The fastest aircraft in the world. Supervice Aviation German Supersonic Airplane

Exactly 15 years ago the last three supersonic passenger aircraft Concorde British airlines British Airways made a farewell flight. On that day, on October 24, 2003, these aircraft flying at a low height over London, landed in Heathrow and those completed the brief history of supersonic passenger aviation. Nevertheless, today, aircraft designers around the world again think about the possibility of rapid flights - from Paris to New York for 3.5 hours, from Sydney to Los Angeles - in 6 hours, from London to Tokyo in 5 hours. But before the supersonic aircraft return to international passenger routes, developers will have to solve many tasks, among which one of the most important is to reduce the noise of rapid aircraft.

Short History of Fast Flights

Passenger aviation began to form in the 1910s, when the first aircraft appeared, specially designed to transport people by air. The most first of them became the French Bleriot XXIV Limousine of Bleriot Aeronautique. It was used for entertaining air walks. Two years later, S-21 "Grand" appeared in Russia, created on the basis of a heavy bombarder "Russian Vityaz" Igor Sikorsky. He was built on the Russian-Baltic Wagon Plant. Further, aviation began to develop seven-mile steps: first began flights between cities, then between countries, and then between continents. Airplanes allowed to get to the destination faster than by train or ship.

In the 1950s, progress in the development of jet engines was significantly accelerated, and for combat aviation became available, albeit briefly, flights on supersonic speed. The supersonic speed is made to call the movement up to five times faster than the sound speed, which varies depending on the distribution environment and its temperature. With normal atmospheric pressure at sea level, the sound spreads at a speed of 331 meters per second, or 1191 kilometers per hour. As the height is set, the density and air temperature decreases, the sound speed is reduced. For example, at an altitude of 20 thousand meters, it is already about 295 meters per second. But at an altitude of about 25 thousand meters and as it set to more than 50 thousand meters, the temperature of the atmosphere begins to increase gradually compared to the lower layers, and the local speed of sound increases with it.

The rise in temperature at these heights is explained, including a high concentration in ozone air, forming the ozone shield and absorbing the portion of solar energy. As a result, the speed of sound at an altitude of 30 thousand meters above the sea is about 318 meters per second, and at an altitude of 50 thousand - almost 330 meters per second. In aviation for measuring the flight speed, the number of maha is widely used. If we say simplistic, it expresses the local sound speed for a specific height, density and air temperature. So, the speed of the conditional flight equal to two numbers of Mach, at sea level will be 2383 kilometers per hour, and at an altitude of 10 thousand meters - 2157 kilometers per hour. For the first time, the sound barrier at the speed of 1.04 Maha (1066 kilometers per hour) at an altitude of 12.2 thousand meters overcame the American pilot Chuck Yegen in 1947. It was an important step towards the development of supersonic flights.

In the 1950s, aircraft designers in several countries of the world began to work on projects of supersonic passenger aircraft. As a result, the French Concorde and Soviet Tu-144 appeared in the 1970s. These were the first and still the only passenger supersonic aircraft in the world. Both types of aircraft used ordinary turbojet engines optimized for long-term operation in supersonic flight mode. Tu-144 was operated until 1977. Airplanes flew at speeds of 2.3 thousand kilometers per hour and could carry up to 140 passengers. However, tickets for their flights cost an average of 2.5-3 times more expensive. Low demand for quick, but expensive flights, as well as common difficulties in the operation and maintenance of Tu-144 led to the fact that they were simply removed from passenger flights. However, aircraft have been used for some time in test flights, including under the contract with NASA.

Concorde served noticeably longer - until 2003. Flights on French liners were also expensive and did not use very popular, but France and the United Kingdom continued to operate them. The cost of one ticket for such a flight was, in terms of today's prices, about 20 thousand dollars. The French Concorde flew at speeds just over two thousand kilometers per hour. The distance from Paris to New York The plane could be covered in 3.5 hours. Depending on the Concorde configuration, they could transport from 92 to 120 people.

The story of "Concords" ended unexpectedly and quickly. In 2000, there was a CONCORDE plane crash, in which 113 people died. A year later, the crisis caused by the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 began in passenger air transport (two aircraft treated with passengers in the Tower of the World Trade Center in New York, another, the third, in the Pentagon building in Arlington, and the fourth fell in the field Not far from Shenksville in Pennxilvania). Then expired the term warranty service of the Concorde aircraft, which was engaged in Airbus. All these factors together made the exploitation of supersonic passenger aircraft, extremely unprofitable, and in the summer-invent 2003 airlines Air. France and British Airways in turn written off all the "concords".

After the closure of the Concorde program in 2003, the hope for the return of supersonic passenger aviation was still remained. Designers hoped for new cost-effective engines, aerodynamic calculations and automated design systems capable of making flights on supersonic speed economically available. But in 2006 and 2008, the International Organization of Civil Aviation adopted new standards of aviation noise, prohibiting, among other things, any supersonic flights over the settlements of Sushi in peacetime. This prohibition does not apply to the air corridors specifically dedicated for military aviation. Work on projects of new supersonic aircraft stimulated, but today they began to gain momentum again.

Quiet supersvussian

Today, several enterprises and government organizations in the world are engaged in the development of supersonic passenger aircraft in the world. Such projects, in particular, lead Russian companies "Dry" and "Tupolev", Central Aero Hydrodynamic Institute named after Zhukovsky, French Dassault, Japan Aerospace Research Agency, European Concern Airbus, American Lockheed Martin and Boeing, as well as several startups, including Aerion and Boom TECHNOLOGIES. In general, the designers were conventionally divided into two camps. Representatives of the first of them believe that to develop a "quiet", corresponding to the noise of subsonic liners, the supersonic aircraft will not be able to build a quick passenger aircraft, which will switch to supersual where it is permitted. Such an approach, designed designers from the first camp, will still allow to reduce the flight time from one point to another.

Designers from the second camp predominantly focused on the fight against shock waves. In flight at the supersonic velocity, the plane of the aircraft forms many shock waves, the most significant of which occur in the nose and in the caudal cove zone. In addition, the shock waves usually appear on the front and rear edges of the wing, on the front edges of the tail of the tail, in the zones of flow swirls and on the edges of the air intakes. The shock wave is an area in which the pressure, density and temperature of the medium test a sharp and strong jump. Observers on Earth such waves are perceived as a loud cotton or even an explosion - precisely because of this, supersonic flights over the settlement of sushi are prohibited.

The effect of the explosion or very loud cotton produces shock waves of the so-called N-type, formed when bombing or on the glider of a supersonic fighter. On the graph of pressure and density growth, such waves resemble the letter N of the Latin alphabet due to a sharp increase in pressure on the wave front with a sharp drop of pressure after it and subsequent normalization. In the course of laboratory experiments, researchers of the Japanese Agency Aerospace Research found out that the change in the shape of the glider can smooth out the peaks on the shock wave graph, turning it into the S-type wave. Such a wave has a smooth and not so significant, like a N-wave, pressure drop. NASA experts believe that the S-waves will be perceived by observers as far cotton with a car door.

