Supersonic Business Jets

Ever since everybody got fed up with the Concorde, supersonic travel has been very scarce. The Concorde was put out of commission for numerous reasons, like the sonic boom that would rattle windows from forty thousand feet, or the fact that it guzzled fuel more fuel at subsonic speeds than it did cruising at mach 1.2.

While the final flight of the Concorde was a punctuation mark on commercial jet travel because of the cost of operation and development, we must realize that private business travel is not limited by the constraints of money. Many business aircraft manufacturers are racing to produce a supersonic business jet, and many believe we will see them in action by 2018. The key issues regarding supersonic travel are:

• Eliminating or minimizing the sonic boom
• Increasing efficientcy of subsonic flight with supersonic airfoils
• Minimizing weight and unnecessary design techniques that are popular today

A company called Supersonic Aerospace International is working with Lockheed Martin on a project called Quiet Supersonic Transport (QSST) in an effort to minimize the sonic boom factor that develops from sound waves building on specific points of the airframe. The sonic boom is basically a series of large shock waves. QSST has attempted to minimize this problem by creating many more shock waves that are smaller in addition to reducing the points that these shock waves build upon.

The biggest issue with the Concorde, was the fact that at subsonic speeds, it had to maintain a very high angle of attack due to its small, supersonic airfoil design. This created massive amounts of drag and required more fuel burn. The Aerion Corporation is working on a design that would maintain fuel efficiency at low airspeeds as well as reducing unnecessary weight. They do this not only with a new wing design, but also by removing all windows from the airplane. This reduces the need for structurally reinforced airframes. You can read more about the Aerion SBJ here. These changes to the business aircraft world affect me because, as a future corporate pilot, there is a very good chance I will be flying these aircraft.

Again, thanks for reading, and fly safe!

The United States Export-Import Bank

The United States Export-Import Bank is the government faction designated to persuade foreign buyers to purchase American made products. This is done in many ways, primarily by guaranteeing loan repayments and providing low-interest federal export financing. As an example, Quatar Airways ordered 30 Boeing 787-800 model aircraft outfitted with General Electric engines. The The United States Ex-Im bank provided them with loan guarantees and financing, while Delta Airlines, who ordered 18 787's, had to fend for themselves. While effective in generating business and revenue for local businesses like Boeing and many of its sub contractors, many consider this to be unfair to United States companies who are purchasing aircraft from their own country.

You can read more about Delta Air Line's challenge to the Ex-Im bank here.

In my personal opinion, the Ex-Im bank should continue to provide these incentives to foreign air carriers. While Boeing does make quality aircraft to compete with Airbus, The Ex-Im bank is clearly assisting in Boeing's sales. At the same time; however, the government should be providing local air carriers with some incentive as well for providing more jobs to the United States citizen, instead of not offering any support for aircraft financing. With the government helping out our local carriers, we can help "level the playing field" with our foreign competitors.

Thanks for reading, and fly safe!