X-51a hypersonic waverider closer to flight

[docm]

Link....<br /><br />Pic of X-1 demonstrator engine firing and the X-51a itself below.<br /><br /><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p><b>Successful Design Review And Engine Test Bring Boeing X-51A Closer To Flight</b><br /><br />Boeing's X-51A WaveRider Scramjet Engine Demonstrator recently completed a Critical Design Review (CDR) and fired its engine for the first time -- two major program milestones necessary for first flight. The X-51A program, managed by the Air Force Research Laboratory Propulsion Directorate, is a consortium of the U.S. Air Force, DARPA, NASA, Boeing and Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne to demonstrate hypersonic flight capability.<br /><br />Held last week in West Palm Beach, Fla., the CDR allowed government and industry officials to review and validate the vehicle's design, assembly, integration and flight test plan. The review is a critical part of the program where specifications are verified to indicate that the vehicle's design has matured to its requirements. Procurements, manufacturing and assembly processes also are established.<br /><br />During the successful firing of the Pratt and Whitney X-1 demonstrator engine, test engineers used a Full Authority Digital Engine Controller to simulate flight conditions at Mach 5 air speed. Test of the hydrocarbon-fueled scramjet engine also demonstrated a closed-loop thermal management system that cools engine hardware and regulates fuel for the engine's combustor. The X-1 is the first of two ground test engines proposed for the program.<br /><br />The successful completion of the CDR and X-1 ground demonstration indicates that the X-51A program is on track to proceed with its first flight tests in 2009.<br /><br />"The CDR and engine test are key validation points for the X-51A program," said George Muellner, president of Boeing Advanced Systems</p></blockquote> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[docm]

X-51a pic.... <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[qso1]

Lookin forward to that. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>

 

[spacelifejunkie]

Cool pic!! Can't wait to see one fly.<br /><br /><br />SLJ

 

[publiusr]

Now this is why I wanted something like Energiya for so often. A side mount HLLV can have foam problems--but any piggyback vehicle will have those as well and they can be sorted out.<br /><br />What a side mount HLLV gives you is a CaLV and a hypersonic boilerplate launcher.<br /><br />Side mount allows outsized payloads to be carrieed aloft--like a near orbiter sized scramjet boilerplate--a real airframe test vehicle rather than an ingot.