Originally Posted by
n5296s
The Aerion is real enough - a friend of mine, one of my instructors, is a senior engineer on the project. Lots of interesting stories... (not to be repeated here I'm afraid).
Don't misunderstand my skepticism. I have no doubt that Aerion is working on this project. What I question is if it will ultimately result in a certified commercial product.
There have been a lot of new aircraft projects that failed to make it past the prototype phase (many didn't even make it that far - including the Boeing SST). The cost and regulatory challenges to a supersonic commercial aircraft are massive. As I've noted the changes to the FAR and JAR/CS since the 1970s will make it incredibly difficult to certify a supersonic capable bis jet.