Going Direct: Coffin Corner for Single-Engine Jets

Isabel Goyer

Tuesday, January 04, 2011 at 07:12 AM ET

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Stratos Aircraft

Key Takeaways:

Stratos Aircraft is pursuing an ambitious single-engine jet design with an engine housed in the fuselage, but faces significant certification hurdles for exceptionally high-altitude operation (41,000 ft) and higher-than-standard stall speeds, alongside critical funding challenges.
The article discusses the complex issue of aircraft noise, acknowledging its appeal to pilots but emphasizing its detrimental effects on hearing, community relations, and business.
Achieving quieter aircraft is a difficult but vital goal, with current efforts focusing on design improvements and sound-dampening materials across various aircraft types, and promising future potential in technologies like electric propulsion.

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While at the 2010 NBAA convention, I stopped by the booth of Stratos Aircraft to check up on the progress the company was making with its eponymous single-engine jet. What I discovered was pretty much exactly what I expected to discover. The company was exceedingly optimistic about the prospects for its jet while admitting there were challenges ahead.

In case you haven’t heard about it, and chances are you haven’t, the Stratos is a single-engine turbofan design – there doesn’t yet exist an actual airplane, but the program appears to be in full swing.