Jet Breaks Hypersonic Record: X 51A Waverider Reaches Mach 6 Speed
May 28th, 2010 - 7:01 pm ICT by GDBy Ranjan Bhaduri
California, May 28, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The X-51A Waverider, an experimental aircraft belonging to the US Air Force has made a new record by reaching the speed of mach 6. The craft achieved a speed that is truly magical for any aircraft it flew six times faster than sound for duration of 3 minutes and 20 seconds, as it has been reported. The X-51A Waverider cruise missile is powered by scramjet technology. The test run was conducted over the Pacific Ocean as the US army has confirmed. It took place on Wednesday. The sources from the Air Force revealed that the X-51A Waverider was lifted by a B-52 plane to a high altitude and it was launched near the southern California coast.
The last scramjet record was set only for 12 seconds. The US Air Force officials have called the flight of the aircraft as historic. The officials said that the experimental aircraft achieved a number of targets set in its debut hypersonic mission. They even compared the flight of the aircraft to the progress in aircraft technology made after the Second World War. The aircraft encountered some glitches but they were not major and can be taken care of the officials said.
The X-51A program is the result of collaboration between Pratt and Whitney, DARPA, the Boeing Company, NASA and USAF. The X-51A Waverider built by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and the Boeing Phantom Works uses a blend of specially developed jet fuel and air to reach extreme speeds. The video of the test flight of the X-51A Waverider is now available in the internet. The aircraft will be used for more tests in near future.
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Tags: air force officials, aircraft technology, B-52, boeing company, boeing phantom works, cruise missile, experimental aircraft, extreme speeds, faster than sound, high altitude, jet fuel, pratt and whitney, ranjan, rocketdyne, second world war, southern california coast, test flight, us air force, us army, waverider