Egbert Torenbeek

Essentials of Supersonic Commercial Aircraft Conceptual Design


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a noise rule waiver to allow its operation out of American airports. Moreover, the establishment of FAR 91 rules in 1973 prohibited sonic booms over inhabited areas, making flight at Mach 2 over these areas impossible. It was not until 1980 that Concorde reached the point where it could carry a full load of hundred passengers year‐round on the North Atlantic routes.

      The Concorde and Boeing SST programs were conceived at a time when fuel prices were coming down. However, supersonic cruise requires more energy per unit of payload and range, and both designs were known to be sensitive to the availability of fuel. Due to the oil crises in the 1970s and the subsequent increase in fuel price as well as the increasing concerns about the effects of supersonic flight on the environment, the interest in supersonic civil aviation decreased and Concorde remained the only SCT in regular airline use during the twentieth century. Scheduled flights were principally London–New York and Paris–New York and they attracted mostly high utilization. During the 27 years of their operational life a fleet of only twelve flying Concordes accumulated some 350,000 hours, most of the time flying at supersonic speed – more than all of the world's military aircraft together – and with high reliability. During the years of Concorde's operational life, it was generally concluded by British Airways and Air France that, despite its high maintenance costs, the technology generally satisfied or exceeded the expectations at the start of the project.

      In spite of its high cruise speed reducing the time to travel drastically, and the fact that it provided a safe and reliable Atlantic service from 1976, Concorde is sometimes portrayed as a folly and a failure, but this ignores the fact that the USA once viewed it as a threat to its aerospace leadership. The Concorde was a technological and systems integration marvel in its time – an achievement that since its emergence has never been surpassed. Its development, production, and service have enriched the knowledge of European technological cooperation. Apart from the excellent flying qualities demonstrated during its service, the Anglo‐French supersonic transport was the first international aerospace program that reshaped industrial and political thinking and it paved the way for most European collaborative programs. Its legacy is today's European aerospace industry Airbus, established in 1970, and the European certification authority EASA.

      

      The American SST projects of the late 1960s and early 1970s aimed at carrying more than twice as many passengers as the Anglo‐French Concorde over considerably longer distances. Concorde's competitors initially chose an aggressive Mach 3 cruise regime for the US transport market, similar to the military supersonic cruising vehicles. NASA directed a competition between proposals generated by Boeing, Lockheed, and North American. Featuring a variable‐sweep wing and a predominantly titanium structure, the Boeing 2707‐200 Mach 2.7 airliner was clearly the most ambitious concept. Having the reputation of the most successful developer of jetliners, Boeing was considered to be capable of solving the foreseen problems of the 2707 program and became the winner of the competition. However, after millions of dollars were spent on advanced development it was concluded that problems with empty weight, load and balance, and aero‐elasticity were insurmountable.

       Many countries outlawed supersonic flight over land because of the sonic boom, which would severely restrict the projected market penetration.

       Atmospheric scientists predicted catastrophic depletion of stratospheric ozone from engine emissions, severely limiting fleet size.

       Aircraft regulators wanted the engines designed for supersonic flight to meet subsonic noise certification standards.

       Health officials were concerned about the effects of high‐altitude radiation of galactic or solar origin after their observation that, at typical SST cruise altitudes between 15,000 m and 18,000 m, the radiation dose increased to double that of a subsonic jetliner cruising at 10,500 m altitude.

Photograph of the Boeing 2707-300, designed based on the application of a fairly highly loaded </p>
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