N-wave (red) before the aerodynamic optimization of the supersonic glider and the similarity of the S-wave after optimization

In 2015, Japanese designers collected a unmanned glider D-SEND 2, whose aerodynamic form was designed in such a way as to reduce the number of shock waves arising on it and their intensity. In July 2015, the developers experienced a glider on the Rocket Polygon "Esraindzh" in Sweden and noted a significant reduction in the number of shock waves formed on the surface of the new glider. During the test of D-SEND 2, not equipped with engines, dropped from a balloon from a height of 30.5 thousand meters. During the fall, the 7.9 meter long glider scored a speed of 1.39 minutes of Mach and flew past the aerostats located at different heights equipped with microphones. At the same time, researchers measured not only the intensity and the number of shock waves, but also analyzed the effects of the state of the atmosphere on their early occurrence.

According to the Japanese Agency, a sound blow from aircraft comparable to sizes with supersonic passenger aircraft Concorde and made according to the D-SEND 2 scheme, under flight on a supersonic speed will be twice as much intense than before. From the gliders of conventional modern aircraft, the Japanese D-Send 2 is not an axisymmetric arrangement of the nose. The keel of the device is shifted to the nasal part, and the horizontal tail of the plumage is performed by everything-free and has a negative installation angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the glider, that is, the fastening points are below the attachment point, and not higher, as usual. The wing of the glider has normal sweatshirt, but is made step: it smoothly mates with the fuselage, and part of its front edge is located to the fuselage under an acute angle, but closer to the rear edge, this angle increases sharply.

At a similar scheme, a super-sound American Aerion startup is currently being created and, developed by the Lockheed Martin on the order of NASA. With a focus on reducing the number and intensity of the shock waves, both the Russian (supersonic business aircraft / supersonic passenger aircraft) is designed. Some of the projects of fast passenger aircraft are planned to be completed in the first half of the 2020s, but the aviation rules by that time are revised still not. This means that new aircraft will perform supersonic flights only over water. The fact is that to remove restriction on supersonic flights over the settlement of sushi, developers will have to hold a lot of tests and submit their results for consideration by aviation authorities, including the Federal Department of US Civil Aviation and the European Flight Safety Agency.

S-512 / SPIKE AEROSPACE

New engines

Another major obstacle to the creation of a serial passenger supersonic aircraft are engines. Constructors have already found many ways to make turbojet engines more economical than they were ten or twenty years ago. This is the use of gearboxes that remove a rigid fan and turbine turbine, and the use of ceramic composite materials that allow optimizing the temperature balance in the hot zone of the power plant, and even the introduction of an additional - third-air contour in addition to the already existing two, internal and external. In the field of the creation of economical subsonic engines, the designers have already achieved amazing results, and the leading new developments promise and at all significant savings. You can read more about promising research in our material.

But, despite all these developments, the supersonic flight is expensive to be economical yet. For example, a promising super-sound passenger aircraft of the BOOM Technologies startup will receive three Turbofields of the JT8D family of Pratt & Whitney or J79 GE AVIATION. In the cruising flight, the specific fuel consumption by these engines is about 740 grams per kilogram-force per hour. At the same time, the J79 engine can be equipped with an afterburden chamber, when using fuel consumption increases to two kilograms per kilogram-force per hour. This consumption is comparable to fuel consumption by engines, for example, Su-27 fighter, whose tasks differ significantly from the carriage of passengers.

For comparison, the specific fuel consumption of the unity of the world's serial turbopovintant engines D-27, installed on the Ukrainian transport worker, the An-70 is only 140 grams per kilogram-for force per hour. The American engine CFM56, "Classic" Boeing and Airbus liners, has a specific fuel consumption of 545 grams per kilogram-force per hour. This means that without serious processing of the design of jet aircraft engines, supersonic flights will not be sufficiently cheap enough to get widespread, and except that in business aviation - high fuel consumption leads to an increase in prices for tickets. To reduce the high cost of supersonic air transportation volumes, too, will not work - the aircraft designed today are designed for transportation from 8 to 45 passengers. The usual planes can accommodate more than a hundred people.

Nevertheless, in early October of the current year, GE Aviation project of the new turbofan jet engine Affinity. These power plants are planned to be placed on the promising supersonic passenger AS2 aircraft AERION. The new power plant constructively combines the features of jet engines with a low degree of double-circuit for combat aircraft and power plants with a high degree of double-circuit for passenger aircraft. At the same time, there are no new and breakthrough technologies in Affinity. The new engine GE AVIATION refers to power plants with an average degree of double-circuit.

The basis of the engine is a modified gas generator of the CFM56 turbofuel engine, which, in turn, is structurally based on the gas generator from F101, the power plant for supersonic bombers B-1B Lancer. The power plant will receive an upgraded electronic digital engine control system with full responsibility. Any details about the design of the promising engine, the developers did not disclose. However, in GE Aviation expect that the specific fuel consumption of the Affinity engines will be not much higher or even comparable to fuel consumption with modern turboclerous engines of ordinary subsonic passenger aircraft. How will this be achieved for supersonic flight, it is not clear.

Boom / Boom Technologies

Projects

Despite the many projects of supersonic passenger aircraft in the world (including the unrealizable project alteration of the Tu-160 strategic bomber in the Passenger Supersonic Liner proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin), the AS2 of the American startup Aerion, S-512 can be considered closest to flight tests and small-sector production. Spike Aerospace and BOOM American Boom Technologies. It is planned that the first will perform flights at the speed of 1.5 minutes of Mach, the second is 1.6 minutes of Mach, and the third - 2.2 days of Mach. The X-59 aircraft created by the Lockheed Martin on the order of NASA will be a technology demonstrator and a flying laboratory, it is not planned to run it into the series.

BOOM Technologies have already stated that they will try to make flights at cluster aircraft very cheap. For example, the cost of the flight on New York - London in Boom Technologies rated five thousand dollars. So much today is a flight on this route in the business class of an ordinary subsonic liner. The boom liner over the populated land will fly at the subsonic speed and move on the superstruct over the ocean. The aircraft with a length of 52 meters and a wing of 18 meters will be able to transport up to 45 passengers. Until the end of 2018, Boom Technologies plans to choose one of several projects of the new aircraft for the implementation in the metal. The first flight of the liner is planned for 2025. These deadlines have transferred the company; Initially, Boom was planned to raise into the air in 2023.

According to preliminary calculations, the Length of the AS2 aircraft, designed for 8-12 passengers, will be 51.8 meters, and the wing span is 18.6 meters. The maximum take-off weight of the supersonic aircraft will be 54.8 tons. AS2 will perform flights above the water at cruising speed of 1.4-1.6 Maha numbers, slowing down to 1.2 above the land. A slightly smaller flight rate over land with a special aerodynamic form of a glider will allow how to calculate developers, almost completely avoid the formation of shock waves. The range of flight of the aircraft at a speed of 1.4 minutes of Mach will be 7.8 thousand kilometers and 10 thousand kilometers - at a speed of 0.95 minutes of Mach. The first flight of the aircraft is scheduled for the summer of 2023, and by October of the same year - the first transatlantic flight. Its developers will raise the 20th anniversary of the last flight "Concord".

Finally, Spike Aerospace plans to start the flight tests of the full prototype S-512 no later than 2021. Deliveries of the first serial aircraft to customers are scheduled for 2023. According to the project, S-512 will be able to transport up to 22 passengers at speeds up to 1.6 minutes. The range of the flight of this aircraft will be 11.5 thousand kilometers. From October last year, SPIKE Aerospace has several reduced supersonic aircraft models. Their goal is to verify the design solutions and the effectiveness of flight control elements. All three promising passenger aircraft are created with a focus on a special aerodynamic form, which will reduce the intensity of shock waves formed during supersonic flight.

