Aerion corporation is planning a joint venture to develop a Mach 1.6 supersonic business jet (SSBJ) by the end of the year.
Richard Tracy, company founder and chief technology officer, says that he feels “pretty good” about the venture. He mentioned that most of the technical issues have been resolved. Estimates of the aircraft’s range, speed, and fuel consumption have already garnered the support of the European Transonic Wind Tunnel (ETW).
He is also confident about the prospects of a consensus between the United States and Europe regarding supersonic flight over land. “It can be deemed to be acceptable,” said Tracy regarding mitigating sonic boom.
With a 4,000 nm range at Mach 1.6, the Aerion SSBJ can fly cover the distance between New York and Paris in around four hours, saving about three hours of travel time compared to a G650 cruising at Mach .90.
Tracy was quick to mention that speed is not the only asset of the Aerion SSBJ. Its design has the smallest size, lightest weight, and lowest aerial drag than any other SSBJ concept—thus it will have the smallest environmental footprint.
