The dream of a hypersonic aircraft, one that overcomes the sound barrier and allows intercontinental trips to be made in a matter of a few hours, has been a dream for decades. The mythical Concorde brought us closer to it for a while, and then returned to current reality. At least until now, because a team of Chinese scientists have launched a hypersonic plane and have reached a speed that could cover the distance from Beijing to New York in two hours.
According to Chinese media, during a 2021 test flight that was widely reported for the first time this week, a scaled-down prototype of the plane reached a top speed of Mach 6.56, or more than six times the speed of sound. The test has provided early validation of a design that, when presented for the first timeit was believed impossible.
“At that time, everyone thought it was a crazy idea – explained Cui Kai, project leader and researcher at the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences -. We face almost universal skepticism. Fortunately, we chose to persevere. I always believed that innovation thrives in the midst of doubt”.
The plane marks a significant departure from the svelte hypersonic vehicles seen previously. It has a thick, round fuselage and cape-shaped wings at the back.
This means that, in the future, hypersonic aircraft could carry as many passengers or as much cargo as today’s jumbo jets. After a decade of work on the plane, Cui’s team gained permission for a test flight at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China’s Gobi Desert.
The nearly 20-minute test flight, which could prove a historic milestone in human aviation, addresses a long-standing challenge for aircraft designers: As flight speed increases, the usable space inside the cabin decreases. That’s why an adult passenger could easily hit their head while standing on the legendary Concorde supersonic airliner.
All hypersonic aircraft now capable of flying at speeds above Mach 5 have severely limited internal space, which restricts its use to military applications such as missiles and unmanned reconnaissance aircraft. At high speeds, the nose of a large fuselage experiences significant downward pressure, impairing its ability to climb.
To resolve this, Cui’s team added a large wing area above the fuselage to convert this downward pressure into upward lift.effectively turning a disadvantage into an advantage.
However, this resulted in a design of unprecedented complexity. After revealing the concept to the public in 2018, Cui’s team continued refining it and conducting wind tunnel testing.
Tests were conducted several times to validate the viability of various models, paving the way for the successful test flight. For now, those responsible for the advance did not reveal the construction status of the full-scale aircraft nor its expected date of first flight.
“Despite having such advanced technology, We still face numerous challenges that must be addressed directly, including those related to energy, materials and structure – Cui concluded -. “We have only completed a small fraction of the work and have taken a modest step forward, but it will undoubtedly be a huge step forward.”