Supersonic commercial transport is back in the spotlight, 20 years after the Concorde was retired. In addition to the United States, China now wants its own supersonic commercial aircraft, capable of flying above the speed of sound (Mach 1) and thus considerably reducing flight times. In addition to wanting to create a safer and more economical aircraft than the European Concorde, the race is now on. imagine an aircraft fuselage that can reduce wave drag, and reduce the supersonic boom that is so problematic when flying over populated areas.
Comac, the Chinese competitor of Boeing and Airbus, has unveiled the first jets of its study on a supersonic aircraft. The aircraft program, if Comac decides to launch it, should lead to first flights in the middle of the decade, and more precisely in 2049. Opposite the C919, which competes with the current Airbus A320 and Boeing 737, Comac's future supersonic aircraft would be called the C949. It joins a roadmap made up in complete transparency of the arrival of a C929 (competitor of the Boeing 787 and the Airbus A350) for 2029 and a C939, (competitor of the Boeing 777 and Airbus A330neo) for 2039.
The first details of the supersonic Comac C949
Among the major announcements of the firm on its project, the objective of achieving a range 50% higher than that of the Concorde, which could only connect Paris and London to New York, with a fuel reserve of around fifteen minutes at arrival only. This would be equivalent to 11,100 kilometers. Comac's study was carried out by the Shanghai Aircraft Design and Research Institute and published at the end of March in the Chinese academic journal Acta Aeronautica et Astronautica Sinica.
In terms of sonic boom reduction, thanks to To reduce wave drag, Comac is aiming for a ground boom of 85 PLdB (noise perceived by the human ear) when the C949 is cruising (at an altitude of 16,000 m, between Mach 1.6 and 1.7), where a Concorde sonic boom exceeds 110 PLdB. At NASA, where American engineers are working on the X-59 prototype to reduce the sonic boom, the target is 75 PLdB. That said, Boom Supersonic is not focusing on this point yet, while the startup aims to the production of a future Concorde (called Overture) for flights over the oceans.
In terms of dimensions and design, Comac's C949 supersonic aircraft aims to be 61.2 m long, with a 68.8-degree swept wing and a rear V-tail (for aircraft stability). Under the wings, a pair of rear turbofan engines, without afterburners. Inside the cabin, passengers are expected to be confined in a space reminiscent of an Embraer ERJ, at just 2.2 m wide and 1.8 m high. Therefore, Comac explains in its study that the aircraft could accommodate between 28 and 48 passengers, far from the 100 passengers of the Concorde.
Source: Aviation Week
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