In 2017, the volume of aviation passenger traffic around the world was four billion people, of which 650 million have committed long flights with a length of 3.7 to 13 thousand kilometers. 72 million "long-range" passengers flew first and business class. It is on these 72 million people that the developers of supersonic passenger aircraft are aimed primarily, believing that they will gladly pay a little more money for the ability to spend about half time in the air than usual. Nevertheless, the supersonic passenger aviation is most likely to start actively developing after 2025. The fact is that the research flights of the X-59 laboratory will begin only in 2021 and will last for several years.

The results of the research obtained during the flights X-59, including over the settlements - volunteers (their residents agreed that supersonic aircraft flew on weekdays on weekdays; after flights, observers will tell researchers about their noise perception), it is planned to transfer to Consideration of the Federal Department of US Civil Aviation. As expected, on their basis, it can revise the ban on supersonic flights over the settlement of land, but it will happen not before 2025.

Vasily Sychev

One example of existing projects of supersonic aircraft.

Today I will start with a small preface 🙂.

On this site I already have flight of aircraft. That is, it has long been time to write something and about supersonicMoreover, I promised to do it :-). The other day I took up work with considerable zeal, but I realized that the topic was as interesting as the volume.

My articles recently do not shine brevity, I don't know the dignity or disadvantage :-). A release on the topic " supersonic"It was threatened to become even more and it is unknown how much time I would have to" create "it :-).

So I decided to try to make several articles. A small series (three-four pieces), in which each component will be devoted to one-two concepts on the topic supersonic speeds. And it will be easier for me, and the readers will score less readers :-), and Yandex with Google will be more favorable (which is important, you understand :-)). Well, what of this will come to judge, of course, you ..

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So, let's talk today about the supersonic and supersonic aircraft. The very concept " supersonic"In our language (all the more in excellent degree) flashes much more often than the term" dosvuk ".

On the one hand, this, in general, is understandable. Powered aircraft have long become in our lives something very ordinary. AND supersonic aircraftAlthough they fly in airspace for 65 years, but still seem to be something special, interesting and thorough attention.

Speaking on the other hand, it is quite fair. After all, flights on supersonic - This can be said separately, closed by a certain barrier of the movement. However, people in unreleased may have a question: "And what, in fact, such an outstanding supersonic? What difference is a plane at a speed of 400 km / h or 1400 km / h? Give him the engine more powerful and everything will be fine! " Approximately in such a semantic situation was aviation at the dawn of its development.

Speed \u200b\u200bhas always been the limit of dreams and initially these aspirations have quite successfully implemented. Already in 1945, the test pilot of the company Messerschmitt L.Gofman in horizontal flight at one of the first aircraft in the world with reactive engines, Me-262, reached in a horizontal flight at an altitude of 7200 m of a speed of 980 km / h.

However, in fact, everything is not so simple. After all, flight on supersonic It differs from the subsonic not only speed and not so much. The difference here is high quality.

Already from speeds of about 400 km / h begins little to manifest itself such a property of air as compressibility. And nothing here, in principle, there is no unexpected. - It is gas. And all gases are known, in contrast to liquids, compressible. During compression, gas parameters are changed, such as density, pressure, temperature. Because of this, various physical processes can be processed differently in compressed gas than in a rarefied.

The faster the plane flies, the more he, together with its aerodynamic surfaces, becomes like a kind of piston, in a certain sense, compressing air in front of him. Urgently, of course, but in general, just like this :-).

With increasing speed, the aerodynamic picture of the flow around the aircraft changes and the faster, the more :-). A. supersonic She is already qualitatively different. At the same time, new concepts of aerodynamics come to the fore, which often do not make any sense for low-speed aircraft.

To characterize the flight speed now, it becomes convenient and necessary to use such a parameter as the number M (Mach number, the ratio of the aircraft speed relative to air at this point to the speed of sound in the air flow at this point). Appears and becomes tangible (very tangible!) Another kind of aerodynamic resistance - wave resistance (Along with so, the increased ordinary frontal resistance).

Become iconic such phenomena as a wave crisis (with a critical number M), supersonic barrier, sugar jumps and shock waves.

In addition, the controllability and characteristics of the stability of the aircraft deteriorate due to the displacement of the point of the application of aerodynamic forces.

When approaching the area of \u200b\u200barrogant velocities, the aircraft may experience a strong shaking (it was more characteristic of the first aircraft, then stormed the mysterious lines of sound speeds), similar to their manifestations with another very unpleasant phenomenon, with which avoofers had to face in their professional development. This phenomenon is called Flatter (the topic for the next article :-)).

Such an unpleasant moment appears as heating the air as a result of its sharp braking in front of the aircraft (the so-called kinetic heating), as well as heating as a result of viscous friction of air. At the same time, the temperatures are high enough, about 300ºС. To such temperatures, the plane is heated during a long supersonic flight.

All the concepts and phenomena mentioned above are, as well as the causes of their occurrence, we will definitely talk in other articles in more detail. But now, so, I think it is quite clear that supersonic - It is already something completely different than the flight at the subsonic (all the more small) speed.

In order to get along with all the newest emerging effects and phenomena at high speeds and fully comply with its destination, the aircraft must also change efficiently. Now it should be supersonic aircraft, that is, an airplane capable of flying at a speed exceeding the sound speed on this section of airspace.

And it is not enough for him to increase the engine power (although this is also a very important and mandatory detail). Such aircraft usually change and externally. Their appearance appears sharp corners and edges, straight lines, in contrast to the "smooth" outlines of subsonic aircraft.

Supersonic aircraft Have a sweat or triangular wing in terms of wing. Typical and one of the most famous aircraft with a triangular wing is a wonderful fighter MiG-21 (maximum speed at an altitude of 2230 km / h, near the Earth 1300 km / h).

Supersonic aircraft with triangular wing MiG-21.

One of the variance options is a wing of a revival form that has an increased coefficient of lifting force. He has a special influx near the fuselage, designed to form artificial spiral vortices.

MiG-21 and the wing of a revival form.

MiG-21I - a revival wing.

The revival wing of Tu-144.

Interestingly, the wing of this type, then installed on Tu-144, was tested at a flying laboratory on the basis of the same MiG-21 (MiG-21I).

Second option - supercritical wing. It has a flattened profile with a certain curved rear part, which allows you to push the occurrence of a wave crisis at high speeds and can be beneficial in terms of efficiency for high-speed subsonic aircraft. Such a wing was applied, in particular, on the SuperJet 100 plane.

SuperJet 100. Example of a supercritical wing. Well visible bending profile (rear)

Clickable photos.

Tu-144 - Soviet supersonic aircraft developed by KB Tupolev in the 1960s. Along with the concord, it is one of two supersonic airliners who have ever used airlines for commercial traffic.

In the 60s, projects for the creation of a passenger supersonic aircraft with a maximum speed of 2500-3000 km / h were actively discussed in the 1960s and the USSR aircraft circles with a maximum speed of 2500-3000 km / h, a range of at least 6-8 thousand km. In November 1962, France and the United Kingdom signed an agreement on joint development and building "Concord" ("Consent").

