Engine And Installation Configurations For A Silent Aircraft

The Silent Aircraft Initiative is a research projec t funded by the Cambridge-MIT Institute aimed at reducing aircraft noise to the point where it is imperceptible in the urban environments around airp orts. The aircraft that fulfils this objective must also be economically competitive with conventional aircraft of the future and therefore fuel consumption is a key consideration for the design. This paper identifies some key features of a propulsion system that can achiev e the Silent Aircraft noise target and explores the relat ionships between the factors that affect fuel consumption. I t also considers the different demands made of an engine a t different operating conditions in the flight envelo pe. These studies are used to propose viable engine and installation configurations that could meet the Sil ent Aircraft noise requirements. The findings point tow ards a multiple turbofan system with a variable geometry exhaust and a novel, embedded installation.