The first details of the design of the future supersonic passenger aircraft C949 of the state-owned Chinese aircraft manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China have appeared in the Chinese industry journal Acta Aeronautica Sinica. The C949 will fly slightly slower than the legendary Concorde, but will do so much quieter, which significantly complicates work on the first supersonic aircraft. However, the C949 is not ready yet.
According to COMAC's plans, the supersonic passenger aircraft C949 should be put into operation by 2049. It is planned as a gift for the centenary of the Communist Party of China. But it is not just about the holiday gift. It is obvious that the development and production of a civil aircraft for flights at speeds significantly higher than the speed of sound requires a lot of time and money.
At the same time, the world is experiencing a revival of interest in civil flights at supersonic speeds. The history of Concorde and TU-144 can be revived at a new technological level, taking into account all the shortcomings of the first generation of supersonic passenger aircraft. In particular, new designs of supersonic civil aircraft from NASA's X-59 aircraft to Boom Supersonic and others, including the Chinese COMAC C949, are a struggle to reduce noise levels during flight and save fuel.
The contours of the COMAC C949 are designed to suppress shock waves generated when breaking the sound barrier and noise generated when flying at supersonic speeds. This is the same elongated nose and special profile of the midsection, which are common to all such designs. In addition, AI must participate in the control of the aircraft in the air to react quickly to the “extreme nonlinearity of aerodynamics and compensate for the loss of stability in the event of a side impact“. For example, the COMAC C949 will have seven fuel tanks, 42 tons of fuel, between which the fuel will be constantly redistributed to maintain the overall center of gravity.
The COMAC C949 aircraft will be impossible, the designers say, unless they can create engines optimized for flight at different speeds. In cruise mode, the aircraft will be able to accelerate to Mach 1.6, and in economy mode at an altitude of 16 km it will accelerate to Mach 1.7. "Concordes" reached speeds of approximately Mach 2. However, the flight noise of the COMAC C949 will be 20 times lower than that of the "Concordes", according to the company's engineers. This will allow the COMAC C949 to fly over populated areas, which was forbidden for the Concorde aircraft.