History of supersonic aviation. supersonic aircraft

On February 6, 1950, during another test, the Soviet jet fighter MiG-17 in level flight exceeded the speed of sound, accelerating to almost 1070 km / h. This made it the first mass-produced supersonic aircraft. Developers Mikoyan and Gurevich were clearly proud of their brainchild.

For combat flights, the MiG-17 was considered near-sounding, since its cruising speed did not exceed 861 km / h. But this did not prevent the fighter from becoming one of the most common in the world. IN different time it was in service with Germany, China, Korea, Poland, Pakistan and dozens of other countries. This monster even took part in the fighting in the Vietnam War.

MiG-17 is far from the only representative of the genre supersonic aircraft. We will talk about a dozen more air liners that also got ahead of the sound wave and became famous all over the world.

Bell X-1

The US Air Force specially equipped the Bell X-1 with a rocket engine, as they wanted to use it to study the problems of supersonic flight. On October 14, 1947, the device accelerated to 1541 km / h (Mach number 1.26), overcame a given barrier and turned into a star in the sky. Today, the record-breaking model rests in the Smithsonian Museum in the States.

Source: NASA

North American X-15

The North American X-15 is also equipped with rocket engines. But, unlike its American counterpart Bell X-1, this aircraft reached a speed of 6167 km / h (Mach number 5.58), becoming the first and for 40 years the only manned hypersonic aircraft in the history of mankind (since 1959). who performed suborbital manned space flights. With its help, even the reaction of the atmosphere to the entry of winged bodies into it was studied. In total, three units of X-15 type rocket planes were produced.

Source: NASA

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird

Sin not to apply supersonic aircraft for military purposes. Therefore, the US Air Force designed the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, a strategic reconnaissance aircraft with a maximum speed of 3,700 km/h (Mach 3.5). The main advantages are fast acceleration and high maneuverability, which allowed him to evade missiles. Also, the SR-71 was the first aircraft to be equipped with technologies to reduce radar visibility.

Only 32 units built, 12 of which crashed. Removed from service in 1998.

Source: af.mil

MiG-25

We cannot but recall the domestic MiG-25 - a 3rd generation supersonic high-altitude fighter-interceptor with a maximum speed of 3000 km / h (Mach number 2.83). The plane was so cool that even the Japanese coveted it. Therefore, on September 6, 1976, Soviet pilot Viktor Belenko had to hijack a MiG-25. After that, for many years in many parts of the Union, the aircraft began to fill up not to the end. The goal is to prevent them from flying to the nearest foreign airport.

Source: Alexey Beltyukov

MiG-31

Soviet scientists did not stop working for the aerial good of the fatherland. Therefore, in 1968, the design of the MiG-31 began. And on September 16, 1975, he first flew into the sky. This two-seat, supersonic, all-weather long-range fighter-interceptor accelerated to a speed of 2,500 km/h (Mach number 2.35) and became the first fourth-generation Soviet combat aircraft.

The MiG-31 is designed to intercept and destroy air targets at extremely small, small, medium and high altitudes, day and night, in simple and difficult weather conditions, with active and passive radar interference, as well as false thermal targets. Four MiG-31s can control air space up to 900 kilometers long. This is not a plane, but the pride of the Union, which is still in service with Russia and Kazakhstan.

Source: Vitaly Kuzmin

Lockheed/Boeing F-22 Raptor

The most expensive supersonic aircraft was built by the Americans. They modeled a fifth-generation multirole fighter, which became the most expensive among their peers. The Lockheed/Boeing F-22 Raptor is the only fifth-generation fighter in service today and the first production fighter with a supersonic cruising speed of 1,890 km/h (Mach 1.78). The maximum speed is 2570 km/h (Mach 2.42). Until now, no one has surpassed him in the air.

Source: af.mil

Su-100/T-4

The Su-100/T-4 ("weave") was developed as an aircraft carrier fighter. But the engineers of the Sukhoi Design Bureau managed not only to achieve their goal, but to model a cool attack and reconnaissance bomber-missile carrier, which they later wanted to use even as passenger aircraft and booster for the Spiral aerospace system. The maximum speed of the T-4 is 3200 km/h (Mach 3).

avia-su.ru

The twin-engine fighter aircraft manufactured by the Sukhoi Design Bureau was adopted by the USSR Air Force in 1985, although it made its first flight as early as May 1977.

This aircraft can reach a maximum supersonic speed of Mach 2.35 (2500 km/h), which is more than twice the speed of sound.

