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The latest news about fast emergence in borders of Syria of navy of China encouraged Syrians and res[...]
The Challenges of Supersonic Flight
When World War II ended in 1945, it had created a legacy of new aviation technology. Aircraft designers wondered how to use recently developed rocket engines and jet engines in civilian flying. These developments had opened the door to supersonic flight, or flying faster than the speed of sound.
The speed of sound, in air at sea level, is about 761 miles per hour (1,225 kilometers per hour), but it is lower at higher altitudes. The speed of sound is also known as Mach 1. Twice the speed of sound is Mach 2, and three times the speed of sound is Mach 3.
TECH**TALK
Length: 31 feet (9.5 meters).
Wingspan: 28 feet (8.5 meters).
Weight: 12,250 pounds (5,562 kilograms).
Engine: Reaction Motors XLR-11- RM-3 four-chamber rocket engine.
Fuel: Alcohol and liquid oxygen.
Thrust: 6,000 pounds (2,722 kilograms or 26,689 newtons).
The Bell X-1 was shaped like a bullet for maximum streamlining. Its wings and tailplane were conventional in design. (In the 1940s, other experimental high-speed aircraft had strange shapes.) The stubby-winged X-1, however, had hidden secrets. Its wings were thin but very strong. A stabilizer, which the pilot could move up and down, improved stability and control. Later supersonic planes were also fitted with stabilizers.
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Although propeller aircraft had reached supersonic speed during dives, very little was known about how a plane behaved at such speeds. Nor did scientists know much about the effect of high-speed flying on pilots. Designers worried that pilots might lose consciousness or that the plane would become uncontrollable. Heat friction and pressure waves as the airplane reached supersonic speeds might shatter the aircraft into pieces.
U. S. scientists built the Experimental Sonic 1, or X-1 for short, to explore these problems. The X-1 was developed jointly by the U. S. Air Force, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, and the Bell Company. Bell is now best known for making helicopters, but in 1942 it built the P-59 Airacomet, the first jet plane with a U. S.-built engine.