Creators of a supersonic aircraft

In the Soviet Union, the design bureau of Academician Andrei Tupolev was engaged in the creation of a supersonic aircraft. At the preliminary meeting of the KB in January 1963, Tupolev stated:

"Reflecting on the future of the air transportation of people from one continent to another, you come to an unequivocal conclusion: supersonic air liners are undoubtedly needed, and I have no doubt that they will enter life ..."

The son of the Academician - Alexey Tupolev was appointed the lead designer of the project. With its OKB, more than a thousand specialists from other organizations work closely. The creation was preceded by extensive theoretical and experimental work, which included numerous tests in aerodynamic pipes and incense conditions during the analog flights.

"Concord" and Tu-144

The developers had to break their head to find the optimal scheme of the machine. It is fundamentally important, the speed of the designed liner is 2500 or 3000 km / h. Americans, having learned that "Concord" is calculated by 2500 km / h, stated that only half a year later release their passenger "Boeing 2707", made of steel and titanium. Only these materials without destructive consequences kept the heating of the structure when contacting the air flow at 3000 km / h and higher. However, solid steel and titanium structures should still pass a serious technological and operational test. It will take a long time, and Tupolev makes the decision to build a supersonic aircraft from duralumin, based on the speed of 2500 km / h. The American project "Boeing" was subsequently closed altogether.

In June 1965, the model was shown on the annual airplane in Paris. "Concord" and Tu-144 were strikingly similar to each other. Soviet designers spoke - nothing amazing: general form Determined by the laws of aerodynamics and requirements for a specific type of machinery.

Wing shape of a supersonic aircraft

But what should be the shape of the wing? Stopped on a thin triangular wing with an outline of the front edge in the form of the letter "8". A blessing scheme - inevitable with this design of the carrier plane - made a supersonic liner stable and well-controlled on all flight modes. Four engines were under the fuselage, closer to the axis. Fuel is placed in caisson wing tanks. Balancing tanks located in the back of the fuselage and wing slopes are designed to change the position of the center of gravity during the transition from the dialing flight speed to the supersonic. The nose was made sharp and smooth. But how, in this case, provide pilots front review? The output was found - "Clamp Nose". The fuselage of the round section had a nasal crew cube fairing, deviating down at an angle of 12 degrees in the conditions of takeoff and 17 degrees when landing.

A supersonic aircraft rises into the sky

For the first time, a supersonic aircraft rises into the sky on the last day of 1968. The car was driven by the test pilot E. Lyan. As a passenger plane, he was the first in the world overcame the speed of sound in early June 1969, being at an altitude of 11 kilometers. The second sound speed (2M) supersonic aircraft took in the middle of 1970, being at an altitude of 16.3 kilometers. A supersonic aircraft absorbed a lot of innovations of the design and technical plan. Here I want to note such a decision as anterior horizontal plumage. When using the PGO, the flight maneuverability has improved and the speed was quenched during the landing. The domestic supersonic aircraft could be operated from two tens of airports, while Franco-English "Concord", having a greater speed when landing could only sit in a certified airport. Designers KB Tupolev conducted a colossal job. Take, for example, Wing Tests. They took place at the Flying Laboratory - MiG-21, converted specially under the tests of the design and equipment of the wing of the future supersonic aircraft.

Development and modification

Work on the development of the basic design "044" was in two directions: the creation of a new economy unfaffolding TRD type RD-36-51 and a significant improvement in the aerodynamics and the design of the supersonic aircraft. The result was to be the fulfillment of the requirements for the range of supersonic flight. The decision of the Commission of the Council of Ministers of the USSR for a variant of the supersonic aircraft with the RD-36-51 was made in 1969. At the same time, on the proposal of MAP - MGA, a decision is made to create RD-36-51 and install them on a supersonic aircraft, about the construction of six supersonic aircraft with NK-144A with reduced specific fuel consumption. The design of serial supersonic aircraft with NK-144a was supposed to be significantly upgraded, to carry out significant changes in the aerodynamics, receiving more than 8 in the cruising supersonic mode. This modernization had to ensure the fulfillment of the requirements of the first stage of the range (4000-4500 km), in the future, the transit to Series on RD-36-51.

Construction of an upgraded supersonic aircraft

The construction of pre-production modernized Tu-144 ("004) began on MMZ" Experience "in 1968. According to calculated data with the NK-144 engines (cf \u003d 2.01), the estimated supersonic range was 3275 km, and from NK-144a (cf \u003d 1.91) exceed 3,500 km. In order to improve the aerodynamic characteristics on cruising mode, M \u003d 2.2 changed the shape of the wing in the plan (the sweep of the surrounding part over the front edge was reduced to 76 °, and the base increased to 57 °), the shape of the wing became closer to the "Gothic". Compared to "044", the area of \u200b\u200bthe wing increased, introduced a more intense conical curvature of the end portions of the wing. However, the most important innovation for the wing aerodynamics was the change in the middle part of the wing, providing self-balancing on cruising mode with minimal loss of quality, taking into account the optimization of the flight deformations of the wing in this mode. The length of the fuselage was increased, taking into account the placement of 150 passengers, the shape of the nasal part is improved, which also has a positive effect on aerodynamics.

Unlike "044", each pair of engines in paired motometrics with air intakes were pushed out, freed from them the lower part of the fuselage, unloading it from elevated temperature and vibration loads, while the lower surface of the wing was changed in the place of the current population area, increased the slot between the lower surface The wings and the upper surface of the air intake - all this allowed the intensive to use the effect of pulling the flow at the entrance to the air intakes to KMAKS than it was possible to get on "044". New layout Motogondol demanded changes in the chassis: the main chassis racks were placed under the motorcycles, with cleaning them inside between the aircraft engines, they switched to an octal trolley, the chassis rack cleaning scheme was also changed. An important difference between "004" from "044" was the introduction of anterior multiser-retractable wing of the escape-destabilizer, which put forward from the fuselage on the runway and allowed to provide the required balancing with rejected Elevon-flaps. Construction improvements, an increase in the commercial load and fuel reserve led to an increase in the take-off mass, which exceeded 190 tons (for "044" - 150 tons).

Preioned Tu-144

The construction of a pre-production supersonic aircraft No. 01-1 (onboard No. 77101) was completed in early 1971, on June 1, 1971 made the first flight. According to the factory test program, the machine completed 231 flights, a duration of 338 hours, which flew 55 hours on supersonic. This car worked out comprehensive issues of the interaction of the power plant at various flight modes. On September 20, 1972, the car flew over the Moscow-Tashkent route, while the route was traveled in 1 hour and 50 minutes, cruising speed during the flight reached 2500 km / h. The pre-production machine has become the basis for the deployment of mass production at the Voronezh Aviation Plant (VAZ), which the decision of the government was instructed by mastering in a series of supersonic aircraft.

First flight serial Tu-144

The first flight of the serial supersonic aircraft No. 01-2 (onboard No. 77102) with the NK-144A engines took place on March 20, 1972. In the series, according to the tests of the pre-production machine, the aerodynamics of the wing was adjusted and its area was somewhat more increased. The runway in the series reached 195 tons. Specific fuel consumption of the NK-144A by the time of operational tests of serial machines intended to bring to the optimization of the engine nozzle to 1.65-1.67 kg / kgf hour, and in the future up to 1.57 kg / kgf hour, while the flight range should It was increased to 3855-4250 km and 4550 km respectively. Really able to reach the Tu-144 and NK-144A CP \u003d 1.81 kg / kgf of the hour on the cruising supersonic 4000 kgf, cf \u003d 1.65 kg / kgf hour on the take-off for an hour 20,000 kgf, cf \u003d 0.92 kg / kgf hour on cruising dialing mode of traction 3000 kgf and 11800 kgf is obtained on the transvance mode on the maximum forxtright mode.