The Su-27 earned a reputation as one of the most combat-ready units of its time, and some models are still in use in the armies of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.

www.f-16.net

Tactical strike aircraft developed in the 1960s by General Dynamics. Designed for two crew members, the first aircraft entered service with the US Air Force in 1967, and was used for strategic bombing, reconnaissance and electronic warfare. The F-111 was able to reach Mach 2.5 (2655 km/h), or 2.5 times the speed of sound.

letsgoflying.wordpress.com

Twin-engine tactical fighter developed by McDonnell Douglas in 1967. The all-weather aircraft is designed to capture and maintain air superiority over enemy forces during air combat. The F-15 Eagle first flew in July 1972 and officially entered service with the US Air Force in 1976.

The F-15 is capable of flying at speeds in excess of Mach 2.5 (2,655 km/h) and is considered one of the most successful aircraft ever built. The F-15 Eagle is expected to be in US Air Force service until 2025. The fighter is currently being exported to a number of foreign countries including Japan, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

airforce.ru

A large, twin-engine supersonic aircraft manufactured by Mikoyan Design Bureau is designed to intercept foreign aircraft at high speeds. The aircraft made its first flight in September 1975, and was adopted by the Air Force in 1982.

The MiG-31 reaches Mach 2.83 (3,000 km/h) and was capable of flying at supersonic speeds even at low altitudes. The MiG-31 is still in service with the Air Forces of Russia and Kazakhstan.

XB-70 newspaceandaircraft.com

The six-engined XB-70 Valkyrie aircraft was developed by North American Aviation in the late 1950s. The aircraft was built as a prototype for a strategic bomber with nuclear bombs.

The XB-70 Valkyrie reached its design speed on October 14, 1965, when it reached Mach 3.02 (3219 km/h) at an altitude of 21300 m over Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Two XB-70s were built and used in test flights from 1964 to 1969. One of the prototypes crashed in 1966 after a mid-air collision, and another XB-70 is on display in National Museum US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.

Bell X-2 Starbuster

X-2 wikipedia.org

Rocket-powered aircraft - a joint development of Bell Aircraft Corporation, the US Air Force and the National advisory committee in aeronautics (precursor to NASA) in 1945. The aircraft was built to study aerodynamic properties during supersonic flight in the Mach 2 and Mach 3 ranges.

The X-2, nicknamed Starbuster, first flew in November 1955. The following year, in September 1956, Captain Milburn at the helm was able to reach a speed of Mach 3.2 (3370 km / h) at an altitude of 19800 m.

Shortly after reaching this maximum speed, the aircraft became uncontrollable and crashed. This tragic incident put an end to the X-2 program.

airforce.ru

The Mikoyan-Gurevich aircraft was designed to intercept enemy aircraft at supersonic speeds and collect intelligence data. The MiG-25 is one of the fastest military aircraft put into service. The MiG-25 first flew in 1964 and was first used by the Soviet Air Force in 1970.

The MiG-25 has an incredible top speed of Mach 3.2 (3524 km/h). The aircraft is still in service with the Russian Air Force and is also used by a number of other countries, including the Algerian Air Force and the Syrian Air Force.

wikipedia.org

An aircraft prototype developed by Lockheed Corporation in the late 50s and early 60s. The aircraft was built to intercept enemy aircraft at Mach 3.

Testing of the YF-12 took place at Area 51, a top-secret US Air Force training ground that ufologists have attributed to aliens. The YF-12 first flew in 1963 and reached a top speed of Mach 3.2 (3,330 km/h) at an altitude of 24,400 m. NASA. The aircraft finally stopped flying in 1978.

Supersonic aircraft are aircraft that are capable of flying at speeds exceeding the speed of sound (Mach number M = 1.2-5).

Story

The advent of jet fighters in the 1940s challenged designers to further increase their speed. The increased speed improved the performance of both bombers and fighters.

A pioneer in the supersonic era was the American test pilot Chuck Yeager. On 10/14/1947, while flying an experimental aircraft Bell X-1 with an XLR-11 rocket power plant, he overcame the speed of sound in controlled flight.

Development

The rapid development of supersonic aviation began in the 60-70s. XX century. Then the problems of aerodynamic efficiency, controllability and stability of aircraft were resolved. The high flight speed also made it possible to increase the practical ceiling by more than 20,000 m, which was a comfortable height for bombers and reconnaissance aircraft.

Before the advent of anti-aircraft missile systems and systems that could hit targets at high altitudes, the main principle of bombing operations was to keep bomber aircraft at maximum height and speed. Then, supersonic aircraft for various purposes were built and put into serial production - reconnaissance bombers, interceptors, fighters, interceptor bombers. The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was the first supersonic reconnaissance aircraft, the Convair B-58 Hustler the first supersonic long-range bomber.

