MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFORD. OREGON
Supersonic Project May Boost Government Industry Programs
WASHINGTON tnr m.... . . -. - - . .
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1963
WASHINGTON (fm Tk
U.S. supersonic transport pro
gram now getting under way
may set a pattern for future
government-industry projects in
this country.
At Senate hearings completed
last week, Dr. Jerome B. Wies
ner, director of the Office of
Science and Technology, said:
"This is a new experience for
the Federal Government, but I
don't think it is the last."
Testifying before the Senate
Commerce Committee's Avia
tion Subcommittee, Wiesner
Oct. 21 endorsed the Federal
Aviation Administration's propo
sal that the Government put up
75 per cent of the estimated $1
billion development cost for a
commercial supersonic transport
to be in use in the 1970s.
For a number of years,
he said, Government support of
research and development was
linked to military needs. But
now, "it is becoming increasing
ly clear that we have the man
power, the capability to to
many things" outside of 0:e
military realm "which the pri
vate sector of the country just
can't pay for, and we are going
to have, I think, increasingly to
ask whether it is ... in the na
tional interest to do something
of this sort . . ."
FAA Administrator Najeeb E.
Halaby told the House Appro
priations Committee in July that
unless the Government put up
the money, - private industry
would be unable to undertake
the project.
He said the Administration
was concerned that if the United
States did not build an SST, the
long - range aircraft market
would be captured by the Brit
ish and French, who are co
operating on the construction of
a 1,450 mph jet liner.
The consequences to the U.S.
balance of payments would be
severe if this happened, he said,
since American airlines would
have to buy the foreign jet.
. There are misgivings about
the project in the U.S. aviation
industry, which is not wholly
convinced that a supersonic
transport is necessary or that it
should invest capital in what
could be an unsuccessful ven
ture. But the pressure of for
eign competition is moving the
program forward in spite of in
dustry foot-dragging.
The FAA's proposal, outlined
by President Kennedy in a June
14 letter to Congress, is- as fol
lows: Private industry would be in
vited to submit bids in a pre
liminary design competition for
an SST which could carry 163
passengers 4,000 miles at speeds
faster than Mach 2.2 (1,450
miles an hour at the plane's
cruising altitude of over 35,000
feet). These specifications were
chosen to make the plane com
petitive with the British-French
Concorde, a Mach 2.2 airliner
with a range of 3,750 miles and
a capacity of 100 passengers.
The winning manufacturers
for the airframe and the engine
would be chosen by May, 1964,
and would then spend a year on
detailed design. Following this,
two flying prototypes would be
built, flight tested and perfect-
To Size 48
9207
34-48
ed. The aim is to have an Amer
ican SST to deliver within a
year of the Concorde, which is
scheduled for delivery in Janu
ary 1970.
Private manufacturing com
panies engaged in the develop
ment would put up 25 per cent
of the cost; the Federal Gov
ernment would put up 75 per
cent (but no more than $750 mil
lion), and would oversee the
project.
If the airlines failed to show
sufficient interest in the SST. or
if the obstacles to producing a
money - making SST appeared
too great to overcome, the Gov
ernment would withdraw from
the project, in effect ending it.
Six manufacturers have told
the FAA that they will compete
in the design competition. These
were three airframe manufac
turers (Boeing Co., the leading
maker of subsonic jet trans
ports, Lockheed Aircraft Corp.
and North American Aviation)
and three engine makers (Pratt
It Whitney division of United
Aircraft Corp., Flight Propul
sion division of General Electric
Co. and Curtis Wright Corp.).
However, three major manu
facturers did not enter the de
sign competition: Convair di
vision of General Dynamics
Corp., Douglas Aircraft Co.
(both of which sustained large
from unsuccessful sub
sonic jets) and McDonnell Air
craft Corp.
One major fear of the airlines
is that every time radically ad
vanced equipment is introduced
by one company, the others will
have to invest in comparable in
novations or lose business. The
rush to buy would then lead to
overcapacity, and the recovery,
depending upon the growth of
air traffic, would probably be
slow. This was the experience
in the changeover from pro
peller planes to jets.
The pressure of technological
competition is illustrated by the
speed with which companies
lined up for the as-yet unde
signed American SST. Starting
with Trans World Airliens, five
airlines signed up between Oct.
h ana Nov. 1 tor early delivery
of 32 SST aircraft, and deposited
advance payments of $3 million.
The competition appears to be
doing as well. United Press In
ternational Nov. 2 reported that
35 Concordes had been ordered,
26 of them by American firms.
The Concorde will cost about
$10 million, but the cost of the
American SST is uncertain. If
built of aluminum, it will cost
about $13 million. But this metal
would limit it to the speed of
the Concorde.
In order to build a swifter
plane, manufacturers will prob
ably have to use an alloy of
steel and titanium, as yet un
developed. The price for a steel
titanium airliner would probab
ly be about $25 million.
Senate Hearings
At the Aviation Subcommit
tee's hearings, both airlines and
manufacturers said it was
doubtful that a commercially
successful airliner could be built
under the terms and timetable
set by the FAA. They suggested
that the Government put up all
of the developement costs, as
the British and French govern
ments have done for the Con
corde. However, Sen. A. S. Mike
Monroney, D-Okla., chairman of
the Aviation Subcommittee said
Oct. 30 that he believed the
three-to-one cost sharing formu
la should not be changed.
The gloomiest assessment of
the SST came from Civil Aero
nautics Board Chairman Alan
S. Boyd, who told the Subcom
m i 1 1 e e that a "substantial
doubt" existed that the aircraft
would help achieve the indus
try's goals of expanded mar
kets, moderate fares and rea
sonable profits with a minimum
of "social problems."
Boyd said sonic boom, created
by planes travelling faster than
sound, might make the plane
unacceptable in many areas of
the world, thus limiting its use
fulness, Its cost, he said, would
make any overcapacity "a kill
er" for domestic airlines.
Boyd said he thought the Con
corde would be "a loser," but
added that American airlines
operating on interna t i o n a 1
routes would be forced to buy
it if an American SST were not
available.
"If they buy It," he said,
a ;
"they may need federal sub
sidies to cover operating losses.
If they don't buy it, they may
lose passengers and need subsi
dies anyway."
(Copyright 1963,
Congressional Quarterly Inc.)
C.
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