DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Boeing X-51A WaveRider Hypersonic Jet Crashes

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS:  Boeing X-51A WaveRider Hypersonic Jet Crashes

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Boeing
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - August 15, 2012: The Air Force confirms that a hypersonic jet called the X-51A WaveRider  crashed in the Pacific Ocean today after one of its control fins failed.  The unmanned aircraft was launched from an Air Force B-52 bomber over Point Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center at around 11:36 this morning, Pacific time.

At first, the launch looked good. The WaveRider separated from the B-52 as planned, and its booster rockets fired properly. Then, after about 16 seconds of flight, the control fin was  found to be faulty and the jet tumbled out of control.

“All our data showed we had created the right conditions for engine ignition and we were very hopeful to meet our test objectives,” said Charles Brink, the project manager, in a statement.  The failure, he said, was “unfortunate.”

Researchers are analyzing data from the failed test, after which the Air Force says it will release the results of the investigation. The X-51A has had two previous successful tests, including one two years ago during which it flew for more than three minutes at five times the speed of sound.

With this latest test, the Air Force had hoped the speed would increase to 4,600 mph, roughly six times the speed of sound.

The Air Force hasn’t disclosed the cost of the WaveRider program, but Globalsecurity.org, a website that tracks military spending, says the project has cost $250-300 million since it began in 2004.  After today’s test only one aircraft remains, and Air Force officials have not decided when or if it will fly.


*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Boeing 
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DTN News: Boeing, Air Force Research Lab, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne To Conduct X-51A WaveRider Flight Test On May 25

DTN News: Boeing, Air Force Research Lab, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne To Conduct X-51A WaveRider Flight Test On May 25

Source: DTN News / Boeing

(NSI News Source Info) EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., - May 22, 2010: The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] announced on May 20., that the X-51A WaveRider will make its first hypersonic flight test attempt from Edwards Air Force Base on Tuesday, May 25. The unmanned aerial vehicle will be released from a B-52 bomber off the southern California coast. The X-51A is expected to fly autonomously for five minutes -- powered by a supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet) motor -- accelerate to about Mach 6 and transmit large amounts of data to ground stations before it splashes down into the Pacific and breaks up, as planned. There are no plans to recover the flight test vehicle, one of four built. "In those 300 seconds, we hope to learn more about hypersonic flight with a practical scramjet engine than all previous flight tests combined," said Charlie Brink, X-51A program manager with the Air Force Research Laboratory's Propulsion Directorate at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The longest previous hypersonic scramjet flight test, performed by a NASA X-43 in 2004, was faster, but lasted only about 10 seconds and used less logistically supportable hydrogen fuel. The X-51A program is a collaborative effort of the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, with industry partners The Boeing Company and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. The May 25 attempt will be the only hypersonic flight attempt this fiscal year, a change from the original test plan, which was to fly once in December 2009 and three more times in 2010. A combination of factors, including high demand for flight-test and range assets such as the B-52, contributed to the pause. "This is an experimental X-plane and it's a complicated test. We knew the original schedule was aggressive and we would need to be flexible," said Brink. "It's also expensive to keep a staff of engineers and support staff at the ready and then not be able to fly when supporting assets aren’t available. So we elected to make only one hypersonic try this spring and then pause for a few months to conserve funding." Alex Lopez, Boeing vice president of Advanced Network & Space Systems, said the X-51A program will pave the way to hypersonic weapons and future access to space. "This is been a major team effort for the past seven years," said Lopez. "If the test flight meets even a subset of our expectations, the leap in engine technology will be the equivalent to the post-World War II leap from propellers to jet engines. It will be a historic event." A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is one of the world's largest defense, space and security businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world's largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is a $34 billion business with 68,000 employees worldwide. NOTE TO NEWS MEDIA: The X-51A flight test at Edwards is not open to news media. Boeing and the Air Force will publish a release, still and video imagery following the test and post on www.af.mil and www.dvidshub.net. Broadcast-quality interviews with program-affiliated personnel, X-51 b-roll video and animation are already available at www.dvidshub.net. Contact: Christina E. Kelly

Boeing Phantom Works Communications

714-756-0378

christina.e.kelly@boeing.com