The X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology aircraft (QueSST), called Son of Concorde 2.0, is long coming and introducing a new technology for supersonic aircraft. One of the problems of the Concorde is the sonic boom as it breaks the sound barrier. However, this plane is a lot quieter.
Flying at 925 miles per hour, the X-59 QueSST is one of the new types of aircraft which is projective to revive the glory days of the Concorde.
NASA documented the fabrication of the plane as engineers built it up from scratch. It is unlike any jet because it will be the basis of supersonic passenger planes to come, if victorious.
Going faster silently X-59
Not precisely a mysterious place, Lockheed Martin said the plane is at Palmdale, California, being built from May 2019 to June 2021. The actual flights will be in 2022, to test its avionics and handling, reported the Sun UK.
When the plane is ready for its actual trials, the QueSST jet is expected to go beyond 767 mph. New technology will allow it to reach Mach 1.4 of 925 mph.
Typically, conventional jets will hit a sonic boom.The new QueSST brags its top-secret design will be car doors thump. All because the current state of technology allows that, cited Techno Trenz.
Improvements on its design can muffle a sonic boom that can barely be heard by those below. The Concorde always made a ruckus,then later retired in 2003.
Mix and Match parts for the X-59
Way before a prototype flies, all the engineers and techs who cobble up a new plane with major parts are chosen. A time-lapse video showed the progress it took to build the Concorde 2.0 X-59 in 2018. The X-59 QueSST might be seen flying soon as planned for 2022.
According to NASA engineer Jay Brandon, saying from parts lying on the production floor and becoming a collection of individual parts scattered throughout the production line to becoming an aircraft.
This is the usual way to make a plane. This time-lapse display the making of the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology, or QueSST, aircraft from May 2019 to June 2021.
In the video, the process is shown, with the wings, tail structure, and cockpit section, until they are connected. To make sure that all parts are lined up, they use the laser on the floor markers.
Engineers can precisely align the aircraft's components owing to features on the structure that allow them to complete the plane. David Richardson mentioned the method is like building Lego bricks.
He added to save time building the plane, drilled slots easily connect all parts, and fastener holes on the parts used to assemble it.
The parts are manufactured like Legos and a laser is used to check how flush they have been inserted. Everything is well lined up, then bolted permanently to each other.
Supersonic but quiet
NASA's approval made the creation of the X-59 possible by Lockheed Martin, at a total cost of $247.5 million.
The actual length of the plane is 94 feet long and has 29.5 feet wingspan when it is fully assembled. Its weight at take-off is 32,300 pounds, able to reach a cruise altitude of 55,000-feet in the sky.
The advanced supersonic willbe powered by one General Electric F414 engine. For better visibility the new design has added a 4K camera at the front.
What the designer wants to produce is a high-speed plane at Mach. 1.42, and with a muffle sonic boom compare to the original Concorde 1.0.
The Concorde 2.0 X-59 or QueSST jet is designed to fly as fast as 925 mph, exceeding the supersonic speed at 768 mph. It can muffle the broken sound barrier with this new technology and used in the manufacture of future commercial flights.
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