Currently, the design, development and production of new aircraft is being carried out, some of which are produced using a special technology that reduces their radar and visual visibility - "Stealth".

Passenger supersonic aircraft

In the history of aviation, only 2 passenger supersonic aircraft were created, which carried out regular flights. First flight Soviet aircraft Tu-144 took place on 12/31/1968, the time of its operation is 1975-1978. The Anglo-French aircraft "Concorde" made its first flight on March 2, 1969 and was operated in the transatlantic direction in 1976-2003.

The use of such aircraft made it possible not only to reduce the time of flight over long distances, but also to use unoccupied air lines at high altitudes (about 18 km) at a time when the altitudes of 9-12 km used by the liners were heavily loaded. Also, supersonic aircraft operated flights outside air routes(on direct routes).

Despite the failure of several projects of transonic and supersonic aircraft (SSBJ, Tu-444, Tu-344, Tu-244, Lockheed L-2000, Boeing Sonic Cruiser, Boeing 2707) and the removal of two implemented projects from service, the development of modern hypersonic airliner projects continues (eg SpaceLiner, ZEHST) and amphibious (military transport) rapid response aircraft. Aerion AS2 supersonic business jet launched into production.

Theoretical questions

Compared to subsonic flight at supersonic speed, it is carried out according to a different law, because when the aircraft reaches the speed of sound, changes in the flow pattern occur, as a result, the kinetic heating of the apparatus increases, aerodynamic drag increases, and a change in aerodynamic focus is observed. All this in total affects the deterioration of the controllability and stability of the aircraft. A hitherto unknown phenomenon of wave resistance also appeared.

Therefore, efficient flight when reaching the speed of sound requires not only an increase in engine power, but also the introduction of new design solutions.

Therefore, such aircraft received a change in their appearance - sharp corners and characteristic straight lines appeared in comparison with the "smooth" shape of subsonic aircraft.

To date, the task of creating a truly efficient supersonic aircraft has not been solved. The creators are obliged to find a compromise between maintaining normal takeoff and landing characteristics and the requirement to increase speed.

Therefore, the achievement by modern aviation of new frontiers in altitude and speed is associated not only with the introduction of new propulsion systems and layout schemes, but also with changes in flight geometry. These changes should improve the quality of the aircraft when flying at high speeds without compromising their performance at low speeds, and vice versa. Designers have recently given up on reducing the area of the wings and the thickness of their profiles, increasing the sweep angle, returning to the wings of a large relative thickness and low sweep, if they managed to achieve the requirements of a practical ceiling and speed.

It is important that a supersonic aircraft has good performance at low speeds and is resistant to drag at high speeds, especially at ground altitudes.

Aircraft classification:

AND

ABOUT

The aircraft designers were faced with the task of further increasing their speed. Higher speed expanded the combat capabilities of both fighters and bombers.

The supersonic era began with the flight of Chuck Yeager, an American test pilot, on October 14, 1947, on an experimental aircraft Bell X-1 with an XLR-11 rocket engine, which reached supersonic speed in controlled flight.

Development

The 60s-70s of the 20th century were marked by the rapid development of supersonic aviation. The main problems of aircraft stability and controllability, their aerodynamic efficiency were solved. The high flight speed also made it possible to increase the ceiling over 20 km, which was important for reconnaissance and bombers. At that time, before the advent of anti-aircraft missile systems capable of hitting targets at high altitudes, the main principle of using bombers was to fly to the target at the highest possible height and speed. During these years, supersonic aircraft for various purposes were built and put into production - fighters, bombers, interceptors, fighter-bombers, reconnaissance aircraft (the first supersonic all-weather interceptor - Convair F-102 Delta Dagger; the first supersonic long-range bomber - Convair B-58 Hustler) .

Nowadays, new aircraft are appearing, including those made using Stealth visibility reduction technology.

Comparative diagrams of Tu-144 and Concorde

Passenger supersonic aircraft

In the history of aviation, there were only two passenger supersonic aircraft performing regular flights. The Soviet aircraft Tu-144 made its first flight on December 31, 1968, was in operation from 1978 to 1978. Two months later, on March 2, 1969, the Anglo-French Concorde (fr. Concorde- "consent") made transatlantic flights from to 2003 . Their operation made it possible not only to significantly reduce the flight time by long haul flights, but also to use unloaded airspace on high altitude(≈18 km), while the main airspace used by the liners (altitudes of 9-12 km) was already significantly loaded in those years. Also, supersonic aircraft flew along straightened routes (outside the airways).

