China tested the hypersonic aircraft separation system from the carrier at 8644 km/h
Chinese scientists are looking for a way to safely separate the aircraft from the carrier in the air at hypersonic speeds. In one of their latest tests, they used a scheme that fighter planes used to take off from aircraft carriers, i.e., a springboard.
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The test took place in the JF-12 hypersonic wind tunnel under the direction of Wang Yunpeng, an associate professor at the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. A 1-meter long carrier and a 1-in-80 scale model of an orbital aircraft were developed for the experiment.
The Chinese researchers believe that the technology of ski jumps, which was previously used to take off fighter planes from aircraft carriers and is already considered obsolete, can be adapted for orbital launches. Scientists believe that the old method will help them solve the problem of unpredictable turbulence, which occurs at hypersonic speeds, and achieve a smooth separation of the aircraft from the carrier.
The experiment showed that this is possible. During the test, the model airplane separated from the carrier in a fraction of a second. In this case, the descent occurred at a speed seven times the speed of sound, ie 8644 km / h. On the slow motion video it was possible to see that because of the turbulence the nose of the plane rose, and after that - the tail.
It is expected that in the future such a system will be used to provide suborbital flights from one point of our planet to another, as well as for flights into space. In such cases, the carrier will be used to accelerate to hypersonic speeds, which the shuttle with its passengers is unable to do.
According to the calculations of Chinese scientists, a full-size version of the plane weighing 87 tons will separate from the carrier in 8 seconds. This will not require more than 10% of the engine power, which will allow to do without the use of additional boosters.
Source: scmp
