TRAVELCONSUMERDAILY.COM
FRIDAY, JULY 8, 2010

A BOEING design team has proposed a supersonic successor to the Concorde slighty larger and with slightly more range, but slightly slower than the European original.

But Boeing has not released any technical drawings of the so-called Icon II concept, nor a projection about when it could enter commercial service or how much it might cost, which would determine fare levels.

Boeing will not even say whether the Icon II would, like earlier designs, be banned from flying over land – the major reason for the commercial failure of Concorde, which was retired in 2003 because of the high cost of maintaining the few remaining examples operated by Air France and British Airways.

There’s little doubt that business travellers are already clamouring for a supersonic option. But the question is whether they would vote with their feet – and their bank accounts – in sufficient numbers to support an economical production run of such aircraft, which could be as high as 300-400 aircraft, based on other recent commercial aircraft programs. Only 20 Concordes were ever built.

Two Boeing-led teams recently completed 18-month studies on both subsonic and supersonic aircraft for the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

"After examining various subsonic and supersonic concepts, the teams came up with configurations that met the NASA-stated goals for dramatic improvements in operational and environmental performance over today's aircraft," Boeing says.

The Boeing supersonic team, which includes Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce, General Electric and US college Georgia Tech, focused on four concepts that included a low fuel burn/low (sonic) boom swing-wing "arrow" configuration, a low sonic boom concept with a V-tail to shield noise and control the sonic boom, a joined wing alternate concept and an oblique "scissor" wing alternative concept.

The team recommended a fixed-wing configuration (nicknamed Icon II) with V-tails and upper surface engines, said Bob Welge, Boeing's team leader.

The Icon II concept can carry 120 passengers in a two-class, single-aisle interior, and can cruise at Mach 1.6 to Mach 1.8 (1710 to 1920 kmh) with a range of about 5000 nautical miles (9265 kms).

That would enable the Icon II to fly non-stop between Tokyo and Los Angeles in under six hours (currently about 9.5 hours eastbound and 11.5 hours westbound).

It would take about 9.5 hours to fly from Sydney to Los Angeles with a one-hour fuel stop in Honolulu (compared with the current 13.5 hours) or 10.5 hours from Singapore to Los Angeles, via Tokyo (currently about 18 hours non-stop).

"The study concludes that advanced technologies can reduce fuel burn enough that a supersonic aircraft could be economically and environmentally viable in multiple markets," Boeing says.

"The study also indicates that these efficiencies can be achieved while meeting the same community noise certification limits as subsonic aircraft, with a reduction of the sonic boom noise to 65 to 75 decibels.

"That may make it possible for a supersonic transport to operate at maximum cruise speed, even over land," says Boeing’s Bob Welge.