Saturday, May 05, 2007

Faster Than a Speeding Bullet: Guinness Recognizes NASA Scramjet


NASA has been officially recognized for setting the speed record for a jet-powered aircraft by Guinness World Records.

NASA set the record ,during the third and final flight of the experimental X-43A scramjet (supersonic-combustion ramjet) project. The X-43A demonstrated an advanced form of air-breathing jet engine could power an aircraft nearly 10 times the speed of sound. Data from the unpiloted, 12-foot-long research vehicle show its revolutionary engine worked successfully at Mach 9.6 (approximately 7,000 mph), as it flew over the Pacific Ocean west of California.

The flight was the culmination of NASA's Hyper-X Program. Hyper-X, a seven-year, approximately $230 million ground and flight test program, explored alternatives to rocket power for space access vehicles.

This is the second world speed record earned by the Hyper-X Program. The first followed a Mach 6.8 (approximately 5,000 mph) flight in March 2004. Both records will be featured in the 2006 edition of the Guinness World Records book published in September 2005. The fastest air-breathing, manned vehicle, the SR-71, achieved slightly more than Mach 3.2. The X-43A more than tripled the top speed of the jet-powered SR-71.

NASA is interested in supersonic combustion scramjet technology, because the engines get their oxygen from the atmosphere. That allows for more airplane-like operations for increased affordability, flexibility and safety in ultra-high-speed flights and for the first stage to Earth orbit. Once a scramjet-powered vehicle is accelerated to approximately Mach 4 by a conventional jet engine or booster rocket, it can fly at hypersonic speeds, possibly as fast as Mach 15, without carrying heavy oxidizer, as rockets must.

A ramjet operates by subsonic combustion of fuel in a stream of air compressed by the forward speed of the aircraft. In a regular jet engine, fan blades compress the air. In a scramjet, the airflow through the whole engine remains supersonic.

The Guinness World Record certificate:

"On 16 November, 2004, NASA's unmanned Hyper-X (X-43A) aircraft reached Mach 9.6. The X-43A was boosted to an altitude of 33,223 meters (109,000 feet) by a Pegasus rocket launched from beneath a B52-B jet aircraft. The revolutionary 'scramjet' aircraft then burned its engine for around 10 seconds during its flight over the Pacific Ocean."

Related flight records:

The previous record for an air-breathing vehicle, but not an airplane, was held by a ramjet-powered missile, which achieved slightly more than Mach 5. The highest speed attained by a rocket-powered airplane, NASA's X-15, was Mach 6.7.

The Hyper-X program was conducted by NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate with the agency's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. Langley was lead NASA center with responsibility for hypersonic technology development. The NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., is responsible for flight research and testing.

For information about NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate programs, including Hyper-X, on the Internet, visit:

http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov/


For information about NASA and agency programs on the Internet, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html

India to buy Hercules from US Air Force

Indian Air Defence is planning to purchase a C-130J, otherwise called Hercules.This Lockheed Martin C-130 is manufactured by US air force.Typically used for tactical cargo and military personnel transport.The latest model of this is called C-130J Hercules with a glass cockpit with digital avionics integrated with new propulsion system having six bladed propeller. Hercules is basically a four-engine turboprop aircraft and have 40 different variant successfully used in 67 odd nations worldwide.C-130 has been used since 1954 and almost 2500 Hercules are built worldwide.

The new C-130J have enhanced range,cruise ceiling time to climb and speed.Also the 'J' model good performance in hot and high conditions can increase the performance of similar aircraft by 50-70%. The cargo bay of the C-130J has a total usable volume of over 4,500ft. The C-130J is equipped with four Allison AE2100D3 turboprop engines, each rated at 4,591 shaft horsepower (3,425kW). The all-composite six-blade R391 propeller system was developed by Dowty Aerospace.

Air Chief S.P. Tyagi quoted, saying that "the IAF is planning to buy C-130J planes" and reports suggest main reason for choosing HERCULES is the capability of short takeoffs and landings from unprepared runways and without lights.C-130 which was originally designed as a troop, medical evacuation and cargo transport aircraft. The versatile airframe has found uses in a variety of other roles, including as a gunship, and for airborne assault, search and rescue, scientific research support, weather reconnaissance, aerial refueling and aerial firefighting.

Initially about 10-15 aircraft is discussed,which would take over the special forces role and supplement India's current fleet of 100 or so medium lift twin-turboprop AN-32 "Sutlej" aircraft. No word on whether the Hercs in question would be C-130Js with minor customizations, or a J variant of the heavily-modified and much more expensive MC-130 "Combat Talon" special forces aircraft. India's emerging Air Force philosophy and terrorism threat profiles would seem to suggest the MC-130 as the best doctrinal fit, while budgetary constraints (the MC-130H lists as $155 million in FY 2001 dollars, and an MC-130J Combat Talon III would cost more) would suggest the C-130J route.

Will India's potential purchase represent a mere stopgap until the $100-120 million A400M begins to hit the market around 2010, and creates a major competition for India's next-generation tactical airlifter? Will a deal be done around an indigenous project instead, something that India often prefers despite the project failures and increased costs common to such projects in its history? Or is a C-130J order a potential door-opener for a much larger Lockheed order, one that can be delivered sooner to a customer who decides that it would rather have more aircraft available, and doesn't need more than 20 tons of lift capacity?

But it is really unpredictable how well this bulky aircraft will suite Indian terrain??


For more details
www.india-defence.com
www.airforce-technology.com
www.defenseindustrydaily.com