Supersonic aircraft: Shake, rattle and role

Abstract

There has been a renewed interest worldwide to focus on identifying technological advances that could satisfy the production of a new commercial supersonic aircraft. Although advances have been realized since the Concorde was developed, there is widespread agreement that many challenges remain. At a lesser risk, a supersonic business jet (SBJ) is seen as a technological stepping‐stone in the overall tactic of advancing the speed of commercial aircraft. This presentation outlines some of the technological and environmental regulatory challenges facing such an aircraft. This includes a review of the established technical noise working group and activities that address supersonic aircraft environmental matters: sonic boom, aircraft community noise, and aircraft emissions. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) maintains that a successful supersonic aircraft will depend on its stakeholders’ ability to deal with these key issues. FAA finds it beneficial to work within the international arena for addressing these issues to ensure that all stakeholders’ concerns are considered. Ultimately, successfully addressing concerns regarding sonic boom is a necessary initial condition for regulatory authorities to reconsider existing restrictions on supersonic operations, the key constraint to the business case in the revival to develop a civil supersonic aircraft for the future.