Flights and tests of a supersonic aircraft

The first stage of the test

In a short period of time, 395 flights with a total chart of 739 hours were performed in strict accordance with the program, including more than 430 hours on supersonic modes.

The second stage of the test

At the second stage of operational tests in accordance with the joint order of the Ministers of Aviation Industry and Civil Aviation No. 149-223, there was a more active connection of funds and civil aviation services. A new test commission was formed, led by the Deputy Minister of Civil Aviation B.D. Ground. By the decision of the Commission, then a confirmed joint order of September 30 - October 5, 1977, crews were appointed for operational testing:

1. First crew: Pilots B.F. Kuznetsov (Moscow Transportation GA), S.T. Agapov (Zhliidb), navigator S.P. Temples (MTU GA), flights Yu.N. Avaev (MTU ha), Yu.T. Seliverstov (Zhlildb), Lead Engineer S.P. Avakov (Zhlildb).
2. Second Crew: Pilots V.P. Voronin (Moscow State University Ga), IK Vederniki (Zhliidb), Svurman A.A. Senyuk (MTU ha), Fartinezers E.A. Requitances (MTU ha) and V.V. Solomatin (Zhlildb), leading engineer V.V. Isaev (GosNaya).
3. Third crew: pilots M.S. Kuznetsov (GOSNIIG), G.V. Voronchenko (Zhlildb), Knoverman V.V. Myszigin (GosNaya), Fartinezers M.P. Isaev (MTU GA), V.V. Solomatin (Zhlildb), leading engineer V.N. Bind (flap).
4. Fourth Crew: Pilots N.I. YURSKOV (GOSNIIG), V.A. Sevankayev (Zhlildb), Shturman Yu.A. Vasiliev (GOSNIIG), Bartinwerner V.L. Wennediktov (GOSNIIG), leading engineer I.S. Mayboration (GosNaya).

Before the start of the test, a lot of work was carried out to consider all the materials obtained in order to use them "to test" the implementation of specific requirements. However, despite this, individual civil aviation experts insisted on the implementation of the Program of Operational Tests of the Supersonic Airplane, developed in the State Department in 1975 under the guidance of the leading engineer A.M.Thetyukukov. This program required in fact, repetitions of previously executed flights in the amount of 750 flights (1200 flight hours) on the MGA tracks.

The total volume of operational flights and tests on both stages will be 445 flights with a flyer of 835 hours, of which 475 hours on supersonic modes. Passed 128 paired flights on the Moscow-Alma-Ata route.

The final stage

The final stage of the test was not tense from a technical point of view. Rhythmic work on a schedule was provided without serious failures and large defects. Engineering and technical compositions "entertained", conducting assessments of household equipment, preparing for passenger transportation. The stewardess connected to testing and the corresponding state experts began to carry out ground training sessions to work out the passenger service technology in flight. T.N. "Drawings" and two technical flights with passengers. "Raffle" was held on October 16, 1977 with full modeling of ticket registration cycle, luggage design, landing of passengers, flight of real duration, disembarkation, luggage decoration at the airport of destination. From the "passengers" (the best workers of the OKB, Zhliidb, GosNaya and other organizations) was not semi. The diet in the flight was at the highest level, since it was approved by the first class menu, everyone received great pleasure. "Raffle" allowed to clarify many important elements and details of passenger service. On October 20 and 21, 1977, two technical flights were performed on the Moscow-Alma-Ata highway with passengers. The first passengers were employees of many organizations that were directly involved in the creation and testing of a supersonic aircraft. Today it is even difficult to imagine the atmosphere on board: there reigned a sense of joy and pride, a big hope for development against the background of first-class service, to which technical people are absolutely not accustomed. In the first flights on board were all heads of head institutions and organizations.

The road for passenger traffic is open

Technical flights passed without serious comments and showed the complete readiness of the supersonic aircraft and all ground services to regular transport. October 25, 1977 Minister of Civil Aviation USSR B.P. Bugayev and Minister of Aviation Industry of the USSR V.A. Cossack was approved by the main document: "Act on the results of operational testing of a supersonic aircraft with NK-144 engines" with positive conclusion and conclusions.

Based on the presented tables of conformity of the Tu-144, the requirements of the temporary velocity of the Civil Tu-144 of the USSR, the full amount of the presented evidentiary documentation, which includes acts on state and operational tests, October 29, 1977, Chairman of the State Equipment of the USSR IK Mulkidzhanov approved the conclusion and signed the first in the USSR of the certificate of airworthiness type No. 03-144 on a supersonic aircraft with NK-144A engines.

The road for passenger traffic was open.

The supersonic aircraft could sit down and take off at 18 airports of the USSR, while Concorde, whose run-up speed was 15% higher, was required for each airport a separate landing certificate. According to some specialists, if the Concord's engines were also placed as Tu-144, then the accident would not have happened on July 25, 2000.

According to experts, the construction of the Tu-144 glider was ideal, the lack of refuge to engines and various systems.

Second serial copy of a supersonic aircraft

In June 1973, the 30th International Paris Aviationon was held in France. There was a huge interest caused by the Soviet liner Tu-144 - the first supersonic aircraft in the world. On June 2, thousands of visitors to the airlock in the suburb of Paris Le Bourget were observed for the take-off strip of the second serial copy of the supersonic aircraft. The roar of four engines, powerful running - and now the car in the air. A sharp liner nose straightened and aimed into the sky. The supersonic "TU", driven by the captain Kozlov, performed her first demonstration flight over Paris: gaining the necessary height, the car went beyond the horizon, then returned and made a circle above the airfield. The flight passed in normal mode, no technical problems noted.

The next day, the Soviet crew decided to show everything that was capable of new.

Disaster during the demonstration

Sunny morning on June 3, it seemed not foreshadowed trouble. At first, everything went according to the plan, - the audience, turning the head, applauded together. Supersonic aircraft showing "Higher Class", went to reduce. At that moment, the French fighter "Mirage" appeared in the air (as it turned out later, he spent the shooting of an anelon). The collision seemed inevitable. In order not to crash in the airfield and the audience, the crew commander decided to rise above and pulled the steering wheel on himself. However, the height was already lost, large loads were created on the design; As a result, the right wing cracked and fell off. There began a fire, and after a few seconds the blazing supersonic aircraft rushed to the ground. The terrible landing occurred on one of the streets of the Paris's suburbs of Husenville. Giant machine, I woke all on my way, collapsed to the ground and exploded. The entire crew is six people - and eight Frenchmen died on Earth. I suffered and Husdenville - several buildings were destroyed. What led to tragedy? According to most experts, the cause of the catastrophe was an attempt to the crew of a supersonic aircraft to escape from a collision with the "Mirage". When entering the landing "TU" fell into a sensate jet from the French fighter "Mirage".

