Fort, fortere, fortest - Kvikkas i skalaversjon med J85 motor - Curt Lewis

This Slick Jet Could Repave the Way for Commercial Supersonic Flight













Boom Technology releases details about their two-seater demonstrator aircraft-the first privately-built supersonic jet.

More than a decade after the Concorde was retired, we finally seem poised to achieve commercial supersonic flight once again. Boom Technology, an aerospace company based out of the Denver area, just revealed the engineering design information for their XB-1 demonstrator aircraft-a two-seater supersonic jet that will serve as a one-third scale test aircraft to ultimately develop a 45- to 55-person passenger aircraft capable of achieving a cruise speed of Mach 2.2, or 1,450 mph.

The XB-1 demonstrator design is the result of over 1,000 virtual wind tunnel tests to develop the flight controls and avionics. The airframe itself is currently under construction, and Boom hopes to achieve first flight by the end of 2017. The full-scale passenger aircraft that you could purchase a ticket on is slated to enter service by 2023.















Boom Technology

"60 years after the dawn of the jet age, we're still flying at 1960s speeds," said Blake Scholl, CEO and founder of Boom, in a press release. "Concorde's designers didn't have the technology for affordable supersonic travel, but now we do. Today, we're proud to unveil our first aircraft as we look forward to first flight late next year."

Could Boom Be the Next Concorde?

When the XB-1 takes to the skies, it will be the first independently-developed and privately-funded supersonic aircraft ever built. Boom has been able to make such large strides in a short period of time thanks to the extensive experience of their small engineering team, which includes aerospace and propulsion experts from NASA, SpaceX, Pratt & Whitney, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman subsidiary Scaled Composites, among others. And in addition to a stellar team of engineers, Boom Technology has Richard Branson's Virgin Group backing them with both funding and engineering support.

"Virgin Galactic's decision to work with Boom was an easy one. We're excited to have an option on Boom's first 10 airframes," said Branson. "Through Virgin Galactic's manufacturing arm, The Spaceship Company, we will provide engineering and manufacturing services, along with flight test support and operations as part of our shared ambitions."















Concept image of Boom Technology's XB-1 demonstrator.
Boom Technology

The XB-1 will be powered by three General Electric J85-21 turbofans, the same engine in the T-38 Talon trainer aircraft used by the military to train fighter pilots. The demonstrator will have some similarities to a two-seater military trainer, though at 68 feet long, it will be more catered to stable cruise flight, rather than air maneuverability.

The XB-1 frame will incorporate lightweight, heat-resistant composite materials that Boom is planning to use on the full-scale aircraft as well. The chine fuselage and delta-wing design will allow the XB-1 and the ultimate passenger plane to achieve supersonic speeds without the need for afterburning turbofans, resulting in more efficient flight.

Subsonic test flights for the XB-1 will be conducted by Boom at airfields east of Denver, and supersonic testing will take place at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California. If the XB-1 hits Mach 2.2 before 2017 is out, we will be well on our way to an honest-to-god three-hour flight from New York to London, cruising up at 60,000 feet.

"You'll be able to see the curvature of the Earth. The sky is going to be a deeper blue," says Scholl. "And we're going to give you big windows so you can enjoy that."

