Aerion Enters Advance Design Phase

Aerion has embarked on a "Proof-of-Concept" design phase as it continues to progress to a planned 2015 certification for its supersonic business jet design. Simultaneously, it is engaged in discussions with well-known aviation companies, with the intention of reaching agreement with one to serve as the lead manufacturer for the program.

During the Proof-of-Concept phase, Aerion will define systems, confirm weight build-up, and further validate performance. The design program will focus on all key certification criteria to ensure the ability to certify the aircraft in a timely fashion. Previously, the engineering effort was focused mainly on the optimization and validation of the aerodynamics of an efficient supersonic business jet design.

Business update

The company has held talks with major aerospace firms as well as government agencies on three continents. Discussions are ongoing, and much will hinge on the refined business case presented by Aerion, and on the available financial resources and strategic objectives of potential partners.

Potential partners have expressed great interest in the concept of supersonic laminar flow and the patented technology developed by Aerion in this area, viewing it as a key enabling technology for the development of an efficient supersonic aircraft.

 John Holding Joins Aerion Team

Aerion will add staff in various engineering disciplines to carry out this new phase of development. To lead the development program, the company has engaged John Holding as Special Advisor. He will work closely with Aerion COO Mike Henderson, Chief Technology Officer Dr. Richard Tracy, and the growing Aerion engineering organization.

No one in civil aviation today has led more successful jet aircraft introductions than John Holding. Previously, he served as Bombardier Aerospace's Executive Vice President, Integrated Product Definition and Planning Engineering. Over a 16-year period, Holding led the introduction of at least one new aircraft product every year - an unprecedented performance in the aerospace industry. These programs included new certifications for Learjet, Challenger, Global Express and CRJ product lines. Holding was also involved in the preliminary engineering work for the recently launched CSerioes airliner.

At Bombardier, he was instrumental in creating innovative supplier partnerships and processes for the development and engineering of new aircraft. His industry influence has exctended well beyond Bombardier. Among his many efforts to advance the field of aerospace engineering, Holding was a founding member of the Consortium for Research and Innovation in Aerospace in Quebec (CRIAQ), and is its chairman.

New Chief Financial Officer

Doug Nichols is Aerion's new Chief Financial Officer, overseeing the financial operations of the company and playing a key role in structuring partner and supplier relationships for the production of the Aerion supersonic business jet.

Nichols joined the company in 2008 following a distinguished 28-year career in a range of senior financial positions at Boeing. Among his roles there, Nichols served as CFO at the company's Commercial Airplane Group 747/767 unit and also for Boeing Business Jets. Over the course of his Boeing career he gained extensive experience in all aspects of the operational and financial management of airplane programs, as well as in new aircraft market evaluation and product development, aircraft preliminary and detailed design processes, advanced final assembly processes, supply base management, support logistics, marketing and sales.

Since leaving Boeing in 2002, Nichols worked as senior advisor to Bombardier on its CSeries program. He has an MBA in corporate finance from the University of Puget Sound, Graduate School of Business, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Washington.

 

 

High-Speed Performance Verified

Aerion conducted wind tunnel tests in August 2008 at the unique European Transonic Wind Tunnel near Cologne, Germany, simulating supersonic laminar flow wing performance at cruising altitude.

The test confirmed supersonic natural laminar flow at full-scale Reynolds numbers, equivalent to flying the actual aircraft at greater than 45,000 feet. The supersonic natural laminar flow (SNLF) wing is the enabling technology behind the aircraft's efficiency at both subsonic and supersonic speeds. Where supersonic natural laminar flow exists, drag is reduced by up to 90 percent. The Aerion wing achieves about a 50 percent drag reduction over conventional delta wing supersonic designs and a total airframe drag reduction of about 20 percent.

ETW test runs at Mach 0.95, 1.2 and 1.35 (the tunnel limit) showed stable natural laminar flow, confirming the extent of laminar flow used in range predictions of more than 4,000 nautical miles subsonically and supersonically. Natural laminar flow becomes more stable as Mach number increases, so these speeds were considered the most challenging test conditions.

The ETW is a cryogenic, pressurized wind tunnel cycling nitorogen gas in a closed loop at temperatures as low as 110 Kelvin (minus 163 degrees Centigrade), and pressurizes up to 4.5 atmospheres. It is therefore able to provide full-scale flight Reynolds numbers on subscale models by virtue of increased density and decreased viscosity.

ETW is the only facility with the demonstrated low noise level and low free-stream turbulence level needed to assess superonic natural laminar flow at such high Reynolds numbers. In most supersonic wind tunnels, flow turbulence and acoustic noise radiating from tunnel walls destabilizes the laminar boundary layer on the model, but the characteristics of the ETW facility eliminated these concerns.

 

 

Nozzle Tests

Scale versions of engine exhaust nozzle configurations have been tested at the University of California Irvine. Results indicate that Aerion will achieve sufficient noise reduction to meet Stage4/Chapter 4 requirements with margin. Subsequent large-scale tests are planned at the United Technologies Research Center anechoic nozzle test wind tunnel in Connecticut. All of the nozzle configurations tested offer high efficiency from takeoff through Mach 1.6. Wind tunnel tests for the jet's supersonic engine inlets are planned for 2009.

Low-Speed Wind-Tunnel Tests

This past March, Aerion completed a series of low-speed wind tunnel tests at the University of Washington. These tests are the fifth and sixth low-speed tests of Aerion low-speed configurations. The purpose was to continue the refinement of Aerion’s flaps, strakes and tail surfaces.

These tests showed the ability of the Aerion configuration to meet the challenging goals of operating from 6,000-foot runways and achieving a 120-knot approach speed with a modified strake and flap system that is simpler and smaller than in previous designs. The tests also collected data for sizing the vertical and horizontal tail configurations. In addition to the configuration development, data from this test has shown that Aerion’s analytical methods are accurate in predicting the performance of Aerion’s low-speed configurations.

Market Activity

Aerion has collected over 50 orders for the $80 million jet. Each is secured by a $250,000 deposit. Total backlog now exceeds $4 billion.