My company's break through in aviation

[Tom Adams]

For those of you who might be interested in aviation stuff, I present to you some info we released today. It makes me damn proud to work for Gulfstream.
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FEDERAL REGULATIONS PROHIBIT SUPERSONIC FLIGHT OVER LAND:

Currently, supersonic flight of civil aircraft over land is prohibited by the U.S.

Federal Aviation Administrations (FAA) Part 91.817 regulation. This regulation

stems from President Lyndon B. Johnson's efforts to initiate noise abatement

regulation as the number of aircraft and amount of aircraft traffic significantly

increased during the 1960s. In 1968, President Johnson signed an amendment

to the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 that gave the FAA power to ban overland

supersonic flight. Without a change in the regulation that bans civil supersonic

flight over land, the market value of any supersonic civil aircraft design is

diminished by the operational constraints. "The regulation was rightfully initiated

as a reaction to the potential of dramatically increased noise levels due to sonic

booms," said Pres Henne, senior vice president, programs, engineering and test.

"However, since then, advances in technology have enabled us to produce aircraft

that are much quieter. We believe it is time to consider reviewing and amending

the regulations to ensure they reflect current technologies, which have brought us

to the threshold of revolutionizing aviation as we know it today."

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GULFSTREAM HAS TAKEN THE BOOM OF OUT SONIC BOOM:

Gulfstream

engineers and scientists have developed aerodynamic technology that has

significantly transformed the traditional supersonic cruise acoustic signature

referred to as a "sonic boom." Their latest effort, called the "Gulfstream Whisper,"

has produced a solution to the traditional sonic boom. "We've essentially taken

the 'boom' out of 'sonic boom,'" said Henne. "Based on our analysis and testing,

the Gulfstream Whisper is so indistinct that most people on the ground wouldn't

even realize a supersonic aircraft had passed overhead." A supersonic aircraft

such as the Concorde in cruise produces a traditional jagged "N-wave" sonic

boom pressure wave, resulting in a loud, jarring double boom on the ground as

it passes by. This noise characteristic led the Federal Aviation Administration

(FAA) to forbid supersonic overland flight in the United States more than 30 years

ago. Gulfstream's patented spike for controlling and reducing sonic boom

transforms the traditional N-wave sonic boom into a smooth and more rounded

pressure wave shaped roughly like a sine wave or a sideways "S." This change

in the wave shape results in a softer sound that is quieter than the Concorde sonic

boom by a factor of 10,000. In most situations, the Gulfstream Whisper would

be imperceptible, masked by ambient noises.

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SUPERSONIC ACOUSTIC SIGNATURE SIMULATOR II:

Gulfstream's

Supersonic Acoustic Signature Simulator II (SASSII) is a mobile audio booth

designed and equipped to demonstrate the Gulfstream Whisper. In contrast to

a boom, the Gulfstream Whisper is the sound a person on the ground would

hear if a supersonic aircraft fitted with Gulfstream's patented spike for controlling

and reducing sonic boom flew overhead at Mach 1.8 - approximately twice the

speed of today's subsonic civil jets. Gulfstream developed SASSII so others

could experience this dramatic sound difference. The simulator enables

visitors to sense for themselves the dramatic difference in sound, reverberation

and intensity. Using a sophisticated, computer-based audio system, the acoustic

engineer sends the audio feed into a sound booth where visitors can compare

various sound signatures. In the 7-by-11-foot audio booth, which features a

custom arrangement of high-fidelity speakers and is housed in a 32-foot-long

trailer, visitors can compare the sound of traditional sonic booms to that of the

Gulfstream Whisper. The booth has traveled extensively across the country -

from Savannah to California to Washington, D.C. Since the acoustic simulator's

first public exhibition at the Aviation Noise & Air Quality Symposium in Palm

Springs, Calif., in March, more than 600 people have experienced the Gulfstream

Whisper. To date, everyone who has experienced the Whisper has been

impressed with the results. Gulfstream's original simulator, SASSI, which is in

the company's acoustic laboratory in Savannah, was instrumental in the early

stages of quiet signature technology development. "We need the scientific,

environmental and legislative communities to hear the Gulfstream Whisper,"

said Henne. "Their collective support in generating acceptance of this

technological breakthrough is essential to removing the sonic boom barrier

to supersonic civil transportation."

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NASA GRANTS $1 MILLION FOR FEASIBILITY STUDY:

Gulfstream is also

part of a NASA-sponsored sonic research effort. In July, NASA granted four

industry teams $1 million each to investigate the feasibility of developing a

demonstration airplane that, when flown at Mach 1 and beyond, is sufficiently

quiet to fly over populated areas. Gulfstream is teamed with Northrop Grumman

on this effort. (See Management Newsletter Issue 77 on July 13, 2005 for more

details.)

[colterphoto1]

That's groundbreaking technology there Tom, thanks for posting.

Any way you can quiet these other jets down a bit???

Michael

[Frzninvt]

We're cooking up something really cool for the troops right now to help them with all the cowardly roadside bombs being planted.

[Cal Blacksmith]

That is a major achievement to be sure! Congrats!!

Being a Pilot myself, I am into aviation (not to mention where I work)

This is great news, faster, quieter aircraft are always welcome!

[Joe Shmoe]

So when you picking me up in one of these new Jets?

[ranjith]

Tom,

That is simply amazing! I'm quite enthusiastic about new technologies in the world of aviation and this Gulfstream Whisper is quite something. Is there a link where I could read about it more, in detail so to speak? I'm curious as to how you guys turned the N-wave to a smoother sine type wave.