NBAA CONVENTION NEWS BUSINESS AVIATION HyperMach at ‘Pivotal Stage’ for Its Mach 5 Bizjet by Chad Trautvetter  - November 1, 2016, 12:30 PM Slated for service entry in 2028, the company’s newly renamed HyperStar will have a top speed of Mach 5 at 80,000 feet and 7,000-nm range. HyperMach Aerospace is about halfway through a two-year program to validate crucial technologies for both its newly renamed HyperStar supersonic business jet (SSBJ) and the airplane’s hybrid turbofan ramjet engines being developed by sister company SonicBlue Aerospace. Richard Lugg, who heads both companies, told AINthat 2016 and 2017 are “pivotal years” for its SSBJ, which was previously known as the SonicStar. Additionally, HyperMach has once again revised the aircraft’s preliminary performance and specifications upward, to a top speed of Mach 5 at 80,000 feet and 7,000-nm range. In late 2012, it boosted the SSBJ’s top speed estimate to Mach 4.5 and range to 6,500 nm from its original Mach 3.6 and 6,000 nm, when it announced the project at the 2011 Paris Airshow. It also increased the size of the airplane in late 2012 to seat up to 36 passengers from the initial 20; it has not made any further changes to the basic configuration since then. The updated and now-current HyperStar design has a larger swooped delta wing, redesigned V tail and a pair of more powerful engines, compared with the original design. Both the larger fuselage, which will now carry center tanks, and wing allow for more onboard fuel that in turn helps to stretch the airplane’s range. HyperMach plans to announce its airframe partner in the second quarter of next year. “The company has worked with the airframe manufacturer for all of 2016 in determining and laying out a successful development plan and examining in close detail the risks and benefit of detail design, schedule and airframe team, as well as the plan for the first flying prototype,” said Lugg. HyperMach is now preparing to begin wind-tunnel testing of the HyperStar next year, with plans to begin hypersonic testing in May at a wind-tunnel facility in Europe. It is also slated to begin low-speed wind-tunnel tests in the U.S. in June and high-speed trials in Europe in April. The low- and high-speed analyses are slated to conclude later next year, while the hypersonic assessments are expected to take 30 months. The high-speed wind-tunnel tests will also allow the company to further experiment with the electromagnetic drag reduction technology (EDRT) that it intends to use to mitigate, and possibly even eliminate, the sonic boom. With this core technology, a generated plasma ion field is pulsed around strategic fuselage, wing and tail surfaces to create active laminar flow control at the boundary layer interface. This changes the double pressure N-Shaped shockwave shape that emanates to the ground, dramatically reducing the over-pressure and mitigating the sonic boom. In addition, this plasma field will help reduce the heat on the HyperStar’s ceramic composite skin. Lugg said that HyperMach engineers have demonstrated the EDRT flow control in a laboratory and found it be 90-percent effective at Mach 3.0 and above. The EDRT system, electrically powered by the additional overboard electricity from the H-Magjet engines, is a pulsed phased system, making it safe for aircraft occupants and certifiable under government regulation, according to the company. To minimize cost and risk, HyperMach is taking an unusual step – planning to fly an unmanned scale model of the HyperStar in late 2018. This flight vehicle will be flown in supersonic corridors so it can be tested at speeds up to Mach 5, the company said. Not surprisingly, the U.S. military has expressed interest in this unmanned scale vehicle, though Lugg insisted that this program is sufficiently walled off to prevent the military from prohibiting development of the civil HyperStar. Meanwhile, Portland, Maine-based SonicBlue is busy developing and testing the critical technology built into the SSBJ’s 76,000-pound-thrust H-Magjet 5500-X hybrid turbofan ramjet engines. Lugg said the company holds “major patents” for its “revolutionary propulsion technology,” which includes a superconducting turbo power core ring to generate the aircraft’s high electrical power requirements. “The first engine stage produces more than 10 megawatts of power, driving the electromagnetic compressor and bypass fans,” he noted. “There are five turbine stages in H-Magjet, all producing multi-megawatts of power.” As with other companies working to certify a supersonic civil aircraft, engine emissions and Stage 4 noise requirements remain a concern. Lugg said that initial testing indicated that the H-Magjet engine is exceeding both limits, but the SonicBlue team is working to minimize emissions and noise as it finalizes the engine design. It is developing an ion plasma injection combustor to provide the “highest efficiency and performance in combustion for significant thrust gains,” Lugg told AIN. “By electrically atomizing and controlling the ionization to the point of fuel combustion and a controlled flame front powered by an electric arc field with electricity directly from the engine, thrust improvement along with significant emissions reduction is gained.” He added, “We have completed final detail design of the first stage turbine core for testing. Manufacturing of this first stage has begun and is expected to be finished next month, with testing on the rig as early as February. All five stages will be completed through 2018, with complete turbine core test in the fourth quarter of 2018.” A full engine run is scheduled for 2019, and Lugg said that his company has spent the last year working with new industry partners and hiring team members for the superconducting turbine core. First flight of the HyperStar is now expected in 2025, with certification and entry into service slated to follow in 2028, he said. Both estimates are three years later than what was announced previously. HyperMach has begun to take orders for its SSBJ, and Lugg said he soon expects to close the company’s “first multi-aircraft unit order with a leading global private charter firm.” Current price of the HyperStar is $180 million, though that will escalate to $220 million sometime before the Paris Airshow in June.