New ‘Concorde’ hopes erupt as NASA launches supersonic jet | World | News
NASA’s experimental aircraft, a major milestone in the return of supersonic travel for passengers, makes its first flight on Tuesday, October 28. The X-59 QueSST (Quiet SuperSonic Technology) is uniquely shaped to fly supersonic without evoking a loud sonic boom, a problem that plagued the Anglo-French airliner Concorde.
Designed and built by Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, the aircraft is said to help prepare for the return of supersonic aircraft. According to NASA’s statement website In June 2019, while the X-59 will never carry passengers, it will “possibly launch a new generation of silent supersonic commercial airliners that can fly over land and significantly reduce the time it takes to get you to the US and other countries.” Tuesday’s flight, which included a low-altitude loop at around 240mph, was reportedly planned to check critical onboard systems as well as verify system integration, handling qualifications, avionics and instrumentation.
The first flight also allows the new aircraft to be transported from Palmdale to NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center at nearby Edwards Air Force Base.
After several failed attempts, this milestone now marks the transition from ground tests to airborne operations in NASA’s efforts toward quiet supersonic flight.
First designed in 2016, the Lockheed Martin X-59 Quesst is expected to travel at Mach 1.42 (937mph) at an altitude of 55,000ft. It must be able to reach a maximum speed of Mach 1.5 (990mph) and the aircraft must borrow its landing gear from an F-16. In 2018, it was estimated that the plane would have a sonic boom equivalent to a closing car door (75 EPNdB), startling people and animals on the ground, compared to 105-110 EPNdB for Concorde.
“Aircraft manufacturers may choose to incorporate sonic boom-suppressing technologies developed for the X-59 into future commercial supersonic aircraft designs,” NASA said.
Data collected from X-59 flights will help the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and international regulators evaluate possible changes to existing rules that currently ban supersonic flight by civilians over land. In fact, the FAA is preparing to replace the decades-old ban with new certification standards based on noise. This follows Donald Trump’s executive order in June instructing the FAA to lift the ban and allow supersonic ground flights for civilian aircraft.
Shortly after takeoff, the QueSST jet quickly climbed to the top of Flightradar24’s list of “most followed” aircraft, with tens of thousands of people following its maiden flight before disappearing from the tracking website shortly afterwards.
This news comes after it was revealed that supersonic planes could soon return to the skies, thanks to Boom Supersonic’s new technology. The new aircraft Overture is currently in the testing phase. Overture will travel at Mach 1.7, twice as fast over water, and United Airlines, American Airlines, and Japan Airlines have orders and pre-orders for Overture to fly in their fleets. The plane could carry 60-80 passengers and cruise at an altitude of 60,000 feet, much higher than regular passenger jets.
