The Vertol VZ-2 (or Model 76 ) is a research aircraft built in the United States in 1957 to investigate the tiltwing approach to vertical take-off and landing .
68-560: The aircraft had a fuselage of tubular framework (originally uncovered) and accommodation for its pilot in a helicopter-like bubble canopy. The T-tail incorporated small ducted fans to act as thrusters for greater control at low speeds. Ground tests began in April 1957 and on 13 August, the VZ-2 took off for the first time in hover mode only. On 23 July 1958 , the aircraft made its first full transition from vertical flight to horizontal flight. By
136-511: A ducted fan is a thrust-generating mechanical fan or propeller mounted within a cylindrical duct or shroud. Other terms include ducted propeller or shrouded propeller . When used in vertical takeoff and landing ( VTOL ) applications it is also known as a shrouded rotor . Ducted fans are used for propulsion or direct lift in many types of vehicle including aeroplanes , airships , hovercraft , and powered lift VTOL aircraft. The high-bypass turbofan engines used on many modern airliners
204-501: A 1946 document. However, it is not clear where these terms came from, as it does not appear the US pilots carried out such tests. In his 1990 book Me-163 , former Messerschmitt Me 163 "Komet" pilot Mano Ziegler claims that his friend, test pilot Heini Dittmar , broke the sound barrier while diving the rocket plane, and that several people on the ground heard the sonic booms. He claims that on 6 July 1944, Dittmar, flying Me 163B V18, bearing
272-464: A chart of wind tunnel measurements comparing the drag of a wing to the velocity of the air. During these explanations he would state "See how the resistance of a wing shoots up like a barrier against higher speed, as we approach the speed of sound." The next day, the London newspapers were filled with statements about a "sound barrier." Whether or not this is the first use of the term is debatable, but by
340-479: A cracking sound. This finding is theoretical and disputed by others in the field. Meteorites in the Earth's upper atmosphere usually travel at higher than Earth's escape velocity, which is much faster than sound. The existence of the sound barrier was evident to aerodynamicists before any direct in aircraft evidence was available. In particular, the very simple theory of thin airfoils at supersonic speeds produced
408-456: A curve that went to infinite drag at Mach 1, dropping with increasing speed. This could be seen in tests using projectiles fired from guns, a common method for checking the stability of various projective shapes. As the projectile slowed from its initial speed and began to approach the speed of sound, it would undergo a rapid increase in drag and slow much more rapidly. It was understood that the drag did not go infinite, or it would be impossible for
476-499: A distinct "corner" where it began to suddenly rise. This speed was different for different wing planforms and cross sections, and became known as the "critical Mach". According to British aerodynamicist W. F. Hilton, of Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft , the term itself was created accidentally. He was giving demonstrations at the annual show day at the National Physical Laboratory in 1935 where he demonstrated
544-436: A helium balloon and become the first parachutist to break the sound barrier. The launch was scheduled for 9 October 2012, but was aborted due to adverse weather; subsequently the capsule was launched instead on 14 October. Baumgartner's feat also marked the 65th anniversary of U.S. test pilot Chuck Yeager 's successful attempt to break the sound barrier in an aircraft. Baumgartner landed in eastern New Mexico after jumping from
612-414: A limit dangerous to exceed. During WWII and immediately thereafter, a number of claims were made that the sound barrier had been broken in a dive. The majority of these purported events can be dismissed as instrumentation errors. The typical airspeed indicator (ASI) uses air pressure differences between two or more points on the aircraft, typically near the nose and at the side of the fuselage, to produce
680-464: A new design of leading edge for the wing. On 12 January 1948, a Northrop uncrewed rocket sled became the first land vehicle to break the sound barrier. At a military test facility at Muroc Air Force Base (now Edwards AFB ), California , it reached a peak speed of 1,019 mph (1,640 km/h) before jumping the rails. On 15 October 1997, in a vehicle designed and built by a team led by Richard Noble , Royal Air Force pilot Andy Green became
748-537: A press release stating that Lts. Harold E. Comstock and Roger Dyar had exceeded the speed of sound during test dives in a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt . It is widely agreed that this was due to inaccurate ASI readings. In similar tests, the North American P-51 Mustang demonstrated limits at Mach 0.85, with every flight over Mach 0.84 causing the aircraft to be damaged by vibration. One of the highest recorded instrumented Mach numbers attained for
