AS OF 3-27-04 THE X-43A IS THE FASTEST AIR BREATHING VEHICLE IN THE
WORLD AT MACH 7.0 OR A BIT OVER 5000 M.P.H.!!! NOW WERE COOKIN WITH FIRE . THE SR-71 RECORD HAS FALLEN BY THE WAYSIDE SO SORRY
BUT THATS PROGRESS AND SOON THE WORLD WILL BECOME A SMALLER
PLACE FOR ALL OF US WHO LIKE TO FLY I CANT WAIT FOR THE DAY THAT
HAPPENS LIKE I SAY HE WHO RULES THE AIR RULES ALL DEATH FROM
ABOVE TREADHEADS BEWARE BECAUSE NOW IN THE BLINK OF THE EYE
WELL BE THERE …OPPS ANOTHER TANK BITES THE DUST!!!
WELL BOYS AND FELLOW AIRHEADS NEXT STOP MACH 10.0 !!![:D][:D][:D]
LET THE RIDE BEGIN…
Great news, but let’s not forget this is only an unmanned vehicle… Taking two people or 100, up in the air and at those speeds will still take a few years!
[#ditto] on the manned flight. Nonetheless, that’s an amazingly fast speed. Kind of makes you wonder what the point of it is. Hopefully it will eventually see it into the civil sector…
Well, it has been 40 + years since the SR-71 was designed. the speed record had to go sooner or later. Funny thing about the X-43 is that it’s only 12 feet long with a wing span of 5 feet and only weighs 2800 pounds and brand new too boot. Tiny and no crew.mmm… the SR-71 is 107’5" long with a 55’ 7" wing span weighs in between 60 to 107 thousand pounds and carries a crew of one or two depending. Designed in the 1950’s built in the 60’s and takes off on it’s own. The X-43 has a long way to go before it can really claim anything execpt it’s X designation,
i agree with others above that a manned flight is worth more than what was achieved, but this is not too say that the blokes who designed it did nothing short of an outstanding acheivement & it does pave the way for future projects & aircraft design. Congrats to all involved.
but lets face it - i would prefer to see an aircraft that is able to reach that speed by its OWN means - from 0 to max speed and back to a controlled zero (without crashing to acheive it). I dont think a piggy back buy a mothership then a rocket counts for such records (comparing the Sr-71 & concord to the X-43 - two very different styles of planes - its like a bloke in the Super Heavy Weight division fighting a bloke in the feather weight league). I understand that this was required to force the surrounding oxygen to fuel the engine, but i suppose its a start!
second of all - i dont think mach 8 at that altitude really counts. Its like doing mach 10 in space. I’m no physics scientist and i do understand that friction at lower altitudes will destory the aircraft at those speeds. but c’mon? I know that the future of travel may require planes to go that high, but its kind of cheating - you are comparing apples & oranges! it should be relative - and in that case what is the speed of sound at 8,000ft, cos the speed of sound is measured at sea level (please correct me if i’m wrong).
I dont want to get into a slinging match with any of you aero buffs or engineers who know a heck lot more than me.
lastly, i do applaud the achievement, cos just like the Wright Brothers 100yrs ago, it takes something so little to change the world in which we live. Well done!
putting a man in the X-43 would not be difficult at all. The X-15 flew at mach 6.7+ and I may be wrong but I think orbital rockets flew faster. About the only thing significant about the X-43 is it means the US is back to spending money on X-planes again.
Actually correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the technology of the X-43 similar (at some conceptual level) to that of fuel cell technology? Hydrogen and oxygen? Pretty frikin’ significant if you ask me. Bye-bye fosil fuel dependency and Middle East terrorist funds. There’s a part of the world that’s just gonna crater.
Back to the X-43, apparently they’re predicting it can do Mach 10… [bow][bow]