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Air Force Sets Date To Fly Mach-6 Scramjet

Posted by timothy on from the let's-go-dutch-this-time dept.

coondoggie writes "The US Air Force said it was looking to launch its 14-foot long X-51A Waverider on its first hypersonic flight test attempt May 25. The unmanned X-51A is expected to fly autonomously for five minutes, after being released from a B-52 Stratofortress off the southern coast of California. The Waverider is powered by a supersonic combustion scramjet engine, and will accelerate to about Mach 6 as it climbs to nearly 70,000 feet. Once flying, the X-51 will transmit vast amounts of data to ground stations about the flight, then splash down into the Pacific. There are no plans to recover the flight test vehicle, one of four built, the Air Force stated."

6 of 252 comments (clear)

  1. Great step forward by ravenspear · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The next generation in civilian transportation.

    There are no plans to recover the flight test vehicle

    NY to Paris in 30 minutes! However, only one way tickets are allowed.

    1. Re:Great step forward by OrangeCatholic · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Indeed, I never figured out why the Concorde was banned in America. Unless it was purely for economic protectionism. Mythbusters tested sonic booms and they had to fly like 100 feet over a shed to blow out the windows. They started at 1000 feet and got no result. I think the Concorde flew a little higher than that.

    2. Re:Great step forward by settantta · · Score: 5, Interesting

      According to the wikipedia article on the concorde, it was actually quieter than many other models in service at the time.

      I can confirm that.

      At one time I lived directly under the flight path to Darwin Airport (in Australia). That airport is also the local Air Force base and runway, so we had not only Boeing 747s and other passenger planes flying directly overhead at an altitude of less than 500 feet, but we also had Air Force Mirages on the same flight path.

      During the time I lived there, the Concorde visited, landing and taking off twice (or it might have been 3 times). I'll tell you straight, the Concorde made less noise on take-off than the Jumbo (and they were much quieter than the Mirages).

  2. Wait a minute.... by mikesd81 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There are no plans to recover the flight test vehicle, one of four built, the Air Force stated."

    I would suspect that there is some secret stuff in this plane....so unless it plans on breaking up into a huge fireball right before it hits the ocean.....wouldn't it be foolish to drop something like that and not retrieve it?

    --
    That which does not kill me only postpones the inevitable.
    1. Re:Wait a minute.... by Jaysyn · · Score: 4, Interesting

      If it's going to hit the ocean anywhere near Mach 6 (3900+ MPH), it will be a huge fireball. At the very least it will disintegrate.

      --
      There is a war going on for your mind.
  3. Re:Nuke Engines by Darkness404 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Yeah so now every time a plane overshoots a runway we have a radiation leak...

    Nuclear energy is great for things like space travel and for generating electricity. It isn't so great for earth-bound transportation where it could easily leak. Not to mention the restrictions on a plane. Who cares if it can go from New York to Paris in an hour if it won't be able to be landed in Paris due to the fact it has nuclear material...

    --
    Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.