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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 c.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.1987.0130

Creator

Friedman, Robert K.

Date

1960-1975

bulk 1962-1965

Provenance

Robert K. Friedman, Gift, 1987, 1987-0130, not NASM

Extent

5.45 Cubic feet ((5 records center boxes) (1 flatbox))

Archival Repository

National Air and Space Museum Archives

Scope and Contents

This collection is the files of Robert K. Friedman (Chief, FAA SST Support Division) on the development of commercial SST capability in the United States. The material consists primarily of technical and research reports, but also press releases, marketing procedures, proposals, assessment and evaluation reports on the entire SST program. The collection also includes material on foreign and U. S. military research, applications of supersonics and sonic booms and marketing and presentation material from Lockheed, Boeing, North American and Convair. This collection also has miscellaneous items including copies of the first FAA anti-hijacking poster, seven open reel audio tapes (one on SST program, six on hijacking), and a set of charts used for demonstration and training on management of aircraft design and procurement.

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

Topics

Concorde, Production Airframe

Concorde (Jet transports)

Aeronautics -- Safety measures

Aircraft industry

Aeronautics, Commercial

Aeronautics

Airplanes -- Design and construction

Aeronautics, Commercial -- United States

Aircraft industry -- United States

Supersonic transport planes

High-speed aeronautics

Tupolev Tu-144 Charger Family

Hijacking of aircraft

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographs

Correspondence

Publications

Charts

Audiotapes

Posters

Press releases

Reports