A Ferrari for the Skies

Aerion's engineers have devised a radical new design for a high-flying, luxury supersonic business jet. Now, they just need a partner to make it

by Matt Vella

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The scenarios for supersonic travel are by now well-worn: Jet from New York to Los Angeles with barely time enough to finish a feature-length film, hopscotch the globe to morning, midday, and early-evening meetings on separate continents, etc. But the tangle of technological, legal, and economic factors that led to the demise of the Concorde five years ago has so far kept such itineraries grounded.

Now, Aerion, a small Reno, Nev. aeronautical engineering company, is developing the world's first supersonic business jet, the SBJ. Over the past three months the company has booked nearly $1.5 billion worth of preliminary orders for the $80 million private aircraft it says should take to the skies within the next decade. The most eager would-be customers have put down $250,000 deposits to be first in line. The innovative design, Aerion hopes, will circumvent the nest of problems that doomed the Concorde and ultimately convinced mainline commercial manufacturers Boeing (BA) and Airbus (ABOS) to focus on developing large, long-range jets rather than supersonic aircraft.

In contrast to those commercial planes, the SBJ is aimed at the red-hot market for private business jets fueled by decades-long growth in the number of billionaires as well as a global rise in corporate profits. According to Ray Jaworowski, a senior aerospace analyst with the Newtown, Conn. research firm Forecast International, business-jet production will be worth some $191 billion over the next decade. He expects the market to grow 62% through 2015.

Emerging Market Demand

"But, it is still too early to predict how much market share private supersonics might take up on their own," Jaworowski says. Aerion's new plane would likely compete with large and long-range subsonic private jets—such as the tony Gulfstream (GIA) G550—a lucrative segment that currently makes up about 45% of the overall market's value. And because top-of-the-line subsonics cost between $45 million and $60 million, the SBJ would be a premium-priced aircraft, a Ferrari for the skies.

Even a looming U.S. recession and the global economic ripples it could cause have done little to diminish overall demand for private jets. Over the last decade, orders for subsonics from emerging markets such as Brazil, China, and Russia have taken off, picking up any potential slack created by softening Western economies. If anything, some analysts say, the chronic devolution of commercial air travel has only bolstered the case for private service. Aerion, for its part, expects to sell 300 supersonics in the first decade of production, global economic conditions notwithstanding.

What at first blush might seem like a would-be Concorde mini is markedly different from its commercial predecessor. A combination of off-the-shelf parts—it uses a common Pratt & Whitney engine, for example—and a revolutionary wing design allows the plane to fly nearly as efficiently at subsonic speeds as at a supersonic clip. At supersonic speeds the SBJ costs about $10 per nautical mile to operate; subsonic costs increase to about $11 per nautical mile. The minimal disparity in operating costs, something the Concorde lacked, is vital for flying without adding expense over areas such as the U.S. where civilian supersonic travel is illegal.

Reducing Drag

For flights over the U.S., the jet will cruise efficiently at Mach 0.98, or 0.98 times the speed of sound. In other parts of the world—designated routes in remote areas such as Northern Canada, Siberia, and Australia—regulations are less stringent, requiring only that a sonic boom not reach the ground. There, the SBJ will cruise at Mach 1.1. Over oceans the plane can cruise at up to Mach 1.6, or 1,050 mph.