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Supersonic aircraft flight speed. The fastest plane in the world

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

Passenger supersonic aircraft

There are only two known mass-produced passenger supersonic aircraft that performed regular flights: the Soviet Tu-144 aircraft, which made its first flight on December 31, 1968 and was in operation from 1978 to 1978 and performed its first English flight two months later - on March 2, 1969. French Concorde (French Concorde - “agreement”), which made transatlantic flights from 2003 to 2003. Their operation made it possible not only to significantly reduce flight time on long-distance flights, but also to use uncongested airspace at high altitudes (≈18 km), while the main airspace used by airliners (altitudes 9-12 km) was already in those years loaded. Also, supersonic aircraft flew along straight routes (outside air routes).
Despite the failure of several other former and existing projects of passenger supersonic and transonic aircraft (Boeing 2707, Boeing Sonic Cruiser, Douglas 2229, Lockheed L-2000, Tu-244, Tu-344, Tu-444, SSBJ, etc.) and withdrawal from operation of aircraft of two implemented projects, were developed earlier and there are modern projects of hypersonic (including suborbital) passenger airliners (for example, ZEHST, SpaceLiner) and military transport (landing) rapid response aircraft. A firm order for 20 units was placed in November 2015 for the Aerion AS2 passenger business jet under development, with a total cost of $2.4 billion, with deliveries to begin in 2023.

Theoretical problems

Flight at supersonic speed, in contrast to subsonic speed, takes place in conditions of different aerodynamics, since when the aircraft reaches the speed of sound, the aerodynamics of the flow change qualitatively, due to which aerodynamic drag increases sharply, and the kinetic heating of the structure from the friction of the air flow flowing at high speed also increases. , the aerodynamic focus shifts, which leads to a loss of stability and controllability of the aircraft. In addition, such a phenomenon, unknown before the creation of the first supersonic aircraft, as “wave drag” appeared.
Therefore, achieving the speed of sound and effective stable flight at near- and supersonic speeds were impossible by simply increasing engine power - new design solutions were required. As a result, the appearance of the aircraft changed: characteristic straight lines and sharp corners appeared, in contrast to the “smooth” shapes of subsonic aircraft.
It should be noted that the problem of creating an effective supersonic aircraft cannot still be considered resolved. The creators have to make a compromise between the requirement to increase speed and maintain acceptable takeoff and landing characteristics. Thus, the conquest of new frontiers in speed and altitude by aviation is associated not only with the use of a more advanced or fundamentally new propulsion system and a new structural layout of aircraft, but also with changes in their geometry in flight. Such changes, while improving the aircraft's performance at high speeds, should not worsen their performance at low speeds, and vice versa. Recently, creators have abandoned reducing the wing area and the relative thickness of their profiles, as well as increasing the wing sweep angle of aircraft with variable geometry, returning to low-sweep wings and a large relative thickness, if satisfactory maximum speed and service ceiling values have already been achieved. In this case, it is considered important that a supersonic aircraft have good performance at low speeds and low drag at high speeds, especially at low altitudes.

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 Bell X-1 aircraft with an XLR-11 rocket engine that reached supersonic speed in controlled flight.

Development

The 60s-70s of the 20th century were marked by rapid development supersonic aviation. The main problems of aircraft stability and controllability and their aerodynamic efficiency were solved. The high flight speed also made it possible to increase the ceiling to over 20 km, which was important for reconnaissance aircraft 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 altitude and speed. During these years, supersonic aircraft for a wide variety of 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 technology to reduce visibility.

Comparative diagrams of Tu-144 and Concorde

Passenger supersonic aircraft

In the history of aviation, there have only been two passenger supersonic aircraft operating on regular flights. The Soviet Tu-144 aircraft made its first flight on December 31, 1968, and 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 2003 to 2003. Their operation made it possible not only to significantly reduce flight time on long-distance flights, but also to use uncongested airspace at high altitudes (≈18 km), while the main airspace used by airliners (altitudes 9-12 km) was already in those years significantly loaded. Also, supersonic aircraft flew along straight routes (outside air routes).

Theoretical issues

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

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

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

Notes

see also

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See what a “supersonic aircraft” is in other dictionaries:
One example of existing supersonic aircraft projects.

Today I’ll start with a short introduction :).

On this site I already have flights of aircraft. That is, it’s high time to write something about supersonic, especially since I promised to do it :-). The other day I set to work with considerable zeal, but realized that the topic is as interesting as it is voluminous.

My articles lately have not been particularly short, I don’t know if this is an advantage or a disadvantage :-). And the issue on the topic “ supersonic“threatened to become even larger and it’s not known how long it would take me to “create” it :-).

