Self Loading Freight
14th Dec 2007, 01:25
This might not be quite Tech Log, but it is interesting aviation technology in the making (doubtless the mods will move it to a better home if need be!).
Seems that materials science has been advancing quietly in the background, and various tests to prove the viability of Mach 6+ engines are looking promising.
From a PopSci article titled The Hypersonic Age is Near (http://www.popsci.com/popsci/aviationspace/a3bfe2e6fb5c6110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html)
"[...] With any luck, sometime in 2009, the X51-A will shatter all previous records for sustained scramjet ignition. The PWR team imagines that a B-52 bomber will take off from Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert, head toward the coast and, at 45,000 feet, drop the X-51A from the plane. A solid-fuel rocket attached to the X-51A will fire, blasting it up to 60,000 feet and past Mach 4.5, and then drop off to let the scramjet ignite. For five minutes, the scramjet will accelerate the X-51A to a peak speed past Mach 6 and an altitude above 80,000 feet. Then it will fly into the Pacific, its data safely telemetered to engineers on the ground. The test will also mark the moment when scramjets move from flash-in-the-pan science experiments to useful tools. "This is an airplane," Berger emphasizes, "not just something where you light a scramjet and fire it and see where it goes. This is really beyond something you might do for a weapon application. The whole idea is to prove the practicality of a free-flying, scalable, scramjet-powered vehicle. [...]"
Not sure there'll be anything for pilots to do in this brave new world. If something goes wonky at Mach 6 and 80k feet...
R
Seems that materials science has been advancing quietly in the background, and various tests to prove the viability of Mach 6+ engines are looking promising.
From a PopSci article titled The Hypersonic Age is Near (http://www.popsci.com/popsci/aviationspace/a3bfe2e6fb5c6110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html)
"[...] With any luck, sometime in 2009, the X51-A will shatter all previous records for sustained scramjet ignition. The PWR team imagines that a B-52 bomber will take off from Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert, head toward the coast and, at 45,000 feet, drop the X-51A from the plane. A solid-fuel rocket attached to the X-51A will fire, blasting it up to 60,000 feet and past Mach 4.5, and then drop off to let the scramjet ignite. For five minutes, the scramjet will accelerate the X-51A to a peak speed past Mach 6 and an altitude above 80,000 feet. Then it will fly into the Pacific, its data safely telemetered to engineers on the ground. The test will also mark the moment when scramjets move from flash-in-the-pan science experiments to useful tools. "This is an airplane," Berger emphasizes, "not just something where you light a scramjet and fire it and see where it goes. This is really beyond something you might do for a weapon application. The whole idea is to prove the practicality of a free-flying, scalable, scramjet-powered vehicle. [...]"
Not sure there'll be anything for pilots to do in this brave new world. If something goes wonky at Mach 6 and 80k feet...
R