Holy jetplane! If I told you that the military is going to be testing a hypersonic jet that can fly at 3,600 mph, would you believe it? That, my friends, is what modern-day technology has come to. According to W.J. Hennigan of the Los Angeles Times, a test is booked for tomorrow, Tuesday, August 13th to deploy the unmanned experimental X-51A WaveRider from the wing of a B-52 bomber. The WaveRider is expected to zip from Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert, to Point Mugu in 300 seconds–two times as long as it’s ever flown at the whopping speed of Mach 6, or 3,600 miles per hour. At that speed, a passenger aircraft could make it from L.A. to New York in 46 minutes. Word!
“Since test pilot Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in 1947, engineers and scientists have dreamed of ever-faster aircraft. Now, they face one of their toughest challenges yet: sustaining hypersonic flight — going five times the speed of sound or more — for more than a few minutes.
In a nondescript hangar at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert, a team of aerospace engineers has been putting the finishing touches on a lightning-quick experimental aircraft designed to fly above the Pacific Ocean at 3,600 mph. A passenger aircraft traveling at that speed could fly from Los Angeles to New York in 46 minutes.”
Click here to check out the X-51A WaveRider’s animated flight and the details of this incredible machine.
Five times the speed of sound = amazing. I am pumped to see actual footage from tomorrow’s flight. Go WaveRider!!
