Japanese explanation is as follows.
「The US supersonic transport project
Three proposals for a supersonic transport in the United States that have been attracting attention were announced by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration).
In the United States, aircraft manufacturers have begun developing supersonic passenger aircraft for five to six years.
However, the development cost of supersonic transport was so large that every company was hesitant to develop and produce it.
However, at the end of 1962, it was decided to produce a Concorde supersonic transport in the UK and France, so FAA was asked to submit design proposals for the supersonic transport from Boeing, Lockheed, and North American under the order of President Kennedy.
Also, P & W, GE, and Curtiss Wright submitted engine design proposals.
Three proposals for the aircraft were announced by the FAA this time, but the FAA plans to select the best design proposal for the aircraft and engine from the plans of each company by May 1964. (At present, the US government plans to subsidize 75% of development costs.)
As for engines,
it’s believed that P & W has two types of turbofan engine plans, GE has one turbojet engine plan and one turbofan engine plan, and Curtiss Wright has one turbojet engine plan.
Looking at the aircraft drawings of each company, the shape, dimensions, and performance differ considerably among the company plans.
Boeing's proposal uses a variable sweep back angle system for the main wing. The FAA recommended the main wings with a variable sweep back angle system for each company, but this would be a problem in terms of mechanism and operating technology. Boeing has also announced plans to extend the length of the aircraft and install 227 passenger seats.
Lockheed's proposal is about twice as heavy as the Concorde supersonic transport in terms of weight and number of passengers, the largest of the three, and the fastest cruising speed Mach 3.
According to the Lockheed plan, the main wing is a double delta wing without a horizontal tail, and it is considered to increase the number of passengers by increasing the diameter of the fuselage.
The North American proposal has the same canard type of the XB-70,
and does not have a mechanism to improve visibility because the angle of attack during landing does not large.
(same as XB-70 and Douglas 2229, but Sukhoi T-4 is different.
)
The United States supersonic transport development competition is likely to become the biggest topic in the world's aviation in the 1960s.」
I think unknown P&W turbofan engine was a afterburning turbofan engine same as TF30.
What is the type of GE turbofan engine? GE4/J5 base engine?
