GE "affinity' supersonic engine debut
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GE "affinity' supersonic engine debut
ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--At a press conference with Aerion Corporation today, GE Aviation announced that it has completed the initial design of the first supersonic engine purpose-built for business jets. This new engine class, revealed today as GE’s AffinityTM turbofan, is optimized with proven GE technology for supersonic flight and timed to meet the Aerion AS2 launch.
The Affinity is a new class of medium bypass ratio engines that provide exceptional and balanced performance across supersonic and subsonic flights. The Affinity integrates a unique blend of proven military supersonic experience, commercial reliability and the most advanced business jet engine technologies.
GE’s Affinity is a twin-shaft, twin-fan turbofan controlled by a next generation Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) for enhanced dispatch reliability and onboard diagnostics. It is purposefully designed to enable efficient supersonic flight over water and efficient subsonic flight over land, without requiring modifications to existing compliance regulations. The engine is designed to meet stringent Stage 5 subsonic noise requirements and beat current emissions standards.
Well that's just a small part of the powerplant system for supersonic operation.
Who is gong to design and manufacture the pod with the more significant features in the inlet to feed the fan at supersonic speeds and attenuate the noise out the front and back?
Is the sizing sufficient to accelerate to supersonic speeds without re-heat?
Who is gong to design and manufacture the pod with the more significant features in the inlet to feed the fan at supersonic speeds and attenuate the noise out the front and back?
Is the sizing sufficient to accelerate to supersonic speeds without re-heat?
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Who is gong to design and manufacture the pod with the more significant features in the inlet to feed the fan at supersonic speeds and attenuate the noise out the front and back? Is the sizing sufficient to accelerate to supersonic speeds without re-heat?
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Yes, its for the Aerion Supersonic aircraft.
Supersonic business jet developer Aerion has officially launched preliminary design of its 12-seater, Mach 1.4-capable AS2 and revealed ambitions to develop bigger and faster follow-on variants, including potential commercial models.
With prospects for the full launch of the trijet project now seemingly brighter than ever, and conceptual design already completed with industry team partners Lockheed Martinand General Electric, Aerion also reveals that avionics heavyweight Honeywell has joined the group as its flight deck provider
Supersonic business jet developer Aerion has officially launched preliminary design of its 12-seater, Mach 1.4-capable AS2 and revealed ambitions to develop bigger and faster follow-on variants, including potential commercial models.
With prospects for the full launch of the trijet project now seemingly brighter than ever, and conceptual design already completed with industry team partners Lockheed Martinand General Electric, Aerion also reveals that avionics heavyweight Honeywell has joined the group as its flight deck provider
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The engine core is the CFM56 core. The CFM56 core came from the F101 engine used on the B-1A/B bomber. It is the same core used on the F110 engine that powers F-16 and some F-15 aircraft. It is well suited for subsonic and supersonic application. The engines for this Aerion business jet will not need reheat to achieve supersonic speed.
Yes, its for the Aerion Supersonic aircraft.
Supersonic business jet developer Aerion has officially launched preliminary design of its 12-seater, Mach 1.4-capable AS2 and revealed ambitions to develop bigger and faster follow-on variants, including potential commercial models.
Supersonic business jet developer Aerion has officially launched preliminary design of its 12-seater, Mach 1.4-capable AS2 and revealed ambitions to develop bigger and faster follow-on variants, including potential commercial models.
Hard for me to guess without a comparative seat-mile cost. Methinks that the users are far richer than myself and will fork over a lot more $$$ to gain a few hours before a gig
The question is how big a market - you need to sell quite a few aircraft to justify a multi-billion dollar investment to develop and certify such an aircraft.
Well that's just a small part of the powerplant system for supersonic operation.
Who is gong to design and manufacture the pod with the more significant features in the inlet to feed the fan at supersonic speeds and attenuate the noise out the front and back?
Is the sizing sufficient to accelerate to supersonic speeds without re-heat?
Who is gong to design and manufacture the pod with the more significant features in the inlet to feed the fan at supersonic speeds and attenuate the noise out the front and back?
Is the sizing sufficient to accelerate to supersonic speeds without re-heat?
As for reheat, who knows. AFAIK private ownership of functioning jet engines with variable area reheated exhausts is apparently illegal in the USA, so that'd be one reason to avoid it if possible. I don't know if they're planning on using reheat (I hope so), but I suspect they don't need it. Reheat is not inevitably needed for going supersonic; Concorde only just needed them to go M1+, and obviously it helped with take-off performance too. And looked cool!
It does make one wonder though; would purchasers be buying this plane specifically for its fast cruise, or would they be buying it because they're expecting something like Concorde's fighter jet + afterburner plumes + champagne performance? Without afterburners it's simply going to look like a slightly odd biz jet taking off, no one will realise that it's actually quite a hot aircraft. Bit like having a Bughatti Veyron that's been to the body shop for some custom mods and comes out looking like a Toyota Corolla (albeit a top of the range one). I half fancy that it's the look of the thing that's going to be just as important to its sales success.
With fixed inlets and no reheat, the engine itself pretty much is the most complicated part of the propulsion package.
Just a minute, this thing is 170ft long, almost the same as a B757-300! Yet it can only carry about 12 people?
This has to be a joke.
This has to be a joke.
With fixed inlets and no reheat, the engine itself pretty much is the most complicated part of the propulsion package.
. Variable area nozzles are pretty much a necessity with afterburner/reheat, but can still be beneficial without reheat - the higher the cruise speed the greater the potential benefit. There has been quite a bit of work on variable area fan nozzles for high bypass turbofans - open it up for takeoff, close it down for cruise. There is a significant cruise fuel burn improvement, but the failure modes can be really nasty (it can put the fan blades or fan exit guide vanes into flutter
“...With fixed inlets and no reheat, the engine itself pretty much is the most complicated part of the propulsion package...”
msbbarratt....
Both shafts turn the same direction, and it at least appears to me that intermediate and HP compressors turn at the same rpm. Also, it would seem the LP turbines are down to two wheels.
Without an iris, (complicated) and sporting instead a translational plug, doesn’t the engine seem less complicated than other SST power?
How do they soften the acoustic signature of the two N1 fans?
no expert me...
msbbarratt....
Both shafts turn the same direction, and it at least appears to me that intermediate and HP compressors turn at the same rpm. Also, it would seem the LP turbines are down to two wheels.
Without an iris, (complicated) and sporting instead a translational plug, doesn’t the engine seem less complicated than other SST power?
How do they soften the acoustic signature of the two N1 fans?
no expert me...
