U.S. Manufacturer Looks at Budget Supersonic

Reno-based Asset Research Corp. "is working closely with a U.S. aircraft manufacturer" on the design of a supersonic business jet that could be built with existing engines and would be practical without exotic low-boom technology. Company founder and president Richard Tracy is not at liberty to identify his potential partner, but says that his strategy is to team with an airframe and an engine supplier to build the new airplane.

Tracy brings serious credentials to the project. The veteran designer's patents on low-drag supersonic configurations are cited widely in big-company patent claims, and NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency are continuing to fund flight tests of small-scale wing models using Tracy's design. Ilan Kroo of Stanford University, one of the most widely respected academic aeronautical researchers, is an adviser to the team.

The key to the Asset design is a kite-shaped, unswept wing that achieves laminar flow over most of its surface, reducing drag and boosting range. Compared to a delta-wing supersonic airplane, it is also much more efficient at high subsonic and transonic speeds. Tracy says that his airplane can cruise efficiently close to or just above Mach 1, saving time on over-land sectors without causing a sonic boom.

A Mach 1.6 cruise speed permits the use of conventional materials, but it also allows Tracy to use a simple engine-a modified Pratt & Whitney JT8D-219-without a complex noise suppressor.