Theoretical questions

Flight at supersonic speed, in contrast to subsonic speed, proceeds according to other laws, since when an object reaches the speed of sound, the aerodynamic pattern of the flow changes qualitatively, due to which the aerodynamic drag sharply increases, the kinetic heating of the structure increases, the aerodynamic focus shifts, which leads to a loss of stability and controllability of the aircraft. In addition, such a hitherto unknown phenomenon as "wave resistance" appeared.

Therefore, achieving the speed of sound and efficient flight were impossible by simply increasing the power of the engines; new design solutions were required. The result was a change in the appearance of the aircraft - characteristic straight lines, sharp corners appeared, in contrast to the "smooth" shape of subsonic aircraft.

It should be noted that the task of creating an efficient supersonic aircraft cannot be considered solved so far. The creators have to compromise between the requirement to increase speed and maintain acceptable takeoff and landing characteristics. Thus, the achievement of new frontiers by aviation in terms of speed and altitude is associated not only with the use of a more advanced or fundamentally new propulsion system and a new layout of aircraft, but also with changes in their geometry in flight. Such changes, while improving the characteristics of the aircraft at high speeds, should not worsen their qualities at low speeds, and vice versa. Recently, the creators refuse to reduce the area of the wing and the relative thickness of their profiles, as well as increase the sweep angle of the wing for aircraft with variable geometry, returning to the wings of small sweep and large relative thickness, if satisfactory values of maximum speed and ceiling have already been achieved. In this case, it is considered important that the supersonic aircraft have good performance at low speeds and drag reduction at high speeds, especially at low altitudes.

Notes

Bad experience

In the history of world aircraft construction, there were two supersonic passenger liner: Franco-British Concorde and Soviet Tu-144. These aircraft could reach speeds of more than 2.4 thousand km / h, while maximum speed Airbus A320 - 840 km/h. At the same time, the cost of a flight, for example, from Europe to the USA reached 7 thousand dollars. The flights were popular with businessmen.

The Tu-144 was developed at the Tupolev Design Bureau in the 1960s. It began to be used in passenger traffic in 1977, however, after several accidents, the management of the design bureau decided to freeze the project.

Supersonic passenger aircraft TU-144. Photo: RIA Novosti, wikimedia.org

Around the same time, the French company Aérospatiale and the British BAC developed a joint project called "Concorde". In total, 20 supersonic aircraft were produced, which were divided among the airlines. british airways and Air France. Over 3 million passengers have used supersonic flights in 27 years of scheduled and charter flights.

On July 5, 2000, one of the Concorde aircraft crashed on takeoff at Paris airport"Charles de Gaulle". Then 113 people died. After that, flights of supersonic aircraft were suspended for a year and a half. They were completely discontinued in 2003 due to high prices for fuel.

Since then, the world no longer uses passenger supersonic aircraft.

"Not economy, but prestige"

Maxim Pyadushkin, Managing Director of the Air Transport Review magazine, told Info24 that the production of supersonic airliners faces not only technical, but also other obstacles.

“The same Concorde was operated at supersonic speed only over Atlantic Ocean, because, for example, in the USA, due to the shock wave, it is forbidden to fly over land at supersonic speeds. These aircraft have had very limited use and the problem is still unresolved. The last "Concordes" were supplied almost for nothing, for a symbolic price, there the conversation was not about the economy, but about prestige. But they were no longer used shortly after the accident in Paris,” said Pyadushkin.

Franco-British supersonic airliner Concorde of British Airways. Photo: Les Chatfield, Flickr

Why is the state

Aleksey Sinitsky, editor-in-chief of the Air Transport Review magazine, believes that by developing its own supersonic aircraft, Russia can stimulate the development of other industries.

“In the production of such liners, there are a large number of issues that have not been resolved or are not yet resolved. Of course, work on these issues is important, necessary and interesting for the creation of a new generation of highly efficient engines, so work needs to be done. But, in my opinion, this is not the main and not a strategic direction. civil aviation. There are much more mundane issues that, although they sound less romantic, still need to be addressed. But it is a completely different matter if we consider civil aviation as an opportunity to stimulate the development of the economy.

the development of aircraft construction entails improvements in other industries. therefore, it is strategically important for Russia, especially if it is not limited to import substitution, but, for example, to find its own areas of specialization and choose areas where it would be possible to act with competitive products on a global scale.

This does not necessarily apply to the whole aircraft, but, for example, to some node that we would do better than anyone else in the world,” Sinitsky said in a conversation with Info24.

