Gulfstream develops new technologies for supersonic jet

Gulfstream Aerospace has made further advances toward its goal of developing a “quiet” supersonic business jet.

According to new U.S. patent applications first made public in 2018, Savannah, Ga.-based Gulfstream says it has found a way to control the magnitude of a sonic boom caused by an aircraft traveling beyond the speed of sound. In addition, Gulfstream says it’s developed a new propulsion system for a supersonic aircraft.

Gulfstream has been working for years to develop a supersonic business jet. Atlanta Business Chronicle reported two years ago that the company had developed a “Quiet Spike,” a retractable nose tip that reduces the noise of a sonic boom. Gulfstream won a patent on the technology on July 29 2014.

In recent years, Gulfstream, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, has filed patents for engine design to hush the sonic boom and boost propulsion. Read more about Gulfstream’s supersonic technology program here.

Gulfstream’s new technique for controlling the magnitude of sonic booms works by counteracting the physical forces that cause wings to twist and the distribution of “lift forces” on an aircraft to change. One way that it works is by moving fuel into and out of wings, moving the wings, and counteracting the twisting of wings.