Flight Testing Of Airbreathing Hypersonic Vehicles

This study was undertaken in response to a request by the U.S. Air Force that the National Research Council (NRC) examine whether the technologies that underlie the concept of a hypersonic, air-launched, air-breathing, hydrocarbon-fueled missile with speeds up to Mach 81 can be demonstrated in time to be initially operational by 2015. To conduct the study, the NRC appointed the Committee on Review and Evaluation of the Air Force Hypersonic Technology Program, under the auspices of the Air Force Science and Technology Board.

The National Aerospace Initiative (NAI) was conceived as a joint effort between the Department of Defense (DOD) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to sustain the aerospace leadership of the United States through the acceleration of selected aerospace technologies: hypersonic flight, access to space, and space technologies. The Air Force became concerned about the NAI's possible consequences on Air Force programs and budget if NAI program decisions differed from Air Force priorities. To examine this issue, it asked the NRC for an independent review of the NAI. This report presents the results of that assessment. It focuses on three questions asked by the Air Force: is NAI technically feasible in the time frame laid out; is it financially feasible over that period; and is it operationally relevant.

This book details science of hypersonics especially focusing on propulsion aspects such as supersonic combustion ramjets and their applications, and also includes lift and drag in hypersonic flight and their mathematical and physical explanation. It provides charts and data from hypersonic testing and measurements from actual vehicles and engines built in the past. Criteria to dimension hypersonic powered and unpowered vehicles (gliders) based on fundamental fluid dynamics and backed by flight testing; criteria to preliminary sizing vehicles and preliminary dimensioning of supersonic combustors are introduced. The book will serve better theoretical understanding of drag, lift and how to apply them to the design of hypersonic vehicles, as well as data to size vehicles and supersonic combustion ramjet (SCRJ) systems. This book will be a useful reference for researchers and designers in hypersonic vehicles but also second or third-year graduate students.

This book details science of hypersonics especially focusing on propulsion aspects such as supersonic combustion ramjets and their applications, and also includes lift and drag in hypersonic flight and their mathematical and physical explanation. It provides charts and data from hypersonic testing and measurements from actual vehicles and engines built in the past. Criteria to dimension hypersonic powered and unpowered vehicles (gliders) based on fundamental fluid dynamics and backed by flight testing; criteria to preliminary sizing vehicles and preliminary dimensioning of supersonic combustors are introduced. The book will serve better theoretical understanding of drag, lift and how to apply them to the design of hypersonic vehicles, as well as data to size vehicles and supersonic combustion ramjet (SCRJ) systems. This book will be a useful reference for researchers and designers in hypersonic vehicles but also second or third-year graduate students.

An almost entirely self-contained engineering textbook primarily for use in undergraduate and graduate courses in airbreathing propulsion. It provides a broad and basic introduction to the elements needed to work in the field as it develops and grows. Homework problems are provided for almost every individual subject. An extensive array of PC-based user-friendly computer programs is provided in order to facilitate repetitious and/or complex calculations. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR