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.