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#1732798257524816-597: A propeller aircraft is the Mach 0.891 for a Spitfire PR XI , flown during dive tests at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough in April 1944. The Spitfire, a photo-reconnaissance variant, the Mark XI, fitted with an extended "rake type" multiple pitot system , was flown by Squadron Leader J. R. Tobin to this speed, corresponding to a corrected true airspeed (TAS) of 606 mph. In
884-701: A result of the X-1's initial supersonic flight, the National Aeronautics Association voted its 1947 Collier Trophy to be shared by the three main participants in the program. Honored at the White House by President Harry S. Truman were Larry Bell for Bell Aircraft, Captain Yeager for piloting the flights, and John Stack for the NACA contributions. Jackie Cochran was the first woman to break
952-610: A speed figure. At high speed, the various compression effects that lead to the sound barrier also cause the ASI to go non-linear and produce inaccurately high or low readings, depending on the specifics of the installation. This effect became known as "Mach jump". Before the introduction of Mach meters , accurate measurements of supersonic speeds could only be made remotely, normally using ground-based instruments. Many claims of supersonic speeds were found to be far below this speed when measured in this fashion. In 1942, Republic Aviation issued
1020-469: A subsequent flight, Squadron Leader Anthony Martindale achieved Mach 0.92, but it ended in a forced landing after over-revving damaged the engine. Hans Guido Mutke claimed to have broken the sound barrier on 9 April 1945 in the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet aircraft. He states that his ASI pegged itself at 1,100 kilometres per hour (680 mph). Mutke reported not just transonic buffeting , but
1088-495: A top-secret project with Miles Aircraft to develop the world's first aircraft capable of breaking the sound barrier. The project resulted in the development of the prototype Miles M.52 turbojet-powered aircraft, which was designed to reach 1,000 mph (417 m/s; 1,600 km/h) (over twice the existing speed record) in level flight, and to climb to an altitude of 36,000 ft (11 km) in 1 minute 30 seconds. A number of advanced features were incorporated into
1156-435: A world record 128,100 feet (39,045 m), or 24.26 miles, and broke the sound barrier as he traveled at speeds up to 833.9 mph (1342 km/h, or Mach 1.26). In the press conference after his jump, it was announced that he was in freefall for 4 minutes 18 seconds, the second longest freefall after the 1960 jump of Joseph Kittinger for 4 minutes 36 seconds. In October 2014, Alan Eustace ,
1224-408: Is a function of the rotational speed and the length of the blade. As the engine power increased, longer blades were needed to apply this power to the air while operating at the most efficient RPM of the engine. The velocity of the air is also a function of the forward speed of the aircraft. When the aircraft speed is high enough, the tips reach transonic speeds. Shock waves form at the blade tips and sap
1292-419: Is an aerodynamic ring which surrounds the fan and closely fits the blade tips. It must be made rigid enough not to distort under flight loads nor touch the blades as they turn. The duct performs several functions: Principally, it reduces the vortices created by air flowing round the ends of the blades. This reduces the aerodynamic losses or drag, thus increasing the overall efficiency of the fan. Because of this,
1360-401: Is an example of a very successful and popular use of ducted fan design. The duct increases thrust efficiency by up to 90% in most cases , in comparison to a similar-sized propeller in free air. Ducted fans are quieter, and offer good opportunities for thrust vectoring. The shroud offers good protection to ground personnel from accidentally contacting the spinning blades, as well as protecting
1428-551: Is possible that this produced supersonic performance as high as Mach 2, but this was not due solely to the engine itself. In contrast, the German V-2 ballistic missile routinely broke the sound barrier in flight, for the first time on 3 October 1942. By September 1944, V-2s routinely achieved Mach 4 (1,200 m/s, or 3044 mph) during terminal descent. In 1942, the United Kingdom 's Ministry of Aviation began
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#17327982575241496-402: Is still sometimes used today to refer to aircraft approaching supersonic flight in this high drag regime. Flying faster than sound produces a sonic boom . In dry air at 20 °C (68 °F), the speed of sound is 343 metres per second (about 767 mph, 1234 km/h or 1,125 ft/s). The term came into use during World War II when pilots of high-speed fighter aircraft experienced
1564-528: The Stammkennzeichen alphabetic code VA+SP, was measured traveling at a speed of 1,130 km/h (702 mph). However, no evidence of such a flight exists in any of the materials from that period, which were captured by Allied forces and extensively studied. Dittmar had been officially recorded at 1,004.5 km/h (623.8 mph) in level flight on 2 October 1941 in the prototype Me 163A V4 . He reached this speed at less than full throttle, as he
