General Electric Aviation says that the initial design phase for its new supersonic Affinity engine has been completed, with its first flight slated for 2023.
Based on technology already well established in existing civil aircraft, the Affinity engine has been developed specifically for the Aerion AS2, a supersonic business jet designed to reach speeds of Mach 1.4. While Aerion had initially partnered with Airbus on the AS2 project, the European company was replaced by Lockheed Martin almost a year ago. Lockheed’s Skunk Works team has since been working on the airframe, while GE has been finalising the design of the first supersonic civil engine since the retirement of Concorde.
According to GE, Affinity is a twin-shaft, twin-fan turbofan controlled by a Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) system. It is optimised for supersonic flight over water and subsonic flight over land, and designed to meet Stage 5 subsonic noise requirements as well as current emissions standards. GE claims Affinity will have an operational ceiling of 60,000 feet and the highest bypass ratio of any supersonic engine. Its combustor features advanced coatings for sustained high-speed operation, while additive manufacturing has been employed to optimise weight.
“In the last 50 years, business aircraft speeds have increased by less than 10 per cent,” said Brad Mottier, GE vice president and general manager for Business and General Aviation & Integrated Services.
“Instead of going faster, cabins have increased in size and become more comfortable – and range has become longer. With large, comfortable cabin, long range aircraft in the marketplace, the next step is speed . . . made possible with GE’s Affinity.”
Following a two-year preliminary study, GE and Aerion began the initial design phase for the engine in May 2017. The next design review is targeted for 2020, marking the start of detailed design and testing. Aerion partners GE and Lockheed were joined earlier this year by Honeywell, which is working on advanced cockpit systems for the AS2. Although business travel is the current goal, Aerion believes its supersonic technology will be rolled out across the wider civil aviation market over time.
“Our mission is to enhance global mobility with supersonic speed, starting with business aviation, and following with successively faster and larger designs for business and commercial aviation,” said Aerion CEO Tom Vice. “GE Aviation is making this new efficient, sustainable supersonic era possible through its pioneering work on the Affinity engine.”
While I know a bit about gas turbines and can admire the two-stage bypass fans, I know little about aeroplanes and air travel. Hope that some of the Engineers aero-folk can answer my question.
What does this offer that Concord did not, and why should it succeed where Concord did not ?
It is much easier to bring 12 incredibly wealthy individuals together (AS2) than a hundred (Concorde)
A lot of aerodynamic work went into reducing the sonic boom from this plane and should be able to fly over populated areas.
Well if we were governed by a Trump/Putin type, who wanted a national symbol & was willing to invest bigtime, then the UK could put a modernised Concorde back into production. Boeing still makes the 737 & 747 that date from the time of Concorde, yet modern 737/747 have the latest engines/avionics & revised wings. They also use lighter, up to date materials.
Apply that thinking to a new Concorde. Ditch the noisy, thirsty Olympus turbojets, replace with GE Affinity turbofans (GE says the affinity design can be scaled). That adds extra range, so more city pairs can be linked.
Then reshape the belly, like the prototype F-5E, over a decade ago. That could fly at mach 1.37 with a much reduced sonic boom.
The old 3 man clock & dial cockpit would be swapped for a flatscreen two man cockpit with enhanced vision.
The old Concorde had a two cabin layout. Anyone important always wanted to be in the front cabin. So give the front cabin seats more legroom for first class. Make the rear cabin premium economy. VIP’s travel with flunkies, that why luxury only airlines fail, as the boss likes to fly in the front cabin while the assistant/kids is/are put in the back. I fear the proposed small 18-55 supersonic airliners will fail, as the oligarchs will not have a rear cabin to put their juniors into.
Finally, this new fantasy Concorde would probably limited to Mach 1.4 rather than the Mach 2 of the old Concorde. However, the new version would be quieter, cleaner, more economical & with much greater range to link a greater number of cities together than the old Concorde ever could.
The Concorde engines were massive gas guzzlers , these have a high bypass ratio comparatively so they should be more fuel efficient.The markets of these planes are also very different,for a business jet traveler ,Time is everything, whilst the concorde was geared towards business travelers,it was quite uncomfortable and expensive to fly,Pair that with with the high fuel prices at the time and the high operation costs(due to maintenance) it was destined to fail.This should be much more efficient and have better operation costs but who knows.Im not an expert, im a chemical engineer but i love this stuff