This F-5E was modified by NASA for a constant area beyond drag optimum to reduce the sonic boom
Shaped Sonic Boom Demonstration used a F-5 Freedom Fighter modified with a new body shape, and was tested over a two year period in what has become the most extensive study on the sonic boom to date. After measuring the 1,300 recordings, some taken inside the shock wave by a chase plane, the SSBD demonstrated a reduction in boom by about one-third. Image File history File links 55051main_EC03-0210-1_F5E_2. ... Image File history File links 55051main_EC03-0210-1_F5E_2. ... Canadian Air Force CF-116 Freedom Fighters The F-5 Freedom Fighter (or Tiger II) is a fighter aircraft, designed and built by Northrop in the USA, beginning in 1962. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Supersonic. ...
The demonstration was part of the Quiet Supersonic Platform program funded by DARPA. Quiet Supersonic Platform (QSP) is a program funded by DARPA to lead to a supersonic plane with softer sonic boom. ... The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of new technology for use by the military. ...
High speed without a sonicboom is a cherished goal of supersonic business jet designers, and four teams are working to further the technology under NASA contracts, with results to be reviewed early next year.
The main focus of boom reduction efforts is to shape the pressure wave along the length of the aircraft so it won't coalesce into the standard sharp N-wave by the time it hits the ground.
NASA's sonicboom mitigation project (SBMP) is the successor to SSBE and is the one whose plans to build a second demonstrator have been cut short.
Sonicbooms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding much like an explosion; typically the shock front may approach 100 megawatts per square meter, and may exceed 200 decibels.
In contrast to the (super)sonic boom of an aircraft, this "tunnel boom" is caused by a rapid change of subsonic flow (due to the sudden narrowing of the surrounding space) rather than by a shock wave.
SSBD used a F-5 Freedom Fighter modified with a new body shape, and was tested over a two year period in what has become the most extensive study on the sonicboom to date.
Feeds |
Contact