In my last post on Sculpting Sound, I ended with a sonic boom. This led me to the question, what does the next generation of supersonic aircraft sound like? The answer is more like a sonic thump.
At the beginning of 2022, the X-59 spent a couple of months in Fort Worth at Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works facility. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to see or even hear it.
Source: NASA/Carla Thomas
In November 2022, Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works Palmdale, California facility installed the F414-GE-100 engine. According to NASA, "the 13-foot-long engine from General Electric Aviation packs 22,000 pounds of propulsion energy and will power the X-59 as it flies at speeds up to Mach 1.4 and altitudes around 55,000 feet." As you will see below, I have my ticket for X-59s first flight, but it looks like our flight may be delayed until 2023.
This new technology could also be applied to commercial flight in the near future. Boom, Spike and Hermeus are developing supersonic (or in Hermeus' case, hypersonic) private and commercial aircraft to reduce travel times to your favorite destination. They will be extremely fast with all the inflight amenities, but will likely come fully equipped with a LOUD SONIC BOOM!
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