1632-604: The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II , and other low-speed designs such as hovercraft for their higher thrust-to-weight ratio. In some cases, a shrouded rotor can be 94% more efficient than an open rotor. The improved performance is mainly because the outward flow is less contracted and thus carries more kinetic energy. Among model aircraft hobbyists, the ducted fan is popular with builders of high-performance radio controlled model aircraft . Glow plug engines combined with ducted-fan units were
1700-496: The Munich Technical University to run computational tests to determine whether the aircraft could break the sound barrier. These tests do not rule out the possibility, but are lacking accurate data on the coefficient of drag that would be needed to make accurate simulations. Wagner stated: "I don't want to exclude the possibility, but I can imagine he may also have been just below the speed of sound and felt
1768-427: The conical shock wave generated by the nose of the aircraft. The fuselage had a 5-foot diameter with an annular fuel tank around the engine. Another critical addition was the use of a power-operated stabilator , also known as the all-moving tail or flying tail , a key to transonic and supersonic flight control, which contrasted with traditional hinged tailplanes (horizontal stabilizers) connected mechanically to
1836-411: The 1940s use within the industry was already common. By the late 1930s, one practical outcome of this was becoming clear. Although aircraft were still operating well below Mach 1, generally half that at best, their engines were rapidly pushing past 1,000 hp. At these power levels, the traditional two-bladed propellers were clearly showing rapid increases in drag. The tip speed of a propeller blade
1904-412: The 1950s, many combat aircraft could routinely break the sound barrier in level flight, although they often suffered from control problems when doing so, such as Mach tuck . Modern aircraft can transit the "barrier" without control problems. By the late 1950s, the issue was so well understood that many companies started investing in the development of supersonic airliners, or SSTs , believing that to be
1972-456: The Tu-144 were the first aircraft to carry commercial passengers at supersonic speeds, they were not the first or only commercial airliners to break the sound barrier. On 21 August 1961, a Douglas DC-8 broke the sound barrier at Mach 1.012, or 1,240 km/h (776.2 mph), while in a controlled dive through 41,088 feet (12,510 m). The purpose of the flight was to collect data on
2040-480: The U.S. reneged on the agreement, and nothing was forthcoming in return. The Bell X-1 , the first US crewed aircraft built to break the sound barrier, was visually similar to the Miles M.52 but with a high-mounted horizontal tail to keep it clear of the wing wake. Compared to the all-moving tail on the M.52 the X-1 used a conventional tail with elevators but with a movable stabilizer to maintain control passing through
2108-477: The air flow around the aircraft reaches the speed of sound, and it is reported that the control surfaces no longer affect the direction of flight. The results vary with different airplanes: some wing over and dive while others dive gradually. It is also reported that once the speed of sound is exceeded, this condition disappears and normal control is restored. The comments about restoration of flight control and cessation of buffeting above Mach 1 are very significant in
Vertol VZ-2 - Misplaced Pages Continue
2176-514: The aircraft was to use Frank Whittle 's latest engine, the Power Jets W.2/700 , with which it would only reach supersonic speed in a shallow dive. To develop a fully supersonic version of the aircraft, extra thrust would be provided with the addition of the No.4 augmentor which gave extra airflow from a ducted fan and reheat behind the fan. Although the project was eventually cancelled, the research
2244-731: The barrier. By the 1950s, new designs of fighter aircraft routinely reached the speed of sound, and faster. Some common whips such as the bullwhip or stockwhip are able to move faster than sound: the tip of the whip exceeds this speed and causes a sharp crack—literally a sonic boom . Firearms made after the 19th century generally have a supersonic muzzle velocity . The sound barrier may have been first breached by living beings about 150 million years ago. Some paleobiologists report that computer models of their biomechanical capabilities suggest that certain long-tailed dinosaurs such as Brontosaurus , Apatosaurus , and Diplodocus could flick their tails at supersonic speeds, creating
2312-459: The behest of Willy Messerschmitt found that the plane became uncontrollable above Mach 0.86, and at Mach 0.9 would nose over into a dive that could not be recovered from. Post-war tests by the RAF confirmed these results, with the slight modification that the maximum speed using new instruments was found to be Mach 0.84, rather than Mach 0.86. In 1999, Mutke enlisted the help of Professor Otto Wagner of