So I decided to try to make a few articles. A sort of small series (three or four pieces), in which each component will be devoted to one or two concepts on the topic supersonic speeds. And it will be easier for me, and I will bother my readers less :-), and Yandex and Google will be more supportive (which is important, you understand :-)). Well, what comes out of this is up to you to judge, of course..

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So, let's talk today about supersonic and supersonic aircraft. The very concept of " supersonic“in our language (especially in the superlative degree) flashes much more often than the term “subsonic”.

On the one hand, this is, in general, understandable. Subsonic aircraft have long become something completely commonplace in our lives. A supersonic aircraft, although they have been flying in the airspace for 65 years, they still seem to be something special, interesting and worthy of increased attention.

On the other hand, this is quite fair. After all, flights to supersonic- this, one might say, is a separate area of movement closed by some kind of barrier. However, inexperienced people may well have a question: “What, exactly, is so outstanding about this supersonic sound? What difference does it make if a plane flies at a speed of 400 km/h or 1400 km/h? Give him a more powerful engine and everything will be fine!” Aviation was in approximately this semantic position at the dawn of its development.

Speed has always been the ultimate dream, and initially these aspirations were quite successfully translated into reality. Already in 1945, Messerschmitt test pilot L. Hoffmann, in horizontal flight on one of the world's first aircraft with jet engines, ME-262, reached a speed of 980 km/h in horizontal flight at an altitude of 7200 m.

However, in reality everything is far from so simple. After all, the flight to supersonic differs from subsonic not only in the magnitude of the speed and not so much by it. The difference here is qualitative.

Already at speeds of about 400 km/h, such a property of air as compressibility begins to gradually manifest itself. And, in principle, there is nothing unexpected here. - it's gas. And all gases, as is known, unlike liquids, are compressible. When compressed, gas parameters change, such as density, pressure, temperature. Because of this, various physical processes can proceed differently in a compressed gas than in a rarefied gas.

The faster the plane flies, the more it, together with its aerodynamic surfaces, becomes like a kind of piston, in a certain sense compressing the air in front of it. It’s exaggerated, of course, but in general that’s how it is :-).

As the speed increases, the aerodynamic pattern of flow around the aircraft changes, and the faster, the more :-). And on supersonic she is already qualitatively different. At the same time, new concepts of aerodynamics come to the fore, which often simply do not make any sense for low-speed aircraft.

To characterize flight speed, it now becomes convenient and necessary to use such a parameter as the Mach number (Mach number, the ratio of the speed of the aircraft relative to the air at a given point to the speed of sound in the air flow at that point). Another type of aerodynamic resistance appears and becomes noticeable (very noticeable!) - characteristic impedance(along with the already increased normal drag).

Such phenomena as wave crisis (with a critical number M), supersonic barrier, shock waves and shock waves.

In addition, the controllability and stability characteristics of the aircraft deteriorate due to the rearward displacement of the point of application of aerodynamic forces.

When approaching the region of transonic speeds, the aircraft may experience severe shaking (this was more typical for the first aircraft that stormed the then mysterious boundary of the speed of sound), similar in its manifestations to another very unpleasant phenomenon that aviators had to face in their professional development. This phenomenon is called flutter (topic for another article :-)).

Such an unpleasant moment appears as the heating of the air as a result of its sharp braking in front of the aircraft (the so-called kinetic heating), as well as heating as a result of viscous friction of air. At the same time, the temperatures are quite high, about 300ºС. The skin of an aircraft heats up to these temperatures during a long supersonic flight.

We will definitely talk about all the concepts and phenomena mentioned above, as well as the reasons for their occurrence, in other articles in more detail. But now, I think it’s quite clear that supersonic- this is something completely different than flying at subsonic (especially low) speed.

In order to get along with all the newly emerging effects and phenomena at high speeds and fully correspond to its purpose, the aircraft must also change qualitatively. Now this must be supersonic aircraft, that is, an aircraft capable of flying at speeds exceeding the speed of sound in a given area of airspace.

And for it, just increasing engine power is not enough (although this is also a very important and mandatory detail). Such aircraft usually change in appearance. Sharp corners and edges and straight lines appear in their appearance, in contrast to the “smooth” outlines of subsonic aircraft.

Supersonic aircraft They have a swept or triangular wing in plan. A typical and one of the most famous delta-wing aircraft is the wonderful MIG-21 fighter (maximum speed at an altitude of 2230 km/h, at the ground 1300 km/h).

Supersonic aircraft with a delta wing MIG-21.