Video: Tu-144 wreck in 1973: how it was

This version is provided in the book of Gina Alexander "Russian aircraft from 1944" and in the article by Evieyshn Wick & Space Tenolodzhi magazine for June 11, 1973, written in fresh traces. The authors believe that Pilot Mikhail Kozlov went to the landing not on that strip - whether by mistakes the head of the flight, or by the inattention of the pilots. The dispatcher noticed a mistake in time and warned Soviet pilots. But instead of going to the second round, Kozlov laid a steep turn - and it turned out to be right in front of the nose of the French Air Force fighter. The second pilot at this time was filmed by a film chamber about the crew "TU" for French television and therefore was not fastened. During the maneuver, he fell on the central console, and, while he returned to the place, he had already lost height. Kozlov dramatically pulled the steering wheel - overload: the right wing could not stand. But another explanation of the terrible tragedy. Kozlov received an order to squeeze the maximum of the car. In while takeoff, he took a little vertical angle at low speed. For a liner with such a configuration it is fraught with huge overloads. As a result, one of the external nodes could not stand and fell off.

According to the workers of OKB A.N.Tuolev, the cause of the catastrophe was in connecting the unworn analog control unit of the control system, which led to the exit to the destructive overload.

The spyware version belongs to the writer James Alberg. Briefly she is as follows. Tips tried to "furnish" Concord. Group N.D. Kuznetsova created good engines, but they could not work at low temperatures, unlike Concordovsky. Then the Soviet intelligence officers were included in the case. Penkovsky through his agent, Grevil Wajna, got part of the drawings of the "Concord" and sent them to Moscow through the Eastern Hermann Market Representative. British counterintelligence thus set the leakage, but, instead of arresting the spy, decided to let me in Moscow disinformation through its channels. As a result, Tu-144 appeared, very similar to "Concord". It is difficult for the truth, because "black boxes" did not clarify anything. One was found in Bourget, at the site of the disaster, however, judging by reports damaged. The second did not find it. It is believed that the "black box" of the supersonic aircraft became the subject of discord between the KGB and GRU.

According to pilots, freelance situations occurred in almost every flight. On May 23, 1978, the second wreck of a supersonic aircraft occurred. Improved experimental version of the liner, Tu-144D (No. 77111) After the fuel ignition in the Motogondal Zone of the 3rd power plant due to the destruction of the fuel line, smoke in the cockpit and turn off the crew of two engines made a forced landing on the field at the village of Ilinsky, not far from the city Egorievsk.

After landing, the crew commander V. Popov, the second pilot E. V. Elhyan and the Svurman V. V. Yazgin, left the crew cockpit. Engineered in the cabin, V. M. Kulesh, V. A. Isaev, V. N. Starpovsky left the liner through the front entrance door. O. A. Nikolaev's flight engineers and V. L. Venediktov turned out to be clamped in the workplace deformed when landing structures and died. (The rejected nasal fairing touched the soil first, worked as a knife of the bulldozer, gaining land, and checked under the stomach, entering the fuselage.) On June 1, 1978, Aeroflot forever stopped supersonic passenger flights.

Improving a supersonic aircraft

Work on improving the supersonic aircraft continued for several more years. Five serial aircraft issued; Five more were in the process of construction. A new modification has been developed - TU-144D (Far). However, the choice of a new engine (more economical), RD-36-51, demanded a significant redevelopment of the aircraft, especially the energy installation. Serious constructive gaps in this area led to a delay in the release of a new liner. Only in November 1974 serial Tu-144D (the onboard number 77105) rose into the air, and nine later (!) After his first flight, on November 1, 1977, a supersonic aircraft received a state-of-law certificate. On the same day passenger flights are open. For their shorttenance, the liners transported 3194 passengers. On May 31, 1978, flights stopped: on one of the serial Tu-144D there was a fire, and the liner failed a catastrophe, crashing with a forced landing.

The catastrophes in Paris and Egoryevsk led to the fact that interest in the project from the state decreased. From 1977 to 1978, 600 problems were revealed. As a result, in the 1980s, the supersonic aircraft was decided to remove, explaining this "bad influence on the health of people when moving a sound barrier." Nevertheless, four of the five Tu-144Ds who were in the production were still completed. In the future, they were based in Zhukovsky and climbed into the air as flying laboratories. In total, 16 supersonic aircraft were built (including in the far modification) who have committed a total of 2556 departures. By the mid-1990s, ten were preserved: four in museums (Monino, Kazan, Kuibyshev, Ulyanovsk); One stayed at the factory in Voronezh, where it was built; Another one was in Zhukovsky together with four Tu-144D.

Subsequently, Tu-144D was used only for freight traffic between Moscow and Khabarovsk. In total, a supersonic aircraft made 102 flights under the flag of Aeroflot, of which 55 - passenger (3 194 passengers were transported).

Later, supersonic aircraft performed only test flights and several flights in order to establish world records.

NK-32 engines were installed on the Tu-144l due to the lack of suitable NK-144 or RD-36-51, similar to those used on Tu-160, a variety of sensors and testing instrumentation.

A total of 16 Tu-144 liners were built, which committed a total of 2,556 departures and flew 4 110 hours (among them most of all, 432 hours, boarding 77144). The construction of four more liners has not been completed.

What happened to airplanes

The total was built 16 - board 68001, 77101, 77102, 77105, 77106, 77107, 77108, 77109, 771110, 77111, 77112, 77111, 77114, 77115, 77116 and 77144.

The remaining in flight state is currently not existing. Practically fully equipped with parts and up-to-flight states of Tu-144L No. 77114 and TU-144D No. 77115 can be restored.

In the restoration state of Tu-144L No. 77114, which was used for NASA tests, is stored at the airfield in Zhukovsky.

Tu-144D No. 77115 is also kept at the airfield in Zhukovsky. In 2007, both liners were re-painted and exhibited for general visits at the MAKS-2007 air show.

No. 77114 and No. 77115 will most likely be established as monuments or to be exhibited at the airfield in Zhukovsky. In 2004-2005, some transactions were made to sell them on scrap metal, but the aviation community protests led to their preservation. The danger of selling them on scrap is not completely eliminated. Questions about whose property they will be finally resolved.

In the photo, the signature of the first cosmonaut landed on the moon of Nile Armstrong, the pilot of the cosmonaut Georgy Timofeevich coast and all the dead crew members. Supersonic aircraft No. 77102 crashed during a demonstration flight at the air show in Le Bourget. All 6 crew members (Honored Test pilot of the Hero of the Soviet Union M.V. Kozlov, Tester pilot V.M. Molchanov, North-Bagomenov, Deputy Chief Designer, Engineer General Major V.N. Benders, Lead Engineer B.A.Pervukhin and flight engineer A.I.Ralin) died.

From left to right. Six members of the crew of a supersonic aircraft №77102: Honored Test pilot Hero of the Soviet Union M.V. Kozlov, Tester pilot V.M. Molchanov, North-Bagainov navigator, Deputy Chief Designer, Engineer General Major General V.N. Benders, leading engineer B.A.Pervukhin and flight engineer A.I.Ralin (who should not clarify as regret). Next, the pilot-cosmonaut twice the hero of the Soviet Union Major General Coast Georgy Timofeevich, following him, Lavrov Vladimir Aleksandrovich, then the first American cosmonaut landed on the moon Nile Armstrong, further (they are behind the NIL) - Stepan Gavrilovich Korneev (Head of UVS from the Department of External Relations Presidium of the Academy of Sciences), in the center of Tupolev Andrei Nikolayevich - the Covenory Aviation Center, Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Colonel-General, three times Hero of Socialist Labor, Hero of Labor RSFSR, Main Designer of the Plant, Soviet Aircraft Design, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Honored Science Worker Both the technique of the RSFSR, the hero of socialist labor. The extreme right of Tupolev Alexey Andreyevich (son A.N.Tuolev) is the Russian aircraft designer, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences since 1984, the hero of socialist labor. The picture was made in 1970. Signatures in the photo of T. Beregovoy and Nile Armstrong.

