TOP Gun pilots who will be the first to take off in an experimental supersonic aircraft have inspected the jet before historic test flight.
NASA‘s X-59 quiet supersonic plane was finally fully unveiled on Friday, with hopes it could pave the way for flights from New York to London in 1.5 hours.
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Now the test pilots, Nils Larson, Jim “Clue” Less, and Dan “Dog” Canin, can be seen inspecting the newly-painted X-59 when it sat on the ramp at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California, in December.
The aircraft made the move to the paint barn on November 14, 2023 in order to add a cosmetic value and a signature NASA logo with red accents on the wings.
The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which seeks to solve one of the major barriers to supersonic flight over land by making sonic booms quieter.
With its unique design, including a 38-foot-long nose, the X-59 was built to demonstrate the ability to fly supersonic while reducing noise disruption.
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The supersonic passenger plane aims to fly faster than the speed of sound, at almost twice as fast as Concorde.
For context, Concorde had a maximum cruising speed of 1,354 miles per hour, or Mach 2.04.
In a social media post on Saturday, NASA said: “Our X-59 aircraft, which will reduce sonic booms to quieter sonic “thumps,” has been unveiled.
“The X-59 now moves closer to its first flight and one step closer toward potentially making commercial supersonic flight over land a reality.”
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They further explained how the aircraft works, saying: ” The aircraft’s sleek design means shock waves don’t merge to make a loud, disruptive sound.
“Instead, the waves stay separated and rapidly weaken. While the plane is not a prototype for future aircraft, manufacturers could apply its quiet supersonic technologies.”
After Lockheed Martin pilots conduct initial subsonic flight tests in 2024, NASA pilots are set to conduct supersonic flight tests over yet-to-be-selected communities across the United States.
NASA will provide that data to regulators which could potentially adjust current rules that prohibit commercial supersonic flight over land.
“Surveys from these flyovers could inform regulators on how to reopen the skies to commercial supersonic flight,” NASA added.
Nasa said in August they have identified potential passenger markets in about fifty established routes that connect cities.
In 2023, the space agency investigated the business case for supersonic passenger air travel aboard aircraft that could theoretically travel between Mach 2 and Mach 4 (1,535-3,045 mph at sea level).
By comparison, today’s larger airliners cruise at roughly 600 mph, or about 80 per cent of the speed of sound.
This comes after Aviation company Boom Supersonic announced its ambitious plans of providing flights from New York to London in 3.5 hours by 2029.
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The company’s B-1 experimental prototype is approaching the final stages of its ground testing with test pilot of the Boom Overture jet revealing the most thrilling parts of his one-of-a-kind job.
In the meantime, American Airlines confirmed its partnership with the company when they purchased 20 supersonic planes from Boom Supersonic back in 2022.
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