2380-469: The better high-speed performance of a low bypass ratio turbofan with a smaller fan diameter. However, a ducted fan may be powered by any source of shaft power such as a reciprocating engine , Wankel engine , or electric motor . A kind of ducted fan, known as a fantail or by the trademark name Fenestron , is also used to replace tail rotors on helicopters . Ducted fans are favored in VTOL aircraft such as
2448-483: The blades from damage during such an impact. The reduced tip vortices also mean that the fan wake is less turbulent. With careful design, the heated discharge from the engine cooling system can be injected into the low-turbulence fan wake to increase thrust. A ducted fan may be powered by any kind of motor capable of turning the fan. Examples include piston, rotary (Wankel), and turboshaft combustion engines, as well as electric motors. The fan may be mounted directly on
2516-510: The blades themselves from external debris or objects. By varying the cross-section of the duct the designer can advantageously affect the velocity and pressure of the airflow according to Bernoulli's principle . Drawbacks include increased weight due to the added structure of the shroud, a need for precision in tolerances of blade-tip to shroud clearance, a need for better vibration control compared to free-air propellers, and complex duct design requirements. Lastly, when at high angles of attack,
2584-454: The buffeting, but did not go above Mach-1." One bit of evidence presented by Mutke is on page 13 of the "Me 262 A-1 Pilot's Handbook" issued by Headquarters Air Materiel Command , Wright Field , Dayton, Ohio as Report No. F-SU-1111-ND on January 10, 1946: Speeds of 950 km/h (590 mph) are reported to have been attained in a shallow dive 20° to 30° from the horizontal. No vertical dives were made. At speeds of 950 to 1,000 km/h (590 to 620 mph)
2652-449: The concept of a "barrier" making it difficult for an aircraft to exceed the speed of sound. Erroneous news reports caused most people to envision the sound barrier as a physical "wall", which supersonic aircraft needed to "break" with a sharp needle nose on the front of the fuselage. Rocketry and artillery experts' products routinely exceeded Mach 1, but aircraft designers and aerodynamicists during and after World War II discussed Mach 0.7 as
2720-468: The dive. A major impediment to early transonic flight was control reversal , the phenomenon which caused flight inputs (stick, rudder) to switch direction at high speed; it was the cause of many accidents and near-accidents. An all-flying tail is required for an aircraft to pass through the transonic speed range safely, without losing pilot control. The Miles M.52 was the first instance of this solution, which has since been universally applied. Initially,
2788-401: The effects of compressibility , a number of adverse aerodynamic effects that deterred further acceleration, seemingly impeding flight at speeds close to the speed of sound. These difficulties represented a barrier to flying at faster speeds. In 1947, American test pilot Chuck Yeager demonstrated that safe flight at the speed of sound was achievable in purpose-designed aircraft, thereby breaking
Vertol VZ-2 - Misplaced Pages Continue
2856-404: The fan can either be used to provide increased thrust and aircraft performance, or be made smaller than the equivalent free propeller. It provides acoustic shielding which, together with the reduced energy waste, significantly cuts noise emissions from the propeller. It acts as a protective device, both to protect objects such as ground staff from being hit by the whirling blades, and to protect
2924-431: The fan to other components. Sound barrier The sound barrier or sonic barrier is the large increase in aerodynamic drag and other undesirable effects experienced by an aircraft or other object when it approaches the speed of sound . When aircraft first approached the speed of sound, these effects were seen as constituting a barrier, making faster speeds very difficult or impossible. The term sound barrier
2992-437: The first achievable means of modeling a scaled-size jet aircraft. Despite the introduction of model-scale turbojet engines, electric-powered ducted fans remain popular on smaller, lower-cost model aircraft. Some electric-powered ducted fan airplanes can reach speeds of more than 320km/h (200mph). Most cooling fans used in computers contain a duct integrated into the fan assembly; the duct is also used for mechanically mounting
3060-503: The first crewed supersonic flight, piloted by Air Force Captain Charles "Chuck" Yeager in aircraft #46-062, which he had christened Glamorous Glennis . The rocket-powered aircraft was launched from the bomb bay of a specially modified B-29 and glided to a landing on a runway. XS-1 flight number 50 is the first one where the X-1 recorded supersonic flight, with a maximum speed of Mach 1.06 (361 m/s, 1,299 km/h, 807.2 mph). As