Concord

Accord Concord.

Currently, the liner is not operated due to a disaster on July 25, 2000. On April 10, 2003, British Airways and Air France announced the decision to stop the commercial operation of their "Concords" Park. Recent flights took place on October 24th. The last flight of "Concord" took place on November 26, 2003, G-BOAF (the last liner built) flew out of Heathrow, flew over the Biscay Bay, made a passage over Bristol, and landed at Filton Airport.

Why the supersonic aircraft no longer exploit

A supersonic Tupolev aircraft is often called the "lost generation". Intercontinental flights are recognized as non-economic: in the hour of the flight, the supersonic aircraft burned eight times more fuel than the usual passenger. For the same reason, distant flights were not justified - in Khabarovsk and Vladivostok. It is impractical to use a supersonic "TU" as a transport liner due to its small carrying capacity. True, passenger transportation on it was still a prestigious and profitable business for Aeroflot, although the tickets were considered very expensive at that time. Even after the official closure of the project, in August 1984, the head of the Zhukovsky flight test base of Klimov, the head of the design department of Puhov and the deputy chief designer Popov, with the support of the enthusiasts of supersonic flights, was restored and two liners were put into operation, and in 1985, they achieved permission to perform flights for Establishment of world records. Crews of Aganov and Veremay have been installed more than 18 world records in the class of supersonic aircraft - speed, railing and flight range with cargo.

On March 16, 1996, the Tu-144l Research Flight Series began in Zhukovsky, who laid the beginning of the development of a second generation of supersonic passenger liners.

95-99 years. A supersonic aircraft with onboard number 77114 was used by American NASA as a flying laboratory. Rated Tu-144L. The main purpose is the research and testing of American developments to create your own modern supersonic aircraft for passenger traffic.

The speed of the sound wave is not permanent even if the sound of the propagation medium is air. The speed of sound at a fixed air temperature and atmospheric pressure changes with an increase in height above sea level.

As height increases above sea, the speed of sound is reduced. The conditional point of the size is the zero level of the sea. So, the speed at which the sound wave is applied along the aqueous glad to 340.29 m / s, under the condition of ambient air temperature in 15 0 s and atmospheric pressure of 760 mm. Hg So, airplanes flying at a speed higher than the speed of sound, called supersonic.

The first achievement of supersonic speed

Supervice aircraft are called aircraft based on their physical ability to move at speeds higher than sound waves. In our usual kilometers per hour, this figure is rudely equal to 1200 km / h.

More aircraft Times of the Second World War with Piston DVS and Creating Air Flow Propellers during dive already reached a speed mark of 1000 km / h. True on the stories of pilots, during these moments the plane began to terribly shake due to severe vibration. The feeling was that wings can simply break away from the fuselage part of the aircraft.

Subsequently, when creating supersonic aircraft, designer engineers took into account the influence of air flows on the construction of aircraft when the speed is reached.

Overcoming a supersonic barrier by aircraft

When the plane moves among the air masses, it literally dissecting the air in all directions, creating a noise effect and divergers in all directions of the air pressure wave. When the aircraft is reached, the sound speed occurs when the sound wave is not able to overtake the aircraft. Because of this, a shock wave in the form of a dense barrier from the air occurs in front of the front part of the aircraft.

The air layer arising in front of the aircraft at the time of reaching the aircraft speed of the sound creates a sharp increase in resistance, which serves as a source of change in the characteristics of the aircraft stability.

When the plane flies, sound waves spread from it in all directions with sound speed. When the aircraft reaches the speed m \u003d 1, that is, speed speeds, sound waves accumulate in front of it and form a layer of compacted air. At speeds above the speed of sound, these waves form a shock wave, which reaches the Earth. The shock wave is perceived as a sound blow, acoustically perceived by the human ear at the bottom of ground surface as a deaf explosion.

This effect can be constantly observed when carrying out the teachings of supersonic aircraft in the civilian population in the flight area.

Another interesting physical phenomenon during the flight of supersonic aircraft is a visual advance of aircraft of their own sound. The sound is observed with some delay behind the tail of the aircraft.

Maha number in aviation

The theory with a confirming experimental process of formation of shock waves was still demonstrated long before the first flight of the supersonic aircraft Austrian physicist Ernst Makh (1838 - 1916). The value expresses the ratio of the speed of the aircraft to the speed of the sound wave is called today in honor of the scientist - in a mum.

As we have already reached in the aqueous part, such meteorological conditions as pressure, humidity and air temperature affect the speed of sound in the air. The temperature depending on the height of the aircraft is varied from +50 on the surfaces of the Earth to -50 in the stratosphere layers. Therefore, local meteo conditions are required at different heights to achieve supersonic velocities.

For comparison over the zero marketer of the sea level, the speed of the sound is 1240 km / h, whereas at an altitude of more than 13 thousand km. This speed is reduced to 1060 km / h.

If you take the ratio of the speed of the aircraft to the sound speed per m, then with the value of M\u003e 1, it will always be supervuminous speed.

Airplanes with subsonic speed are M \u003d 0.8. Mach values \u200b\u200bof 0.8 to 1.2 are set to accommodate speed. But the hypersonic aircraft have the number of Mach more than 5. From the famous military Russian supersonic aircraft, you can allocate the SU-27 - the fighter interceptor, Tu-22m - a bomber of the rocket miner. From the American Known SR-71 - the intelligence plane. The first supersonic aircraft within the framework of mass production was the American F-100 fighter in 1953.

Space shuttle model during testing in a supersonic aerodynamic pipe. The special shadow photo technique allowed to capture where shock waves arise.

First supersonic aircraft

In 30 years from 1940 to 1970, the speed of aircraft has grown several times. The first flight with arrogant speed was completed on October 14, 1947 on the American Bell XS-1 plane in California over the air base.

Pilotted the Bell XS-1 jet plane Captain American Air Force Chuck Jig. He managed to overclock the device to a speed of 1066 km / h. During this test, a significant amount of data was obtained for further jolts in the development of supersonic aircraft.

Construction of wings of supersonic aircraft

The lifting force and windshield at speed increase, so the wings become less, thinner and acquired a sweat-shaped form, improving the flow.

At airplanes adapted to supersonic wings, as opposed to conventional subsonic aircraft, stretched under an acute angle back, reminding the arrow tip. Externally, the wings have formed a triangle in a single plane with its acute-coronal vertex in front of the aircraft. The triangular geometry of the wing made it possible to control the aircraft predictably at the time of the transition of the sound barrier and as a result, avoid vibrations.

There are models in which wings with variable geometry were used. At the time of takeoff and landing, the angle of the wing relative to the aircraft was 90 degrees, that is, perpendicular. This is necessary to create a maximum lifting force at the time of takeoff and landing, that is, at the moment when the speed is reduced and the lifting force in acute angle with the unchanged geometry reaches its critical minimum. With increasing speed, the geometry of the wing varies to the maximum acute angle at the base of the triangle.

