NASA X-59 “low boom” supersonic aircraft unveiled

[dvs_dave]

Exciting news in supersonic aviation. Whilst it’s been known about for a while, with various images and renderings floating around, the actual aircraft has been officially unveiled at the Lockheed-Martin Skunkworks. Designed to go Mach 1.4 with a sonic boom like “a car door closing”, it’s potentially a real game changer for commercial aviation. No windscreen so fly by cctv is an interesting feature.

Skip to 20:30 for the actual unveiling.

Edited by dvs_dave on Saturday 13th January 17:41

[Cold]

Good to see the Americans are no longer frightened of supersonic commercial flight.

[rodericb]

Cold said:

Good to see the Americans are no longer frightened of supersonic commercial flight.

Okay ummm, righto then....

[dvs_dave]

Cold said:

Good to see the Americans are no longer frightened of supersonic commercial flight.

Britain isn’t what it once was either. Especially in this field.

[Roger Irrelevant]

Absolutely love this - I recently read 'Skunk Works' by Ben Rich (ex-head of Lockheed Martin's special projects division), which really piqued my interest in experimental aircraft. Good to see they're still at it!

[hidetheelephants]

dvs_dave said:

Exciting news in supersonic aviation. Whilst it’s been known about for a while, with various images and renderings floating around, the actual aircraft has been officially unveiled at the Lockheed-Martin Skunkworks. Designed to go Mach 1.4 with a sonic boom like “a car door closing”, it’s potentially a real game changer for commercial aviation. No windscreen so fly by cctv is an interesting feature.

Skip to 20:30 for the actual unveiling.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/live/z0CTvQrGFY0?si=SGok78TiuVspxOac[/youtube]

Direct link in case YouTube embed isn’t working.
https://www.youtube.com/live/z0CTvQrGFY0?si=SGok78...

Scroll forward to 21 minutes if you want to skip the blather. I think they skimped on the dry ice budget.

Edited by hidetheelephants on Saturday 13th January 17:27

[FourWheelDrift]

NASA s X-59 Quiet Supersonic Aircraft Begins Taxi Tests



It's the love child of the Handley Page 115 and the Fairey Delta 2.

Edited by FourWheelDrift on Thursday 17th July 20:35

[bergclimber34]

Looks like a 16 exhaust nozzle?

[havoc]

If someone hasn't nicknamed this plane yet they're missing a golden opportunity:-



(Start at 3:47 if it doesn't automatically take you there)

[cb31]

It's no looker is it?

[JoshSm]

cb31 said:

It's no looker is it?

That was my first thought too, form following function but it's still not what you'd call aesthetically pleasing.

A full scale production version would likely be a bit better proportioned.

[Buzz84]

bergclimber34 said:

Looks like a 16 exhaust nozzle?

I read it somewhere that they have designed it to use as much "off the shelf" components as possible to reduce the complexity and development time.
Landing gear, avionics, engine etc I can't recall what came from what off the top of my head.

[bobthemonkey]

Buzz84 said:

I read it somewhere that they have designed it to use as much "off the shelf" components as possible to reduce the complexity and development time.
Landing gear, avionics, engine etc I can't recall what came from what off the top of my head.

It’s an F414, so presumably reusing a Super Hornet setup.

[768]

cb31 said:

It's no looker is it?

I thought it looked ok, then it turned side on.

[havoc]

768 said:

cb31 said:

It's no looker is it?

I thought it looked ok, then it turned side on.

Quite. Half of the plane is nose.

[Russ35]

It's currently in the air

https://www.flightradar24.com/NASA859/3cdc6c20

[Simpo Two]

What's the point of it? It's not an airliner, it's more like a prototype fighter. Do they wish to avoid hurting the enemy's ears?

[FourWheelDrift]

Simpo Two said:

What's the point of it? It's not an airliner, it's more like a prototype fighter. Do they wish to avoid hurting the enemy's ears?

It's a proof of concept aircraft for future supersonic airliners.

[Eric Mc]

Yes- it’s exploring ways of achieving supersonic speeds for commercial aircraft but minimising the sonic boom,

[eharding]

Simpo Two said:

What's the point of it? It's not an airliner, it's more like a prototype fighter. Do they wish to avoid hurting the enemy's ears?

As the BAC 221 was to Concorde, the X-59 is hoped to be a proof of concept to the next generation of SSTs. The BAC 221 (a rebuilt Fairey Delta) was used to test Concorde's wing section, and this thing is supposed to test techniques to allow overland supersonic transits of the US without annoying everyone by dropping bangs on them.

I can very vaguely remember as a small child falling off my chair in the conservatory of the house my parents had in Truro as a result of an almighty bang from a supersonic test. Would have been 1969, maybe 1968 or early 1970.