1. What is SAI and what does it stand for?
SAI is the acronym for Supersonic Aerospace International LLC.   In 2000, J. Michael Paulson founded Supersonic Aerospace International to fulfill his late father’s (Allen Paulson, founder and former CEO of Gulfstream) vision of routine quiet supersonic passenger travel.   In May 2001, SAI hired Lockheed Martin’s famed ’Skunk Works’ to design and build a revolutionary quiet supersonic passenger aircraft, known as “QSST.”

2. What is QSST and what does it stand for?
QSST stands for “Quiet Supersonic Transport.”   It is a revolutionary supersonic jet aircraft that SAI has developed with Lockheed Martin’s ’Skunk Works’ over the last 6 years.   QSST with its “quiet” technology will transform transcontinental and intercontinental supersonic travel while meeting, or exceeding, all current and anticipated environmental standards.

3. Why did SAI choose to work with Lockheed Martin’s ’Skunk Works’?
Lockheed Martin was placed under contract by SAI to apply their "world renowned" supersonic technology expertise toward the development of a feasible quiet aircraft design.   Lockheed Martin has over 60 years of experience in design and production of amazing jet aircraft, specializing in supersonic aircraft design.

4. Lockheed Martin’s primary business is military design and production.   What do they know about building a commercial passenger jet, or business jet?
Lockheed Martin has designed several successful commercial aircraft over its history, including the L-1011 “TriStar” airliner, and built one of the first jets ever produced for business travel, the "JetStar," that is still flying today after nearly 50 years of service.   Lockheed Martin is under contract to SAI to develop an aircraft design based on Lockheed Martin’s vast expertise in supersonic design and flight, and an international consortium will likely build the QSST, with a primary OEM manufacturer.

5. What sets the SAI project apart from competitors’ projects?
QSST is the only jet with a breakthrough, patented design, pioneered by ’Skunk Works’, to make it possible to fly supersonic speed over populated areas, and in compliance with current or proposed airport and environmental regulations.   In addition, QSST is the only known supersonic passenger and business jet designed and engineered to utilize conventional materials and manufacturing techniques.

6. What is so special about the design of your aircraft, and why is your design considered revolutionary?
QSST uses patented innovative aerodynamic shaping and employs a patented inverted "V-tail" design.   These design elements are covered by 22 patent applications that are instrumental in the significant reduction of QSST’s sonic signature.   Only QSST will fly at twice the speed of current commercial passenger and business jets using a “shaped sonic signature.”   QSST will have 'supercruise’ sound levels that are so low that SAI believes QSST will be capable of receiving governmental approval for supersonic flight over land and populated areas without causing objection from the general public.   The “QSST” will have a “shaped sonic signature” less than 1/100th of the “sonic boom” created by the recently retired Concorde.

7. Is QSST ready to be built?
Yes, though there still is much design work to be completed and in assembling the international consortium that will build the aircraft, based on current program time schedules, QSST will be ready for flight in 2013, with certification for service and customer delivery in 2015.

8. What are the benefits of building QSST for the public?
In addition to the technological advancement of aviation, faster travel provided by QSST will allow a wide variety of improvements in future governmental, commercial and business passenger transportation, from facilitating international diplomacy, to supporting global negotiations and deal closure, to managing medical emergencies such as organ transplants and critical patient delivery, including delivery of time-critical supplies.   Travel time can be cut in half to just about anywhere in the world.   QSST is also an important industrial (and employment) opportunity for the U.S. and international firms that will lead the effort, and will participate in the consortium that builds its systems and structures.   The “quiet” technology that produces QSST will have environmentally sound applicability to other new aircraft, including future commercial airliners and military aircraft.

9. How fast and how far can QSST fly?
QSST can fly at speeds of Mach 1.6 to 1.8, which is 1056 to 1,188 miles per hour, with a non-stop range that will exceed 4,000 nautical miles, or over 4,600 statute miles.