One of the swept wing options is an ogival wing, which has an increased lift coefficient. It has a special influx near the fuselage, designed to form artificial spiral vortices.

MIG-21I with an ogival wing.

MIG-21I - ogival wing.

Ogival wing of TU-144.

It is interesting that a wing of this type, later installed on the TU-144, was tested on a flying laboratory based on the same MIG-21 (MIG-21I).

Second option - supercritical wing. It has a flattened profile with a specially curved rear part, which makes it possible to delay the occurrence of a wave crisis at high speeds and can be advantageous in terms of efficiency for high-speed subsonic aircraft. This wing was used, in particular, on the SuperJet 100 aircraft.

SuperJet 100. An example of a supercritical wing. The profile bend is clearly visible (rear part)

Photos are clickable.

An important parameter for an airplane is its speed. This is an indicator that concerns both aviators, air traffic controllers, and, above all, passengers. Ordinary people who use aircraft services are always interested in how fast they will fly.
Modern airliners easily reach 600-800 km/h. And this is far from the limit. Indicators for overcoming airspace can be either lower or much higher. In general, science has been able to make a huge leap forward over the century. For example, “Ilya Muromets” at the beginning of the 20th century could stably maintain only a little more than 100 km/h.
What parameters affect speed?
The speed of an aircraft depends on several basic values. These are the characteristics of the aircraft, the magnitude of its aerodynamic forces and those moments that act from the outside: air density, pressure, wind strength and direction.
From a physics point of view, the speed of an airplane is equal to the ratio of distance to time. Typically, average indicators are considered and small intervals are taken for calculations - most often it is customary to measure speed in meters per second, which is then easily converted to kilometers per hour (multiplying by 3.6).
There are several types of speeds:
- track - an indicator of the movement of the aircraft relative to the earth's surface
- true – speed relative to the air; may coincide with the track in the absence of wind
- instrument - an indicator determined using several pressure measurements using special tubes
Classification of aircraft by speed
Experts divide existing aircraft models into the following types:
- Subsonic. Main area civil aviation. The characteristics of the models are different, but the highest speed modern airliner approximately 1035 km/h, which is already approaching the next type of aircraft.
- Transonic. Here the acceleration is equal to the speed of sound or as close as possible to it. For example, at an altitude of 8 thousand meters, the speed of sound is 1109 km/h / Accordingly, all aircraft, capable of reaching this limit can be classified as transonic.
- Supersonic. They exceed the sound barrier and are actively used in military aviation. Fighters, attack aircraft, and drones accelerate to 3-4 thousand km/h.
- Hypersonic. They are rarely used, but today engineers are working on the development of new hypersonic aircraft. different countries. The speed of sound is 5-6 times higher. The experimental American X-43A can accelerate to 11,200 km/h.
Passenger planes and their speed
Civil airliners with passengers on board exhaust on average 60-80% of their service life. Therefore, cruising and maximum speeds are distinguished. The technical documentation indicates two values, and the average speed is calculated by the designers based on the maximum possible.
Main speed characteristics of liners
- IL-62. Long-haul aircraft, accommodates 198 passengers, normal speed – 850 km/h.
- IL-86. A very large airliner, capable of carrying 314 people, 950 km/h.
- IL-96. Designed for long-distance flights and for a maximum of 300 seats on board, the norm is up to 900 km/h.
- Tu-134. Designed for short flights, up to 96 people, 850 km/h.
- Tu-154. Up to 180 passengers and average speed – 900-930 km/h.
- Tu-204. The average speed is 850 km/h, the number of people is up to 214.
- Yak-40. Up to 36 passengers, normal speed – 510 km/h, maximum – 550.
- Boeing-747. For long distances up to 298 people, the standard during flight is 915-917 km/h.
- Boeing-777. Also designed for long flights, but only 148 passengers and 891 km/h.
- Airbus A310. Routes of different lengths. Standard performance: 183 seats, 858 km/h.
- Airbus A320. The Airbus can cover medium distances at a speed of 853 km/h and with 149 passengers on board.
- Airbus A330. Designed for long flights. Designed for 398 people. And the average speed is 925 km/h.
- Airbus A380. The world's largest passenger airliner. Capacity - 700, normal speed - 890-900 km/h with maximum speed - 1019.
The fastest passenger ships
As you can see, the performance of civil vessels in operation today varies between 600-900 km/h. However, history knows cases of supersonic passenger airliners. The first is the famous Tu-144, released in 1968 and capable of reaching speeds of up to 2,500 km/h. It stopped being used in 1978. The second is the French-English Concorde, which flew until 2003.
On video short excursion into the history of legendary supersonic passenger aircraft. A review of the reasons why the world abandoned ultra-high-speed civil flights.
Hypersuk airliners have not been invented, but work in this direction is being carried out by both Russian and foreign designers. The most famous today is the European project Zehst, which will be able to develop 5 thousand km/h. Similar domestic projects - Tu-444 and Tu-244 - are currently frozen.
Reasons for abandoning supersonic speeds
- Lack of airfields. The number of runways on which it is possible to land supersonic airliners is very limited. As a rule, these are military airfields.
- Design difficulties. High-speed aircraft have a streamlined shape and strict limits on the length of the side. Thus, structurally, the vessels are poorly suited to the dimensions of passenger vessels.
- Excessive fuel consumption. The cost of tickets for such flights would be a very impressive amount, which is economically unprofitable for both consumers and carriers.
- Repair work and maintenance. After almost every flight, it is necessary to carry out a full maintenance of the aircraft. This is a check of rivet fastenings, fuselage, etc.
Takeoff - how it happens and at what speeds
Each aircraft has individual technical characteristics, in accordance with which it is operated. The process of lifting the airliner into the air is carried out in stages.
1. Engine speed set. At approximately 800-820 rpm, the aircraft begins to move along the runway.
2. Acceleration and acceleration. The pilot controls the aircraft on the ground, achieving the required speed while being in a stable position on three wheels.
3. Lift-off and climb. To actually take off, you need to accelerate the plane to 185 km/h and smoothly raise the nose by pulling the handle. As a result, the ship continues to move on two wheels and lifts off the ground, reaching a speed of 225 km/h.
The above are approximate figures for the Boeing 737 model. The higher the mass of the airliner, the greater the speed it must develop on the ground. In addition, external factors also play a role during takeoff and climb. These are the direction and strength of the wind, air flow density, humidity, quality and condition of the runway.
In cases where there is a strong wind against the movement of the aircraft, indicators that are twice as high as the standard may be needed. Moreover, in the opposite situation, when the wind is fair, minimal effort will be needed.

