# US 11,441,517 B2 · Supersonic jet aircraft

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- Number: US 11,441,517 B2
- Document ID: US11441517B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/658,832
- Filed: 2019-10-21
- Published: 2020-04-30
- Granted: 2022-09-13
- Earliest claimed: 2018-10-24
- Assignees: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
- Applicants: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
- Inventors: Michael O Hales; Stephen J Bradbrook
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11441517B2

## CPC

- B64C 30/00: Supersonic type aircraft
- B64D 27/12: within, or attached to, wings
- B64D 27/14: within, or attached to, fuselages
- B64D 27/18: within, or attached to, wings
- B64D 27/20: within, or attached to, fuselages
- B64D 31/06: actuated automatically
- B64D 33/02: of combustion air intakes
- F02K 7/02: the jet being intermittent, i.e. pulse-jet
- B64D 2033/026: {for supersonic or hypersonic aircraft}
- B64D 2033/0273: {for jet engines}
- Y02T 50/40: Weight reduction
- B64C: AEROPLANES; HELICOPTERS
- B64D: EQUIPMENT FOR FITTING IN OR TO AIRCRAFT; FLIGHT SUITS; PARACHUTES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF POWER PLANTS OR PROPULSION TRANSMISSIONS IN AIRCRAFT
- F02K: JET-PROPULSION PLANTS (features of jet-propulsion plants common to gas-turbine plants, air intakes or fuel supply control of air-breathing jet-propulsion plants F02C7/00, F02C9/00)
- Y02T: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION

## Abstract

A supersonic jet aircraft and a method of operating the same. The supersonic jet aircraft having at least three turbofan engines and an engine management computer. A first engine of the at least three turbofan engines is configured to be de-activatable during flight to move from an operational state in which it provides thrust to an operational state in which it stops providing thrust. Other engines of the at least three turbofan engines are configured to provide sufficient thrust to the supersonic jet aircraft when the first engine is de-activated such that the aircraft can perform a supersonic climb operation and/or a supersonic cruise operation.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A supersonic jet aircraft comprising:
at least three turbofan engines that each have identical turbofan engine cores, the at least three turbofan engines being configured to provide thrust to the supersonic jet aircraft to perform subsonic flight operations and two of the at least three turbofan engines being configured to provide supersonic flight operations, the at least three turbofan engines including:
a first engine configured to be de-activatable during flight to move from a first operational state in which the first engine provides thrust to a second operational state in which the first engine stops providing thrust, the first engine having a non-supersonic inlet, and
the other engines of the at least three turbofan engines configured to provide thrust to the supersonic jet aircraft when the first engine is de-activated such that the supersonic jet aircraft performs a supersonic climb operation or a supersonic cruise operation; and
an engine management computer configured to:
command thrust from the first engine during the subsonic flight operations of the supersonic jet aircraft; and
automatically de-activate the first engine when the subsonic flight operations are complete.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The supersonic jet aircraft of claim 1, wherein the first engine is further configured to be re-activatable during flight to move back to the first operational state in which the first engine provides thrust.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The supersonic jet aircraft of claim 1, wherein the at least three turbofan engines are provided in a tri-jet configuration.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The supersonic jet aircraft of claim 1, wherein the first engine is mounted within a fuselage of the supersonic jet aircraft.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The supersonic jet aircraft of claim 1, wherein only three turbofan engines are included.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The supersonic jet aircraft of claim 1, further comprising one or more doors configured to:
in a first position, allow air flow into an inlet of the first engine, and
in a second position, block air flow into the inlet of the first engine.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The supersonic jet aircraft of claim 1, wherein an air inlet for the first engine is an S-duct air inlet, a bifurcated air inlet, or a pitot air intake.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The supersonic jet aircraft of claim 1, wherein each of the at least three turbofan engines has a bypass ratio of no more than 3.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

A method of operating the supersonic jet aircraft of claim 1, the method including the steps of:
completing a subsonic flight operation of the supersonic jet aircraft, in which each of the at least three turbofan engines is operated to obtain thrust therefrom;
de-activating the first engine of the at least three turbofan engines such that the first engine stops providing thrust; and
after the first engine is de-activated, performing a supersonic climb operation or a supersonic cruise operation using the thrust obtained from only the remaining operating turbofan engines.