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The United States' Supersonic Transport (SST) program was initiated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 1963. The program aimed for a Mach 2+ aircraft capable of carrying approximately 300 passengers with intercontinental range. The US aimed to outstrip the British Aerospace/Aerospatiale Concorde and Soviet Tu-144 programs through the use of advanced technology and materials. By the late 1960s contracts had been let to prime contractors Boeing (airframe) and General Electric (engines) but the program was four to five years behind the European and Soviet efforts, which had graduated to supersonic flight testing while the US program had yet to pass beyond the mockup stage. In 1971 the slow pace of technical development, environmental concerns, high costs, and questions over the commercial feasibility of the aircraft led Congress to cancel the program.

 Identifier

NASM.2005.0049

Creator

General Electric Company

Date

bulk 1963-1971

Provenance

William L. Rowe, Gift, 2005

Extent

0.18 Cubic feet ((1 box))

Archival Repository

National Air and Space Museum Archives

Scope and Contents

Materials in this collection relating to the General Electric GE4 SST engine include the following: Master Engine Cross-section, GE4 Tool Flow Sheet, documents relating to production and assembly of the GE4, documents relating to the National Air and Space Museum's acquisition of the GE4 SST engine, miscellaneous draft correspondence concerning the GE4 and other General Electric projects, a drawing of the GE4 Experimental Bypass Engine, a drawing of GE Lift-Cruise Fan, three drawings of cruise fan engine installation, and Generalized Field Balance Procedure for Jet Engines. Also included is a drawing of a General Electric scramjet engine.

Rights

Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests

Restrictions

No restrictions on access.

Citation

General Electric GE4 Super-Sonic Transport (SST) Engine Collection, Accession number 2005-0049 National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Topics

Supersonic transport planes

High-speed aeronautics

Airplanes -- Motors

General Electric GE4 SST

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Correspondence

Drawings

Reports