Supersonic Private Jets In Development
Several aircraft manufacturers are working to become the first to offer supersonic private jets to the marketplace, filling a gap left by the termination of the Concorde. Supersonic Aerospace International, a consortium of aeronautics suppliers, investors, designers and engineers anchored by Lockheed Martin, is working to introduce supersonic commercial aviation aircraft by 2011, with customer delivery slated for 2013.
SAI has developed the design for the Quite Small Supersonic Transport, which it said will enable transcontinental and intercontinental supersonic travel. The developers said the aircraft would seat 12 passengers and reduce travel times to long-haul destinations, traveling at speeds of up to Mach 1.8 and cutting travel times by up to half. SAI said its aircraft would reduce an average 8.3-hour flight from Chicago to Paris to 4.5 hours or fly from Seattle to Tokyo in less than five hours. The manufacturer expects each aircraft to cost about $80 million.
The developers said the aircraft is designed to suppress the sonic boom associated with traveling at the speed of sound, noting that its "no-boom" aircraft would be 100 times quieter than the Concorde. Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works is developing the aircraft design, as General Electric, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce have provided competing engine concepts for the placement in the aircraft.
Meanwhile, Aerion Corp. also has plans to enter the marketplace with its own supersonic aircraft, aiming to take flight by the end of the decade and move into production shortly thereafter. Through its own market research, the company said there is demand for up to 300 Aerion SBJs in its first 10 years of production.