First Full-Power Run Validated For Aircraft Testing

NASA announced the first maximum afterburner engine run test of its X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft, representing a significant landmark as the X-59 proceeds toward flight testing.

The test run showed that the F414-GE-100 engine with afterburner does provide sufficient power for supersonic flight.

The test showed the engine’s ability to operate within temperature limits and with adequate air flow for flight. It also demonstrated that the engine works in sync with other subsystems of the aircraft.

The X-59 is the focal point of NASA’s Quesst mission seeking to make sonic booms quieter to resolve a major hurdle to supersonic flight over land. The X-59 is expected to make its first flight in 2025.

Quesst is NASA’s mission to demonstrate how its X-59 can fly supersonic without generating loud sonic booms, but rather reduce them to much quieter sonic “thumps.”

The sonic boom noise is the main barrier to faster-than-sound flight over land.

The project is utilizing state-of-the-art tools to advance our understanding of sonic booms and how to make them quieter.

Techniques such as wind-tunnel testing and advanced computer simulations are combined with actual flight testing to develop theories and prove them in the air.

FMI:  www.nasa.gov/