10. Can you give me an example of actual time saved on a trip?
Chicago to Rome is currently about 8.3 flight hours in a large cabin business jet.   With QSST flying Mach 1.6, the trip is only 4.5 flight hours, saving 3.8 hours.   A flight from Seattle to Tokyo is currently about 9.5 flight hours in a commercial aircraft, and in QSST it will be under 5 flight hours, a timesaving of well over 4 hours.

11. How many passengers can QSST hold?
QSST can accommodate up to 12 passengers with executive level comfort in a cabin with over 6 feet of headroom, a spacious galley, lavatory and baggage space comparable to today’s large-cabin business jets.   A high-density configuration can accommodate up to 14 passengers, and a stretched version is being studied that could accommodate as many as 20 to 25 passengers.

12. How high will QSST fly?
QSST will typically cruise at altitudes of 40,000 to 60,000 feet, with an anticipated initial cruise altitude of 47,000 feet at maximum weight.

13. Besides completing the overall design, have engines been developed and are they ready to be put in place?
SAI with Lockheed Martin has engaged all three of the premier engine builders, General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls-Royce that have each provided new "state-of-the-art" engine design concepts to meet QSST’s thrust requirements of approximately 33,000 pounds of thrust per engine.   SAI will select an engine for QSST sometime in 2008.

14. How do you know the engine selected for QSST will meet jet propulsion emission standards?
The selected engine will come from one of the three competing engine design concepts submitted by General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls-Royce.   Each company has integrated the latest “state-of-the-art” technologies into their engine design concepts that will meet and exceed the latest emission and noise standards.

15. You have indicated that the sound level produced by QSST’s sonic signature is low enough to allow supersonic flight over the U.S.   How low is low enough?
Lockheed Martin’s advanced design reduces QSST’s sonic signature to a sound level between the interior of a car at 70 miles per hour and normal talking levels - approximately .3 to .5 pounds per square foot, which is less than 1/100th that of the “Concorde.”

16. Will QSST meet governmental aircraft standards?
QSST will be certified to the latest FAR standards by utilizing “state-of-the-art” airframe and engine technologies that will meet or exceed all current and anticipated global governmental and FAA aircraft flight certification, sound and environmental standards.   QSST will be certified to the latest “Stage 4” airport noise standards and not require “afterburning” engines, thus producing low emissions and low noise.

17. Is new manufacturing material being developed for QSST?
Lockheed Martin’s design team has overcome significant engineering challenges to develop QSST without needing any breakthrough materials or manufacturing technology.

18. Will QSST be able to operate from smaller regional airports?
Yes, with an anticipated balanced field length of less than 7,500 feet at its maximum take-off weight for a range of over 4,000 nautical miles, the QSST will be able to operate out of most regional and business airports around the world.

19. What is the projected price of QSST?
QSST’s projected price is expected to be $80 million (U.S.) per aircraft in today’s dollars.

20. What is the development cost to bring QSST to market?
The QSST program’s development cost is estimated to be around $2.5 billion dollars, which will include three production flight test aircraft and two static testing aircraft..

21. What are the weight and dimensions of the QSST, and how do they compare to current commercial and business jet aircraft?
The QSST has a maximum weight of 153,000 pounds, is 132.1 feet long, has a wingspan of 63 feet, and an overall height of 21.3 feet.   By comparison, the Gulfstream 550 has a maximum weight of 91,000 pounds is 96.4 feet in length, has a wingspan of 93.5 feet, and a overall height of 25.8 feet.   The Boeing Business Jet (Boeing 737-700) has a maximum weight of 154,500 pounds, is 110.2 feet in length, has a wingspan of 117.4 feet, and an overall height of 41.3 feet.

22. Who will buy and use the QSST?
QSST will be purchased and utilized by global governments, business entities and key individual leaders that require a quantum leap in productivity in minimizing travel time to better manage and get more accomplished with their global relationships, assets and opportunities.