AVIATION HISTORYWeek 13

Chapter 11: Supersonic Aircraft

By Ms. Zuliana

Outlines

Aircraft Types Aircraft Utilization Supersonic Aircraft Supersonic Challenges

Aircraft Types

Military Aircraft: Swing Wings of F-14 Tomcat

fighterPassenger/ Cargo Aircraft:

Airbus A380

V/STOL( Vertical and short take-off and landing) Aircraft

Aircraft Types

Tilt Rotor plane’s

Business Jets

Aircraft Utilization Military

FightersTransportHelicopterReconnaissance

Private AircraftVIPs PersonalCrop spraying

Airlines PassengersCargo

Military Fighter: Detecting & attacking enemy targets Air to air missiles/guns Air to ground: Bombs, Missiles Supplying weapons to other aircraft Transport: Soldiers, VIP/VVIP Helicopters with rapid fire machine guns Reconnaissance Air to air refueling

Sidewinder AIM-9

Missile

Military Helicopter

Refueling an airplane in mid-air

Military aircraft

Black WidowWorld’s Smallest Spy

Aircraft

Northrop B-2 Stealth Bomber

Observation Aircraft

Private Aircraft Light aircraft owned or rented by the pilot. Used for a wide range of commercial tasks, such as

flight training, passenger and freight transport, policing, crop spraying and medical evacuations.

Crop Spraying Medical Evacuations

Airlines Characteristics

○ High payload (aircraft weight)○ Long range (distance the aircraft fly with a tank of

fuel)○ High endurance (time the aircraft can stay in the air

with a tank of fuel)

Airlines

Types of airliners

Wide-body jets: The largest airliners Example: Boeing 747-767 & 777, Airbus A300/A310, Airbus A330, Airbus A340, Airbus A380(which can hold up to 800 passengers),.

Narrow-body jets: Smaller airliners , generally used for medium-distance flights with fewer passengers Example: Boeing 717,737 & 757, McDonnell Douglas DC-9 & MD-80/MD-90 series, Airbus A320 family

Regional airliners: Seat fewer than 100 passengers, short flights Embraer ERJ, Bombardier CRJ series and ATR 42/72

Country of Origin

USA

Boeing

Lockheed Martin

Canada

Bombardier

Brazil

Embraer

Sukhoi

RussiaTupolev

Europe Airbus Industries (France)ATR (France/Italy) Fokker (Netherlands)Saab (Sweden) Britten-Norman (United

Kingdom) BAE Systems (United

Kingdom) (formerly British Aerospace)

Definition The term supersonic is used to define a speed that is over

the speed of sound (Mach 1)

Supersonic refers to aircraft speed which is greater than the speed of sound

The speed of sound describes how much distance such a wave travels in a certain amount of time.

The speed of sound is about 768 miles per hour (1,236 The speed of sound is about 768 miles per hour (1,236 kilometers per hour) at sea level.kilometers per hour) at sea level.

Speeds of Flights

Subsonic

Aircraft speeds which are very much less than the speed of sound

The Mach number M is much less than one, M << 1

Small planes such as crop dusters and seaplanes are examples of planes that travel at this speed.

Transonic

Aircraft speeds just below and above the speed of sound

The Mach number M is nearly equal to one, M ~= 1 (0.8–1.2)

Speeds of Flights

Supersonic flight: Flying faster than the

speed of sound. Faster than Mach 1.

Majority supersonic aircraft for military & experimental.

Hypersonic flight: Greater than Mach 5.

This is more than five times the speed of sound.

It is the speed traveled by rockets and the space shuttle as they go into orbit.

Supersonic Military: SR-71 Blackbird Role: Strategic Reconnaissance Primary users: United States Air Force NASA The world's fastest aircraft. Advanced, long-range, Mach 3 Was in service from 1964 to 1998 Number built: 32

SST: Supersonic Transport A supersonic transport (SST) is a civil aircraft

designed to transport passengers at speeds greater than the speed of sound .

The only SST to see regular service was the Concorde , and the only other design built in quantity was the Tupolev Tu-144 .

The last passenger flight of the Tu-144 was in June 1978, and the Concorde's last flight was on 26 November 2003 .

As of 2005 , there are no more SSTs used in regular commercial service.

British-French Concorde SST Role: Supersonic airliner Manufacturers: BAC (now BAE Systems) ,

Sud Aviation (now EADS) Introduction

21 January 1976 Retired

26 November 2003 Primary users

British AirwaysAir France

Number built: 20 Unit cost: £23 million in 1977

Russian- Tupolev Tu-144• The Tu-144S went into service on 26 December

1975, & passenger services, in November 1977 .• Tu-144 had a higher maximum speed, but required

more fuel and had less range than concorde.• Ran a semi-scheduled service until the first Tu-

144D experienced an in-flight failure during a pre-delivery test flight, and crash-landed with crew fatalities on 23 May 1978.

• The Aeroflot flight on 1 June 1978 was the Tu-144's 55th and last scheduled passenger service.

Fastest Commercial Aircraft: Concorde

Advantages of Supersonic AircraftAdvantages of Supersonic Aircraft

High SpeedDouble-delta shaped wings- to gain more

lift.Droop-nose section for improved visibility in

landing

Weight SavingAircraft skin was made from AluminiumFully electrically controlled fly-by-wire flight

controls systems

Factors about airliners have failed to go supersonic

1. High operating costs – more fuel, higher ticker price

2. Takeoff noise – environmental issues

3. Poor range – uneconomical

4. Aerodynamics – airframe design

5. Structural issue

6. Need to operate aircraft over a wide range of speed

Challenges of supersonic passenger flight…………..

High operating costs

Use more fuel: Higher ticket costs

Lower passenger capacities due to the aerodynamic requirement for a narrow fuselage. Both Concorde and the Boeing 747 use approximately the

same amount of fuel to cover the same distance, but the 747 can carry more than four times as many passengers.

Challenges of supersonic passenger flight…………..

Takeoff noise

One of the problems with Concorde and the Tu-144's operation was the high engine noise levels, associated with very high jet velocities used during take-off, and even more importantly flying over communities near the airport.

This is an environmental hazard – Noise pollution

Challenges of supersonic passenger flight…………..

Poor range

Can carry lesser fuel due to airline trying to increase passenger volume

The relatively poor supersonic lift/drag ratios, supersonic aircraft have historically had relatively poor range.

This meant that a lot of routes were non viable, and this in turn helped mean that they sold poorly with airlines.

Challenges of supersonic passenger flight

Aerodynamics

Increase Drag

The faster the speed the higher the air resistance, thus the higher the drag.

As the drag increases, more power/fuel require to overcome the drag which lead to high fuel cost.

Challenges of supersonic passenger flight…………..

Structural issues

SST speeds demand narrower wing and fuselage designs, thus are subject to greater stresses and temperatures .

SSTs also require a much stronger (and therefore heavier) structure to operate at the high altitudes.

Challenges of supersonic passenger flight…………..

Need to operate aircraft over a wide range of speeds

The aerodynamic design of a supersonic aircraft needs to change with its speed for optimal performance

Thus, an SST would ideally change shape during flight to maintain optimal performance at both subsonic and supersonic speeds – e.g. swing wing

Such a design would introduce complexity which increases maintenance needs, operations costs, and safety concerns.