On a side note, it mentions that the SASSII uses hi-fidelity speakers.... Klipsch by any chance? []

Ranjith

[DrWho]

way cool!

so what part do you play in this company? Sounds like a lot of fun

[Tom Adams]

way cool!

so what part do you play in this company? Sounds like a lot of fun

I'm the guy that tells folks to......

GET OFF DA F*CKIN" GRASS!!

LOL......

Seriously though, I'm a Project Manufacturing Engineer mostly assigned to new product development. Right now I'm doing a stint as part of a new manufacturing software implementation team (we're going paperless for the shop floor and will soon be an all digital paperless process with engineering design & build).

And in my spare time, I spend my wife's income on the HT room.

Tom

[IndyKlipschFan]

Isn't it great to work for a company on the leading edge.. wayyyy cool !!!!!

[Cal Blacksmith]

Ben there, done that, years ago we went paperless with work stations

all over the shop floor. We now generate MUCH more paper than we ever

did........ GO figure[]

[DrWho]

Ben there, done that, years ago we went paperless with work stations all over the shop floor. We now generate MUCH more paper than we ever did........ GO figure[]

lol!

My dad got sick of computer programming and totally changed careers, going into the auditing industry (slow mundane work with numbers...still dunno what he finds attractive about that). He got sick of the paper and decided to go paperless and now they're pumping out normally 9 month audits in 3 weeks, and finding more in the process! (while also providing more jobs, which is an added plus for the big economy picture). Ironically, their paper flow tripled from the conversion! 3 or 4 printers running a good 50% of every day. And sadly the town they're in doesn't have a recycling program...

Btw, he does profit recovery auditing....so he's one of the good guys trying to find money that falls between the cracks. So much for getting out of the programming industry []

[D-MAN]

Going paperless only works when you can email the results to someone else and THEY print it out!

As for the silent-boom, I'll believe THAT when I don't hear it!

DM

[Colin]

very cool, thanks for posting, I will remember your experise in all things LOUD![]

what no pictures at site?

looks like a long tail I bet...

[Ray Garrison]

The increase in paperwork when you go to a (supposedly) paperless office using advanced IT solutions is actually easy to understand.

Picture the amount of information you are wigetizing as a big sphere. The interiour of the sphere represents the information; the surface of the sphere represents the amount of paper you generate in the course of manipulating that information. As the sphere expands, the volume of information goes up with the cube of the radius while the surface area increases with the square.

You are processing much more information, and the porportional amount of paperwork required increasingly decreases.

[D]

[Mighty Favog]

I just sent the top story to my brother. Engineer (vibration locating and killing) for General Electric Aircraft Engines: Cincinnati, OH.

[customsteve01]

Thats great news Tom. Just opens the door for so many more A/C designs.

We just switched to a new computer system here at work and it is a joke. I takes less time to do the work on paper and right now we are doing both. You do the job the old way with the paperwork and then have to turn around and do it the longer way in the computer, and they have no plans of getting rid of the paper way in the near future. And to top this off the new system does not communicate with the other programs that we use either. So we have to keep up with everything in multiple computer systems too. They had high hopes for this new program and sunk way too much money into it to be able to scrap it, so now we are stuck with it. Other than the few people that were on the team working with the developers I do not know anyone that like the new program. It is not user friendly at all.

Sorry I didn't mean to go off on the deep end there.

Steve

[DrWho]

That happend at my dad's work too....they were using a custom built

program (called SureFind) and some top executives decided that it would

help boost stock sales if they were to announce a new and better

software approach....my dad got sucked into the testing aspect of the

development and he hated every second of it (was even thinking of

quiting and going into construction!). To make a long story short the

new program had 1% the functionality of the old one, crashed half the

time, and didn't work with any of the previous models or other software

on the systems. It took him 2 years to convince the execs that it was a

crappy direction to take the company. In fact, his audit center decided

to stick with the old tool and were pumping out 800% better profit

rates compared to the super centers running the new software.....the

stockholders caught wind of the situation and finally voted to go back

to the old way.

Upper management never knows anything about computer and all it takes

is some idiot programmer fresh outta college with good deceptive sales

skill to sell a job....I'm not sure what other colleges are doing, but

it royally ticks off the profs here at uiuc and they are constantly

drilling us to stick to proper programming techniques. There is no

reason that new software should have so many problems other than pure

incompetance of the people writing the progam.

lol, sorry for ranting...

I was curious though, what is the idea behind this anti-boom effect? just a different wing shape?

[Seadog]

That is a very interesting development. I can remember sonic booms (when I was a young kid) that would rattle the windows! I'm sure all were military aircraft (pre-Concord days).

So when can we expect FedEx coast-to-coast same day deliveries???

[DizRotus]

You and Gulfstream should be justifiably proud. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Not to steal your thunder, or boom, but that impressive accomplishment reminds me of aircraft related work my father (mechanical engineer) did for General Electric in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Evandale, Ohio in the late 50s.

He worked for the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Division (ANPD) of GE. Strangely enough, someone in the government decided that, while the country might need a good 5 watt amplifier, it didnt need nuclear powered aircraft. All funding for the project was terminated.

My father was disappointed by the inability to see the project to fruition. He decided that defense related work was too uncertain, so he went to work for Brunswick. His name is included on the patent for the automatic scorekeeper.

My father told me that a nuclear powered aircraft was feasible. Most people were intuitively concerned that it would be a flying A-bomb; it would not. The real design hurdle was the hot exhaust; hot as in radioactive, not just thermally hotwhich it was also. Its hard to believe that a nuclear powered aircraft was ever considered.

My unusually eccentric younger sister was conceived during the GE ANPD days. We always suspected the deleterious effects that radiation might have on gametes might be part of the explanation.

[johnyholiday]