X-59 "Quiet" NASA Supersonic Plane Research

This looks like a modified 'spike' method for softening the sonic boom.

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-begins-work-to-build-a-quieter-supersonic-passenger-jet

 

NASA has been working towards quiet supersonic aircraft for quite a while. Nice to see them put some money towards a solution. The "A" in NASA has not gotten a lot of publicity lately, and Langley RC has come up with some great innovations. Among those were area ruling, conical camber, and wingtip fins, the latter of which you see on most late airliners.

 

I remember the 'area rule' issue when I was a kid. I think I remember a picture of the Convair F-102 and F-106 in LIFE magazine...they called it a 'coke bottle' body after area rule fix..

The F-102 was designed to reach a certain speed and absolutely would not do it as first designed.

Had to narrow it at the wings and increase size at the rear.

 

Affirmative, the XF-102 design and YF-102 test aircraft were busts and the YF-102 maxed out at around mach 0.98 and the follow-on YF-102A used both area ruling and conical camber to reach supersonic speeds. The YF-102 really chapped off Convair because the afterburning J-57 easily pushed the F-100 up to supersonic speeds. A major redesign was required.

 

This reminds me of the problem that the 720 had with interference of the fuselage flow and wing root flow that formed a standing shock wave. Fixed with a glove that increased the sweep at the thickest part of the wing and effectively inverted the wing airfoil thus deflecting the flow at the root from over the wing to under the wing. The 720B became a veritable hotrod after that.

 

I believe they also enlarged the intake .

The Deuce looked so kewl.




The first aircraft assigned to the 327th FIS (George / Victorville) had a small-size tail. This was later enlarged.

 

Oct.'19
NASA’s Supersonic X-59 QueSST Coming Together at Famed Factory
https://www.nasa.gov/aero/nasa-supersonic-x59-quesst-coming-together-at-famed-factory

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Aug.'20
NASA Takes Delivery of GE Jet Engine for X-59
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-takes-delivery-of-ge-jet-engine-for-x-59

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July'21
Exclusive look at NASA's low-boom supersonic plane

Jump to 5:30


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Aug.'21
Time-lapse of X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology aircraft (May 2019 - June 2021)



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Sept.'21
X-59 Nose Makes an Appearance
https://www.nasa.gov/aeroresearch/x-59-nose-makes-an-appearance

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X-59 >>> 4 view overview
https://www.nasa.gov/aero/x-59-quesst-overview
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9.2 degrees makes for a pretty shallow touch-down. We flew approaches and landings at 10 degrees AOA and that would not work on this one.

 

Probably non-optimal gear height since they are just using an F-16 gear. Pretty plane though.

 

Typical of an X-plane to use parts from existing aircraft. The Grumman X-29 used the nose from an F-5 and the engine from an F-18.

That is an awfully long nose, and considering how far back the nose gear is, taxiing will be an interesting proposition!

 

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Lockheed Martin X-59 QuessT (Quiet SuperSonic Technology)



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