Planes-record holders

During the race behind record speeds in the sky by the Bell-X15 aircraft, on board which a rocket engine was installed, a record speed was reached 6.72 or 7200 km / h in 1967. This record could not beat a long time later.

And only in 2004, the unmanned hypersonic aircraft NASA X-43, which was developed for a flight with a hypersonic speed, was able to overclock the third flight to a record 11,850 km / h.

The first two flights ended unsuccessfully. Today this is the highest digit of the aircraft speed.

Testing supersonic car

On this jet supersonic car, Thrust SSCs are installed 2 aviation engines. In 1997, he became the first ground vehicleovercoming the sound barrier. As with supersonic flight, a shock wave appears in front of the car.

The approach of the car is silent, because the entire noise created is concentrated in the shock wave behind him.

Supersonic aircraft in civil aviation

As for civil supersonic aircraft, there are 2 serial aircraft that fulfill regular flights: Soviet Tu-144 and French Concorde. Tu-144 carried out his debut departure in 1968. These devices were intended for distant transatlantic flights. The flight time was significantly reduced in comparison with subsonic devices by increasing the height of the flight to 18 km, where the aircraft used an unloaded air corridor and passed the cloud load.

The first civilian supersonic aircraft of the USSR Tu-144 completed its flights in 1978 due to their unprofitability. The final point in solving the refusal to operate in regular flights was made due to the catastrophe of an experimental instance of Tu-144D during its test. Although it is worth noting that the Tu-144 aircraft continued to operate for urgent postal and freight delivery from Moscow to Khabarovsk until 1991.

Meanwhile, despite expensive ticketsThe French Supersonic Concord Airplane continued to provide Avaareic services for its European customers until 2003. But in the end, despite the richest social layer of European inhabitants, the issue of unprofitability was still inevitable.

Flew the land in a couple of hours. This is not a myth, this is a reality, if you are a passenger of a super fast plane.

Boeing X-43

The hypersonic X-43A aircraft is the fastest aircraft in the world. During testing, the drone showed fantastic results, he flew at a speed of 11230 kilometers per hour. This is about 9.6 times more than the speed of sound.

Designed and created the Machine X-43A NASA, Orbital Sciences Corporation and Microcraft Inc. In order for the record holder to appear on the light, it took about ten years of research in the field of supersonic direct-flow air-jet engines, which are capable of overclocking aircraft to supersonic speeds. The project took the quarter a billion dollars.

The fastest plane on the planet does not differ in large sizes. The swings of his wings of just a half meters, the length is only 3.6 meters. At the rapid aircraft installed an experimental direct-current engine of supersonic combustion of SuperSonic Combustion Ramjet (SCRAMJET). And his main feature is that there are no rubbing details. Well, the fuel on which the record holder flies is a mixture of oxygen and hydrogen. The creators did not take place under special tanks for oxygen, it is closed directly from the atmosphere. This made it possible to reduce the mass of the aircraft. As a result, as a result of using hydrogen oxygen, the engine highlights ordinary water vapor.

The fastest aircraft in the world of Boeing X-43 flies at a speed of 11 230 km / h

It is worth noting that the fastest aircraft in the world was designed specifically for testing the latest technology, namely a hypersonic alternative to modern turbojet engines. Scientists believe that hypersonic aircraft will be able to fly to any point of the ground in just 3-4 hours.

Orbital Sciences Corporation X-34

X-34 is also the fastest aircraft. Moreover, it can develop even more speed than the previous one, namely 12144 kilometers per hour. However, in the list of fastest it is still in second place. All because at the experiments he was able to develop a speed less than 11230 kilometers per hour. Acceleration The plane gets using a Pegasus solid fuel missile (Pegasus), which is attached to the aircraft.

For the first time, this fastest aircraft in the world in the spring of 2001 was tested. And to create and test the engine of the Hyper-X apparatus, it took 7 years and 250 million dollars. Tests X-34 ended with success only in the spring of 2004. Then during the launch of the Pacific Ocean near the Island of St. Nicholas, the car accelerated to 11 thousand kilometers per hour. This plane is greater than the record holder. The length of the aircraft is 17.78 meters, the wingspan of 8.85 meters, the height is already 3.5 meters. The aircraft flies quickly, but he has an impressive 1270 kilograms. Maximum which height he can rise - 75 kilometers.

North American X-15

X-15 is an already experimental American-rocket plane, it is equipped with rocket engines. X-15 The first and for forty years old in the entire history of the piloted hypersonic aircraft, which made subborital cosmic flights with pilots. This aircraft has the main task - to study the flight conditions on hypersonic speeds, as well as investigate the conditions for entering the atmosphere of the winged devices. It is intended to evaluate new design solutions, coatings, as well as psychophysical aspects of management under the conditions of the upper layers of the atmosphere. The concept of the project was approved in 1954. And in the flight was recorded an unofficial record of the height, which was held since 1963 and until 2004. This plane is able to fly at a speed of 7274 kilometers per hour.

However, despite the impressive speed, the plane weighs very decent - more than 15 thousand kilograms. But this is taking into account the mass of fuel. When landing, the aircraft weighs two times less. The height to which X-15 can rise is almost 110 kilometers. Well, the range of the flight is 543.4 kilometers.

SR-71 ("BlackBird")

SR-71 is a strategic supersonic US Air Force Scout. And this is the fastest aircraft, besides the highest-length serial. That remains over the past 25 years. It has quite compact dimensions: length is 32.76 meters, height is 5.64 meters, and the wingspan of 16.95 meters. With such data, the mass of the aircraft is impressive, when it takes it over 77 thousand kilograms, however, an empty aircraft weighs about 27 thousand kilograms. Well, the maximum speed with which SR-71 - 3715 kilometers per hour is capable of flying.

MiG-25 ("Bat")

But this is the fastest on the planet jet military aircraft. It was on it that exactly 29 world records were installed. Two varieties of this aircraft were developed and built: the interceptor and scout. The length of the aircraft is 23.82 meters, the height of almost 6 meters, the wingspan of 13.95 at the scout and 14,015 at the interceptor. The maximum take-off mass of the aircraft is 41200 kilograms, and when landing it is equal to 18,800 kilograms. MiG-25 flies at a speed of 3395 kilometers per hour.

Fighter-interceptor MiG-25 - the fastest aircraft in Russia

MiG 31.

This is a double supersonic interceptor fighter, which is intended for flights to any weather and is a distant radius aircraft. MiG 31 is the first Soviet 4th generation combat aircraft. It is necessary for intercepting and destroying targets in the air on large, medium, small and extremely small heights, at night and day, in different meteo conditions, with active and passive radar interference from the enemy, even false thermal purposes. Four MiG-31 aircraft can control air space 800-900 kilometers. One aircraft has a length of 21.62 meters, a height of 6.5 meters and wings span 13.45 meters. The car flies at a speed of 3 thousand kilometers per hour.

McDonnel Douglas F-15 ("Needle")

And this is an all-weather American tactical fighter of the 4th generation. He is able to conquer superiority in the air. The needle adopted in 1976. In total there are 22 modifications of the aircraft. F-15 was used in the Persian Gulf, Yugoslavia and the Middle East. The fighter develops a maximum speed of 2650 kilometers per hour.

General Daeinemix F-111 ("AARDVARK" or "PIG")

F-111 - Double tactical bomber. In 1996, he was taken out of the combat composition of the US Air Force. The speed of its movement is 2645 kilometers per hour.
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