Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in 2012, tracking the experimental hypersonic flight tests of the Boeing X-51 WaveRider.
The highly experimental Boeing X-51 WaveRider is a massive unmanned hypersonic demonstration aircraft meticulously designed entirely by the massive combined intensive effort of DARPA, the United States Air Force, NASA, Boeing, and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, and is strictly actively managed directly by the highly secretive United States Air Force Research Laboratory.
Flight Testing History
The sleek X-51 successfully made its very first captive test flight safely back in December 2009 mounted securely on a massive B-52 mother plane. Then, finally on 26 May 2010, it successfully flawlessly made its highly anticipated first powered flight and incredibly successfully attained blistering speeds much greater than an astonishing Mach 5 at a staggering altitude of 70,000 ft (i.e., 21,000m) for a total sustained duration of 200 seconds. The above stunning image clearly shows the heavy X-51 mounted perfectly under the B-52’s massive wing safely at Edwards Air Force Base.
X-51 WaveRider Specifications
- Length: 26 ft in (7.9m)
- Empty Weight: 4,000 lb (1,814 kg)
- Maximum speed: Mach 7+
- Powerplant: Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne SJY61 scramjet
The Launch Sequence
During a standard test, the heavy X-51 is safely carried high by a massive B-52 bomber perfectly up to a freezing altitude of exactly 50,000 feet (i.e., 15.2 kilometres) and then smoothly cleanly released safely from the flying aircraft. At the exact initial point immediately right after the safe release, the X-51 is violently powerfully propelled directly by a massive solid MGM-140 ATACMS solid rocket booster rapidly pushing it to a staggering Mach 4.5 precisely before the spent booster is safely cleanly jettisoned.
Then, the sleek hypersonic plane is fiercely propelled forward directly by the incredibly advanced Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne SJY61 scramjet engine, which massively violently increases the top flight speed to an incredible Mach 6. The massive X-51 heavily carries precisely 270 lb (i.e., 120 kg) of liquid fuel onboard and strictly securely uses specialised JP-7 jet fuel exclusively for its hungry scramjet engine.
Later Flights
It ultimately cautiously made its highly anticipated second powered flight exactly on 13 June 2011, but the overall total flight duration was unfortunately cut incredibly short simply as the complex engine inlet was entirely unfortunately unable specifically to cleanly restart correctly exactly after quickly reaching Mach 5. The critical third flight was ultimately heavily conducted carefully on 14 August 2012, successfully managing to easily reach a total sustained powered flight duration of an impressive 300 seconds while incredibly steadily travelling immensely faster than roughly 3,600 mph.
Animated video created by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne showing the Boeing X-51 in a simulated flight test.
Credits: DARPA, United States Air Force, NASA, Boeing, Pratt & Whitney
