The NASA X-43A and its Pegasus booster rocket fall from NASA Dryden’s B-52 on the combination’s first free flight on June 2, 2001. Sadly, a malfunction in the Pegasus resulted in destruction of the X-43A before it had separated from the booster.
An increasing trend in military aircraft procurement is the political pressure being exerted on the armed services to ‘cobble together’ a joint requirement involving large numbers of new aircraft. There is probably no better example of this than the Joint Strike Fighter programme, in which three variants are intended to replace at least seven types currently in service. Illustrated are the Boeing X-32B concept demonstrator.
An increasing trend in military aircraft procurement is the political pressure being exerted on the armed services to ‘cobble together’ a joint requirement involving large numbers of new aircraft. There is probably no better example of this than the Joint Strike Fighter programme, in which three variants are intended to replace at least seven types currently in service. Illustrated are the Lockheed Martin X-35A concept demonstrator.
Having decided to leave development of new large-capacity airliners to Airbus Industrie, Boeing believes that it has found a niche in the air transport market for a high subsonic airliner. This is a belief apparently shared by a number of airlines who have expressed interest in what Boeing is calling the ‘Sonic Cruiser’.
There is some irony in that one of the aircraft being considered as a ‘future classic’ (the Eurofighter Typhoon) should have a canard layout. This was a configuration chosen by the Wright brothers, albeit with differences!
This view of the V-22 in ‘conventional’ flight clearly illustrates the large three-bladed rotors designed to satisfy the disparate requirements of efficiency in the hover and cruising in forward flight.
Note the inclined engine nacelles to reduce speed for the para-drop. A larger tilt rotor development, under consideration by Eurocopter and Agusta-Westland, is understood to differ conceptually from the V-22 in the sense that its wingtip-mounted engines remain fixed, while the rotors are tilted.
Эскиз гиперзвукового X-43A (Hyper-X) для отработки двухрежимного двигателя - прямоточного воздушно-реактивного/гиперзвукового прямоточного воздушно-реактивного.
For passengers in a hurry. An artist’s impression of the NASA X-43A hypersonic research vehicle. The unique shape of the vehicle is determined by the fact that a significant amount of lift can be generated from the pressure in the intakes and exhaust system of its powerplant - a scramjet.
