terms of actual development Further Aerion is the only company that is backed by serious investors Texas billionaire Robert Bass sits on the board thanks to his cash injection around 15 years ago and Boeing and GE have also signed on as partners with the former injecting cash in exchange for a stake in the company while the latter has developed a new engine exclusively for the AS2 Aerions AS2 is also the only SSBJ in the works with orders for the 120 million aircraft A total of 22 AS2s have been ordered by Flexjet which already advertises this SSBJ on its website and 2 more are to be acquired by private individuals First delivery is projected for 2023 The company forecasts demand for the AS2 to be in the neighborhood of 300 aircraft over the first 10 years of operation While the details about the aircraft on Aerions website are sparse a little digging around revealed some preliminary numbers It is projected to carry a crew of 2 plus 8 12 passengers in its 30 ft long cabin Pushed along by 3 GE Affinity turbofans producing 18000 lb of thrust it will cruise at M 095 over land and at M 12 over water while having a maximum speed of M 14 1000 mph The AS2 is designed to be able to fly without a noticeable sonic boom in the M 11 to 12 envelope Its range will be slightly greater than 4700 nm and it is expected to have a balanced field length of 7500 ft Aerions website shows possible flight time savings for various city pairs and boasts impressive potential routes albeit with tech stops for fuel The futuristic appearing Spike Aerospace S 512 SSBJ has a sleek design that assists in quieting its breaking of the sound barrier Its also planned to have panoramic fuselage windows GE leverages its experience with both military and civilian turbofan engines to provide solutions like the Affinity supersonic engine which is both efficient and quiet Image courtesy Spike Aerospace Image courtesy GE