3128-545: The first person to break the sound barrier in a land vehicle in compliance with Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile rules. The vehicle, called the ThrustSSC ("Super Sonic Car"), captured the record 50 years and one day after Yeager 's first supersonic flight . In October 2012 Felix Baumgartner , with a team of scientists and sponsor Red Bull, attempted the highest sky-dive on record. The project would see Baumgartner attempt to jump 120,000 ft (36,580 m) from
3196-513: The formation of shock waves on curved surfaces was another major problem, which led most famously to the breakup of a de Havilland Swallow and death of its pilot Geoffrey de Havilland, Jr. on 27 September 1946. A similar problem is thought to have been the cause of the 1943 crash of the BI-1 rocket aircraft in the Soviet Union. All of these effects, although unrelated in most ways, led to
3264-540: The next "natural" step in airliner evolution. However, this has not yet happened. Although the Concorde and the Tupolev Tu-144 entered service in the 1970s, both were later retired without being replaced by similar designs. The last flight of a Concorde in service was in 2003. Despite a resurgence of interest in the 2010s, as of 2024 there are no commercial supersonic airliners in service. Although Concorde and
3332-405: The pilots control column . Conventional control surfaces became ineffective at the high subsonic speeds then being achieved by fighters in dives, due to the aerodynamic forces caused by the formation of shockwaves at the hinge and the rearward movement of the centre of pressure , which together could override the control forces that could be applied mechanically by the pilot, hindering recovery from
3400-448: The powerplant output shaft, or driven remotely via an extended drive shaft and gearing. In the remote arrangement, several fans may be driven by a single powerplant. An assembly designed throughout as a single integrated unit is referred to as a fan pod or ducted propulsor. An advantage of the pod approach is that the design of each component can be matched to the others, helping to maximise performance and minimise weight. It also eases
3468-414: The projectile to get above Mach 1 in the first place, but there was no better theory and data was matching theory to some degree. At the same time, ever-increasing wind tunnel speeds were showing a similar effect as one approached Mach 1 from below. In this case, however, there was no theoretical development that suggested why this might be. What was noticed was that the increase in drag was not smooth, it had
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#17327982575243536-498: The rapidly increasing forces acting on the control surfaces of their aircraft overpowered them. In this case, several attempts to fix it only made the problem worse. Likewise, the flexing caused by the low torsional stiffness of the Supermarine Spitfire 's wings caused them, in turn, to counteract aileron control inputs, leading to a condition known as control reversal . This was solved in later models with changes to
3604-405: The resulting M.52 design, which resulted from consulting experts in government establishments with a current knowledge of supersonic aerodynamics . In particular, the design featured a conical nose, for low supersonic drag, and sharp wing leading edges. The design used very thin wings of biconvex section proposed by Jakob Ackeret for low drag . The wing tips were "clipped" to keep them clear of
3672-479: The resumption of normal control once a certain speed was exceeded, then a resumption of severe buffeting once the Me 262 slowed again. He also reported engine flame-out. This claim is widely disputed, even by pilots in his unit. All of the effects he reported are known to occur on the Me 262 at much lower speeds, and the ASI reading is simply not reliable in the transonic. Further, a series of tests made by Karl Doetsch at
3740-606: The shaft power driving the propeller. To maintain thrust, the engine power must replace this loss, and must also match the aircraft drag as it increases with speed. The required power is so great that the size and weight of the engine becomes prohibitive. This speed limitation led to research into jet engines , notably by Frank Whittle in England and Hans von Ohain in Germany. This also led to propellers with ever-increasing numbers of blades, three, four and then five were seen during
3808-660: The shroud can stall and produce high drag. A ducted fan has three main components; the fan or propeller which provides thrust or lift, the duct or shroud which surrounds the fan, and the engine or motor which powers the fan. Like any other fan, propeller or rotor, a ducted fan is characterised by the number of blades. The Rhein Flugzeugbau (RFB) SG 85 had three blades, while the Dowty Rotol Ducted Propulsor had seven. The blades may be of fixed or variable pitch. See: Fan (machine) The duct or shroud
3876-548: The sound barrier in the Bell X-1. Although evidence from witnesses and instruments strongly imply that Welch achieved supersonic speed, the flights were not properly monitored and are not officially recognized. The XP-86 officially achieved supersonic speed on 26 April 1948. On 14 October 1947, just under a month after the United States Air Force had been created as a separate service, the tests culminated in
