Aerion is here in Dubai to tap what it believes could be strong market for the supersonic business jet (SSBJ) it intends to have certified in 2015. According to the U.S. company, it still holds letters of intent for about 50 of the aircraft and has had to refund only two deposits since the start of the financial crisis. Meanwhile, it is continuing its protracted talks to find a manufacturing partner for the program at a time when airframers are understandably cautious about extending their risk in new ventures.
The Aerion design consists of an airframe with a straight wing featuring “natural laminar flow (NLF)” aerodynamically optimized for transonic and supersonic flight up to speeds of Mach 1.6, with boomless flight at Mach 1.1. The company has scheduled flight tests of a larger NLF wing section aboard a NASA F-15B Eagle Strike Fighter to define manufacturing tolerances for optimum laminar flow over a supersonic airfoil. The first of these flights should be achieved before the end of this month.
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