Supersonic airplanes

Liquid oxygen-alcohol propints were studied at Reaction Motors, and resulted in the 1500 N4C engine, which powered the experimental X-l supersonic airplane (Ref 5)... 

An early-model Concorde supersonic airplane consumed 4700 gallons of aviation fuel per hour at cruising speed. The density of the fuel was 6.65 pounds per gallon and the AH of combustion was —10,500 kcal/kg. Express the power consumption in megawatts (1 MW = 106 W = 106 J/s) during cruise. 

The great drawback of organic materials for practical use, especially at elevated temperatures, is their inherent instability, thermal as well as mechanical. On the other hand great advances have been made in polymer technology. Composite plastics are used in the construction of supersonic airplanes to replace metals, because of their superior resistance to heat, and plastic coatings are frequently used to enhance the chemical resistance of surfaces. Therefore it is not improbable that properly synthesized organic materials may also find their practical application as catalysts or catalyst carriers. 

Explain why, for maximum performance, supersonic airplanes need to fly at a high altitude (in the stratosphere). 

The earth manifests its presence in the solar wind in a manner analogous to that of a supersonic airplane traversing the atmosphere. Since the solar wind velocity is faster than the characteristic speed in the ionized gas, a shock wave (the bow shock) is established. The average location of the shock is some 10-14 earth radii outward on the sunward side (Fig. 3). On the earthward side of the shock wave is a region of more turbulent solar wind flow, the magnetosheath. Then, at an average altitude above the earth of some nine earth radii, the magnetopause exists... 

C/C composite brake discs are used in some military aircrafts like F-15, F-16, YF-16 and also in the commercial supersonic airplane, the Concorde. Some European racing cars are also equipped with carbon brakes. 

The area rule was one of the most important technical developments during the era of jet-propelled airplanes. Today, almost all transonic and supersonic aircraft incorporate some degree of area rule. For his work on the area rule, Whitcomb received the Collier Trophy, the highest award given in the field of aeronautics. 

Developments in the science of aerodynamics since WWI have been of considerable importance and have resulted in practical improvements in the flight of airplanes, projectiles and rockets (See also Aerodynamics, Supersonic)... 

First supersonic (faster than speed of sound) rocket-powered airplane was flown in the US by Charles Yeager... 

The Mach number is used in fluid mechanics and is especially useful in studies involving supersonic aerodynamics. It is named after Ernst Mach (1838-1916), the Austrian physicist and philosopher who pioneered the study of supersonic projectiles. The Mach number is the ratio of the velocity of a fluid to the velocity of sotmd in that same fluid. In the case of a body moving through a fluid, the Mach number is the velocity of the body relative to the fluid divided by the velocity of sound in the fluid. The velocity of sound varies with temperature and also varies from one fluid to another. At sea level, for example, the velocity of sound in air at 59°F (15°C) is about 760 MPH (1,223 km/h). At an elevation of 40,000 ft (12,200 m), however, the temperature is about -70°F (-57°C), and the velocity of sound in air is only 660 MPH (1,062 km/h). Thus, an airplane flying at 760 MPH at sea level would have a Mach number of 1.0, while at an elevation of 40,000 ft it would have a higher Mach number of almost 1.2. 

NASP was to be used as an experimental vehicle to test high-risk technologies for Reagan s Strategic Defense Initiative, but also to ferry men and equipment to future space stations more economically than could be done with the Space Shuttle. It would take off like a conventional airplane. Hydrogen-fueled, air-breathing scramjet (supersonic combustion ram jet) engines would push it at speeds of up to Mach 25 to the almost-vac-uum of near space, where rocket power would provide the final push needed to reach a space station. 

The research of Paul Crutzen, the third recipient of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1995, involved the effect of nitric oxide (NO) on the destruction of stratospheric ozone. Unlike CFCs, which may take 50 to 100 years to diffuse into the upper atmosphere, nitric oxide is introduced directly to the stratosphere in the exhaust of high-altitude aircraft. Early in the 1970s, the United States considered construction of a large fleet of supersonic transport airplanes (SSTs), similar to the Concorde. Environmentalists argued, based in part on the work of Paul Crutzen, that to do so would significantly endanger the ozone layer. 

Supersonic Jet airplanes fly in the stratosphere. It is argued that the exhaust gases (oxides of nitrogen) of these planes would decompose O3, removing its beneficial action of filtering out deleterious low-energy... 

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