Plane landing
Landing an aircraft is the opposite of taking off. Accordingly, all stages are performed in reverse order: smooth descent, approach and straightening, holding the aircraft and touching down on the runway.

On February 6, 1950, during another test, the Soviet jet fighter MiG-17 exceeded the speed of sound in horizontal flight, accelerating to almost 1070 km/h. This turned it into the first mass-produced supersonic aircraft. The developers Mikoyan and Gurevich were clearly proud of their brainchild.
For combat flights, the MiG-17 was considered transonic, since its cruising speed did not exceed 861 km/h. But this did not stop the fighter from becoming one of the most common in the world. At various times 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.
The MiG-17 is far from the only representative of the supersonic aircraft genre. We will tell you about a dozen more airliners that also outpaced the sound wave and became famous throughout the world.
Bell X-1
The US Air Force specially equipped the Bell X-1 with a rocket engine because 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 human history (since 1959). who performed suborbital manned space flights. With its help, they even studied the reaction of the atmosphere to the entry of winged bodies into it. A total of three units of X-15 type rocket planes were produced.

Source: NASA

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
It would be a sin not to use 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 number 3.5). The main advantages are fast acceleration and high maneuverability, which allowed it to evade missiles. The SR-71 was also the first aircraft to be equipped with radar signature reduction technologies.
Only 32 units were built, 12 of which crashed. In 1998 it was withdrawn from service.

Source: af.mil

MiG-25
We cannot help 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 this, for many years in many parts of the Union, aircraft began to be incompletely refueled. 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 benefit of the fatherland. Therefore, in 1968, the design of the MiG-31 began. And on September 16, 1975, he was in the sky for the first time. This two-seat supersonic all-weather long-range fighter-interceptor accelerated to a speed of 2500 km/h (Mach number 2.35) and became the first Soviet fourth-generation combat aircraft.
The MiG-31 is designed to intercept and destroy air targets at extremely low, low, medium and high altitudes, day and night, in simple and adverse weather conditions, with active and passive radar interference, as well as false thermal targets. Four MiG-31s can control airspace up to 900 kilometers long. This is not an airplane, 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 were built by the Americans. They modeled a fifth-generation multirole fighter, which became the most expensive among their colleagues. The Lockheed/Boeing F-22 Raptor is currently the only fifth-generation fighter in service and the first production fighter with a supersonic cruising speed of 1,890 km/h (Mach 1.78). Maximum speed 2570 km/h (Mach 2.42). No one has ever surpassed him in the air.

Source: af.mil

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