3944-537: The sound barrier, which she did on 18 May 1953, piloting a plane borrowed from the Royal Canadian Air Force , with Yeager accompanying her. On December 3, 1957, Margaret Chase Smith became the first woman in Congress to break the sound barrier, which she did as a passenger in an F-100 Super Sabre piloted by Air Force Major Clyde Good. In the late 1950s, Allen Rowley , a British journalist,
4012-452: The sound barrier. It was in the X-1 that Chuck Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier in level flight on 14 October 1947, flying at an altitude of 45,000 ft (13.7 km). George Welch made a plausible but officially unverified claim to have broken the sound barrier on 1 October 1947, while flying an XP-86 Sabre . He also claimed to have repeated his supersonic flight on 14 October 1947, 30 minutes before Yeager broke
4080-520: The time the test program ended in 1965, the VZ-2 had made some 450 flights, including 34 full transitions. The aircraft has been preserved by the National Air and Space Museum in storage at the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility . General characteristics Performance Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Ducted fan In aeronautics,
4148-536: The vehicle designer's task of integration with the vehicle and its systems. In aircraft applications, the operating speed of an unshrouded propeller is limited since tip speeds approach the sound barrier at lower speeds than an equivalent ducted fan. The most common ducted fan arrangement used in full-sized aircraft is a turbofan engine, where the power to turn the fan is provided by a gas turbine . High bypass ratio turbofan engines are used on nearly all civilian airliners , while military fighters usually make use of
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#17327982575244216-607: The war. As the problem became better understood, it also led to "paddle bladed" propellers with increased chord, as seen (for example) on late-war models of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt . Nevertheless, propeller aircraft were able to approach their critical Mach number , different for each aircraft, in a dive. Doing so led to numerous crashes for a variety of reasons. Flying the Mitsubishi Zero , pilots sometimes flew at full power into terrain because
4284-425: The wing. Worse still, a particularly dangerous interaction of the airflow between the wings and tail surfaces of diving Lockheed P-38 Lightnings made "pulling out" of dives difficult; in one 1941 test flight test pilot Ralph Virde was killed when the plane flew into the ground at high speed. The problem was later solved by the addition of a "dive flap" that upset the airflow under these circumstances. Flutter due to
4352-494: Was Geoffrey de Havilland, Jr. , who was killed on 27 September 1946 when his DH 108 broke up at about Mach 0.9. John Derry has been called "Britain's first supersonic pilot" because of a dive he made in a DH 108 on 6 September 1948. The British Air Ministry signed an agreement with the United States to exchange all its high-speed research data and designs, including that for the M.52, with equivalent US research but
4420-533: Was able to fly in a Super Sabre at 1000 mph, one of the few non-American civilians to exceed the speed of sound and one of the few civilians anywhere to make such a trip. On 21 August 1961, a Douglas DC-8-43 (registration N9604Z) unofficially exceeded Mach 1 in a controlled dive during a test flight at Edwards Air Force Base, as observed and reported by the flight crew; the crew were William Magruder (pilot), Paul Patten (co-pilot), Joseph Tomich (flight engineer), and Richard H. Edwards (flight test engineer). This
4488-561: Was concerned by the transonic buffeting. Dittmar himself does not make a claim that he broke the sound barrier on that flight and notes that the speed was recorded only on the AIS. He does, however, take credit for being the first pilot to "knock on the sound barrier". There are a number of uncrewed vehicles that flew at supersonic speeds during this period. In 1933, Soviet designers working on ramjet concepts fired phosphorus-powered engines out of artillery guns to get them to operational speeds. It
4556-487: Was the first supersonic flight by a civilian airliner, achieved before the Concorde or the Tu-144 flew. As the science of high-speed flight became more widely understood, a number of changes led to the eventual understanding that the "sound barrier" is easily penetrated, with the right conditions. Among these changes were the introduction of thin swept wings , the area rule , and engines of ever-increasing performance. By
4624-509: Was used to construct an uncrewed 30% scale model of the M.52 that went on to achieve a speed of Mach 1.38 in a successful, controlled transonic and supersonic level test flight in October 1948; this was a unique achievement at that time which provided "some validation of the aerodynamics of the M.52 upon which the model was based". Meanwhile, test pilots achieved high speeds in the tailless , swept-wing de Havilland DH 108 . One of them
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