‘Quiet’ supersonic jet ready to debut
Lockheed Martin Corp and the US space agency are preparing to give the public a sneak peek of a plane that could pave the way for airlines to dramatically speed up flights. The X-59, to be unveiled on Friday afternoon local time in Palmdale, California, has been designed to fly faster than the speed of sound — about 760 miles per hour at sea level — but with much less noise. When planes break the sound barrier — known as Mach 1 — a loud and continuous sonic boom is created that can shatter windows on the ground. The US banned civilian aircraft reaching this speed over land in 1973. Lockheed Martin won a contract in 2018 valued at about $250m to build a demonstrator plane, which has room for one pilot and is powered by a General Electric F414 engine, to help overcome this hurdle. The aircraft is designed to reach 1.5 times the speed of sound, while reducing a sonic boom to a weak thump with its v-shaped wing and elongated nose. The company originally had expected to fly the X-59 in 2021. The overall project, including testing, will cost about $632m over eight years, NASA said. If the X-59 is successful and then applied to commercial aviation, flight times could be reduced dramatically. Lockheed has said the plane will reach speeds of 925 mph, far surpassing today’s single-aisle passenger jets that top out at about 550 mph.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2024-01-15/general/2018quiet2019-supersonic-jet-ready-to-debut
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/logo.png
‘Quiet’ supersonic jet ready to debut
Lockheed Martin Corp and the US space agency are preparing to give the public a sneak peek of a plane that could pave the way for airlines to dramatically speed up flights. The X-59, to be unveiled on Friday afternoon local time in Palmdale, California, has been designed to fly faster than the speed of sound — about 760 miles per hour at sea level — but with much less noise. When planes break the sound barrier — known as Mach 1 — a loud and continuous sonic boom is created that can shatter windows on the ground. The US banned civilian aircraft reaching this speed over land in 1973. Lockheed Martin won a contract in 2018 valued at about $250m to build a demonstrator plane, which has room for one pilot and is powered by a General Electric F414 engine, to help overcome this hurdle. The aircraft is designed to reach 1.5 times the speed of sound, while reducing a sonic boom to a weak thump with its v-shaped wing and elongated nose. The company originally had expected to fly the X-59 in 2021. The overall project, including testing, will cost about $632m over eight years, NASA said. If the X-59 is successful and then applied to commercial aviation, flight times could be reduced dramatically. Lockheed has said the plane will reach speeds of 925 mph, far surpassing today’s single-aisle passenger jets that top out at about 550 mph.<br/>
