NASA's X-59 completes early envelope expansion flight test maneuvers
Updated
Updated · NASA · Apr 30
NASA's X-59 completes early envelope expansion flight test maneuvers
7 articles · Updated · NASA · Apr 30
During its first test block, the experimental aircraft flew rollercoaster, bank-to-bank, flutter excitation, wings-level push and gear-extension maneuvers, while engineers assessed the resulting flight data.
NASA said the tests are helping measure aerodynamic forces, stability, control, structural loads, vibration and handling qualities as the aircraft is pushed higher and faster.
Landing gear retraction was also tested, part of the critical envelope expansion phase used to define safe operating margins for the X-59's future flight programme.
As the X-59 nears Mach 1, what is the greatest remaining hurdle in its quest for a quiet sonic boom?
Now that overland supersonic flight is legal, can the X-59's 'quiet thump' create a viable commercial market?