Most U.S. pilots know there’s an FAR restricting a civil aircraft from exceeding the speed of sound over land thanks to the annoying boom that people on the ground experience when one flies nearby. Over the next few months, NASA believes successful wind-tunnel testing of a 9 percent scale model of Lockheed Martin’s X-plane, at speeds up to Mach 1.6, could pave the way for quiet supersonic flight in the not too distance future, making that regulation obsolete.
NASA and Lockheed Martin Believe a Boomless Supersonic Aircraft Is Feasible
Key Takeaways:
- NASA and Lockheed Martin are developing a Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST) X-plane to mitigate loud sonic booms, aiming to make current supersonic flight restrictions over land obsolete.
- Wind-tunnel testing of a 9 percent scale model is underway at NASA's Glenn Research Center to validate the design's ability to produce an unnoticeable shockwave.
- Successful testing and future funding could lead to the final design, construction, and flight testing of a larger low-boom aircraft demonstrator.
Key takeaways sponsored by Aviator Pro | Start Your Training ->
See a mistake? Contact us.
