In 1943, Theodor Von Karman, in response to a request by US Air Force headquarters, claimed that the realization of a supersonic aircraft would have been doable using the right technology and tools. The fear of breaking the "sound barrier" was finally removed in 1947, when the Captain Yaeger flew the Bell X-1 at a speed slightly above Mach 1 for few seconds, producing the famous and long-awaited sonic boom (caused by an impulsive pressure change created by the sonic waves detaching from the aircraft), music for the scientists attending that historical moment, but current nightmare for the 21st Century supersonic vehicles' designers [8].
Since the first wind tunnel investigations on high speed flow over a stationary airfoil (1918), it was clear that when the free stream velocity approached a certain value, a major increase in drag coefficient occurred at exactly what later was characterized as the drag-divergence Mach number. Thanks to the introduction of Shclieren optical system, in 1933, it was possible to state that this aerodynamic phenomenon was mainly due to the presence of regions of supersonic flow over the airfoil consequently terminating in a shock wave, which is the cause of the drag-increasing flow separation downstream the shock [1].
The presence of the wave drag represented the main technical obstacle for the design of supersonic aircraft and, to the same extent, for the improvement of their cruise efficiency. Indeed, the need of source of thrust powerful enough to overcome the increased drag force, embodies a major second technical challenge.
From the 1947 four rocket engines solution of the X-1, to the 1960's state of the art B-58's GE J79 jet engines, the power issue was addressed with increasing sophistication....
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...assessing NASA's high speed research program. 1997; .
6. Owen K. Concorde and the Americans : international politics of the supersonic transport. Washington u.a: Smithsonian Inst. Press; 1997.
7. Plencner RM, Lewis Research Center. Engine technology challenges for the high-speed civil transport plane. [Cleveland, Ohio]; Springfield, Va.: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Lewis Research Center ; National Technical Information Service, distributor; 1998.
8. Rotundo LC. Into the unknown : the X-1 story. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press; 1994.
9 . Lawrence DS. The Initial Decision to Build the Supersonic Transport. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY 1971;30:403-412
10. Iannotta B. Son of Concorde. NEW SCIENTIST 1997
11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_2707
12. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/qsp.htm
The name General Carl ‘Tooey’ Andrew Spaatz has become synonymous with the phrase air power and strategist. Air power has come along way since Wilbur and Orville launched the first airplane in 1902 in the city of Kitty Hawk. Famous engineers have taken the Wright-Brothers design and made great improvements to them while slowly integrating these new powerful means of transportation, weaponry and communication aids into the military. Since the onset of World War I there has been a debate on how to most effectively use these new airplanes in the Army’s collection. Most individuals believed that airplanes should be under control of the Army theater commander, while very few felt that these airplanes should be a separate entity from the Army. One of these few people who believed that the Air Force should be separate is General Spaatz. General Spaatz possessed perseverance, leadership attributes and military knowledge; all factors leading him becoming a substantial proponent of a separate Air Force. Spaatz legacy continues to live on; his leadership skills continue to influence people today as General Spaatz is still able to impact air power in the 21st century.
The Web. 26 Feb. 2014. The "Sputnik". Explorers & Discoverers of the World! Gale, Michael J., 1993.
In 1940, Preston Tucker created the Tucker Aviation Corporation, and wanted to manufacture aircraft and marine engines. He designed a fighter aircraft, the Tucker XP-57, which the U.S.A.A.C. took an interest in. Again, this n...
V-2 rockets and nuclear technology through out the course of World War 2. A secondary theme revolves around the construction of numerous rocket sites built in northern France during the war.
After the war, Yeager continued to serve the newly constituted United States Air Force as a flight instructor and test pilot. In 1947, he was assigned to test the rocket-powered X-1 fighter plane. At the time, no one knew if a fixed-wing aircraft could fly faster than sound, or if a human pilot could survive the experience. Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier on October 14, 1947, only days after cracking several ribs in a horseback riding accident.
Following World War II and the jet engine technology that emerged largely toward its end, aerospace engineers knew well that the technology had great potential for use in the commercial aviation industry. The Comet was the first aircraft to utilize jet propulsion; however, its designers failed to consider the metallurgy of the aircraft’s materials under flight conditions or the consequences of their atypical window design. The aircraft was designed by Britain’s De Havilland Aircraft Company and entered service in May 1952. After a year of service, however, the design issues mentioned above resulted in the failure of several Comet aircraft. Extensive evaluations revealed that repeated pressurization stress on the aircraft’s main cabin had caused its structure to fail.
John F. Kennedy - Presidential Library and Museum. Space Program. 2014. 16 April 2014 .
Heppenheimer, T. (2001). A Brief History Of Flight: From Balloons to Mach 3 and Beyond. Canada: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
As the air flows over the wing producing lift, it grabs onto the wings surface and causes drag. Drag can be measured by the equation D=Cd 1/2 (pV2)S, much like the lift equation. The drag coeficent Cd is found, again, by determining ...
Before learning about the space explorations and all those courageous astronauts, it is crucial to know the genius masterminds of the explorations. Sergei Korolev was the chief Soviet designer and former political prisoner. His budget was small, yet he accomplished so much (Cadbury 129). Of course, his rival is Wernher von Braun, America’s much loved leader of the rocket team. After WWII, von Braun came to America. Few people knew this, but he was an SS officer and member of the Nazi party (Roger 236). Nevertheless, even though von Braun had a horrific past, he developed many launch vehicles for the U.S.
The trials and tribulations of flight have had their ups and downs over the course of history. From the many who failed to the few that conquered; the thought of flight has always astonished us all. The Wright brothers were the first to sustain flight and therefore are credited with the invention of the airplane. John Allen who wrote Aerodynamics: The Science of Air in Motion says, “The Wright Brothers were the supreme example of their time of men gifted with practical skill, theoretical knowledge and insight” (6). As we all know, the airplane has had thousands of designs since then, but for the most part the physics of flight has remained the same. As you can see, the failures that occurred while trying to fly only prove that flight is truly remarkable.
Wilson, D. G., & Korakianitis, T. (1998). The design of high-efficiency turbomachinery and gas turbines (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
(Morgan 67). When the jet engine was thought of back in the 1920's the world
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (1992) Steam Engine Collection. International Mechanical Engineering Heritage Collection. Retrieved 2012 at http://files.asme.org/ASMEORG/Communities/History/Landmarks/5605.pdf
" NASA's Supersonic Passenger Planes of the Future: Coming in 2025? N.p., 16 Nov. 2013. Web. The Web. The Web. 30 Nov. 2013.