Although the Concorde aircraft were sold to airlines at a ridiculous price, the expert does not believe that the money was lost: there were serious studies, the industry gained knowledge and technology. In addition, it was one of the first experiences of international cooperation, which subsequently led to a unified system of European aircraft construction.

Unprofitable and inconvenient

At the same time, Sinitsky does not deny that it is extremely difficult to make flights on supersonic liners pay off.

“If the leadership of the country needs to increase transport accessibility, then it's one thing. But at the same time, world experience shows that efficiency wins over speed. The same Concorde program proved that in many respects economical flights turned out to be much more in demand, while supersonic flight, due to the generation of a compression wave under the aircraft, is uneconomical by definition. There are many questions about the economy of supersonic transportation, including how convenient it will be for passengers. For example, flying from Vladivostok to Moscow will be inconvenient in time due to the change in time zones - you will either need to fly out at an inconvenient time or arrive at an inconvenient time. In addition, if you have some comfort in a conventional aircraft, then it will be more crowded in a supersonic one, ”the expert said.

Illustration: Info24

The expert of the portal Avia.ru Vladimir Karnozov, however, is sure that it is possible to make flights profitable. True, for this it is “critically important” for them to fly not only across the Atlantic, but also through Pacific Ocean- for example, from Japan, China and Australia to the USA and Canada.

“It is believed that Concorde was unprofitable, but this is not entirely true. The project turned out to be unprofitable due to strong US opposition [on environmental regulations], which turned out to be effective, among other things, because the income from the commercial operation of the Concorde was formed mainly from ticket sales for flights to airports in New York and other large American metropolitan areas. . "Concorde" flew with stopovers from France to latin america and from England to the Middle East and beyond to South East Asia, but these routes brought significantly less revenue. As a result of US opposition, Western European industry produced fewer aircraft than planned, and the program was canceled ahead of schedule,” the aviation expert said.

For those who talk about free deliveries of Concorde to airlines and build an argument about the insolvency of the liners on this, Karnozov offers to compare the cost of the first aircraft and the prices for subsonic airliners of that era. According to him, this is a huge amount of money that the airlines planned to return due to many years of operation on flights from Europe to the United States, where the machine worked profitably.

Supersonic aircraft Concorde. Photo: nara.getarchive.net

“If you open foreign aviation publications, then for the last 7-10 years this topic (the creation of supersonic passenger aircraft - approx. Info24) is constantly discussed, mainly in relation to business aircraft. But problems in developing such aircraft not related to technology. Just influenced by the USA aviation authorities countries Western world put forward excessive requirements for the environmental parameters of "supersonics" (supersonic aircraft, from the English supersonic - supersonic - approx. Info24), in particular, the noise level in the area and the magnitude of the sonic boom. There are no opportunities to influence the States, and certification requirements are put forward for the next generation of "supersonics" at their suggestion. If a solution is not found at the political level, then none of the idea to create a supersonic passenger aircraft will work. And if the requirements are softened, then a very interesting project will turn out, ”said Karnozov.

He added that the cost of creating such an aircraft is highly dependent on what requirements it will be created for. According to the expert, if the requirements are "reasonable", then the cost of the project will be several billion dollars, but if the creation of a supersonic liner is "customized" to the requirements of the United States, then "a budget of tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars will be insufficient."

Who can fly these planes

Flights on supersonic liners are extremely expensive - for example, the journey from London to New York can cost 7 thousand dollars. All experts agree that if such flights are in demand, then only among businessmen.

“If we are talking about the business transportation segment, then there may be a demand for speed here. But the fuel consumption in such aircraft will be very high, which is why even for wealthy people the cost can be quite high, ”said Info24 Fyodor Borisov, Leading Research Fellow at the Institute of Transport and Transport Policy, National Research University Higher School of Economics.

Illustration: Info24

Vladimir Karnozov agrees with him. According to the expert, supersonic aircraft are needed for "the upper segment, those who fly business class and first class today."

Attempts to create a new "supersonic"

Maxim Pyadushkin said that there are people and companies that are trying to enter the supersonic aircraft market, but they are focusing on business aviation, and a very limited circle of people will buy their aircraft.

Illustration: Info24

“Such projects started as startups, enthusiasts gathered and made blueprints. But no startup can build an airplane alone. For example, Aerion, which was supported by Boeing and other major manufacturers. This project has moved, perhaps, the furthest. This gives hope that once large manufacturers believe in it, the aircraft will be able to bring it to testing, a prototype and, in fact, a flight,” the aviation expert said.