Mary Sandy Headquarters, Washington, D.C. March 13, 1990 H. Keith Henry Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. RELEASE 90-40 HIGH-SPEED TRANSPORT ACCEPTANCE LINKED TO TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENTS Results from the first 2 years of high-speed civil transport studies suggest that technological advances will determine the environmental compatibility, marketability and public acceptance of a next-generation supersonic commercial airliner. Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Seattle, and Douglas Aircraft Co., Long Beach, Calif., recently published reports covering the first phase of studies commissioned by NASA. Based on projections for significant increases in transoceanic air travel, both companies concluded that there will be a market for commercial transports flying at two to three times the speed of sound (1350-2000 mph) between the years 2000 and 2015. According to the studies, transpacific air travel should increase four-fold by the year 2000, while transatlantic passenger trips are expected to double. Trip times aboard a high-speed civil transport would shrink dramatically compared to flights on today's wide-bodied subsonic airliners. A trip from Los Angeles to Tokyo, for example, would be reduced from just over 10 hours to a little over 4 hours. A next-generation supersonic airliner could carry up to three times the passenger load of the current Anglo-French Concorde at less than one-seventh the cost per passenger mile and with about twice the Concorde's range. The Boeing and Douglas studies determined that substantial demand for an advanced supersonic transport will materialize only if the aircraft meets allowable standards of airport noise, has no harmful effects on the atmosphere and is economically competitive with future long-haul subsonic airliners. The plane's economic practicality would be enhanced if it meets acceptable overland sonic boom noise levels. - more - - 2 - The reports pointed out that technology to build a high- speed civil transport satisfying these requirements is not yet available. They identified significant advances that should be possible by the early 21st Century, however, such as variable- cycle engines, newer composite and metallic materials combined with new structural designs, supersonic laminar air flow and fully integrated flight and engine controls. These technology developments would permit supersonic airliners to be more efficient, in turn allowing supersonic fares to compete with subsonic fares. Each company focused on a different class of aircraft. Douglas studied a Mach 3.2 (approx. 2,150 mph) design sized to carry approximately 300 passengers a distance of 7,500 statute miles. Boeing's Mach 2.4 (approx. 1,600 mph) concept, which could be developed more quickly, was sized to carry 250 passengers a distance of 5,800 statute miles. Boeing considered an aircraft certification date of 2000, and assumed a 65 percent passenger load factor and a 50 percent flight-time savings. Using these standards, the company concluded that a Mach 2.4 transport could capture more than 50 percent of the long-haul international aircraft market, as many as 750 supersonic airliners. The same analysis indicates that a high-speed civil transport using current technology would snare only about one- third that amount of business, making capital investment far riskier. Furthermore, if two manufacturers competed for a share of today's supersonic market, economic viability would be even more reduced. The study results have encouraged NASA, Boeing and Douglas to conduct additional research on a second-generation supersonic airliner. In late 1989, NASA initiated the government-industry High Speed Research Program to tackle the technical and economic challenges of making a high-speed civil transport an "environmental good neighbor." The effort will continue through the mid-1990's. NASA officials caution that the High-Speed Research Program does not imply commitment to a supersonic civil transport aircraft. If the program shows sufficient promise and further studies confirm that such an aircraft is environmentally sound as well as important to the transportation system and the national economy, a cooperative NASA-industry focused vehicle technology development effort could be considered as a next step. Ultimately, the decision to develop and produce a high-speed civil transport will rest with the nation's aerospace industry. - end - - 3 - NOTE: Photos are available to illustrate this release by calling 202/453-8375. Color B&W Boeing artist's concept 90-HC-138 90-H-146 Douglas artist's concept 90-HC-139 90-H-147 Beginning March 15, 1990, NASA news releases and other information will be available electronically on CompuServe and GEnie, the General Electric Network for Information Exchange. On the same date, NASA news releases and other information on the Dialcom electronic service will be discontinued. For information on CompuServe, call 1-800/848-8199 and ask for representative 176. For information on GEnie, call 1-800/638-9636.