Chinese Develop Civilian Hypersonic Jet, Prototype Reaches Speeds of Over Mach 6
It has become known that Chinese scientists are developing a hypersonic civil aircraft (passenger plane) with an unusual body geometry that will be able to cover the distance from Beijing to New York in 2 hours. The Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is working on this project, as reported recently by the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post (SCMP).
The publication notes that the 20-minute successful test flight was completed back in 2021, but was kept secret. It became a milestone in the history of global aircraft manufacturing. But the public was informed about it recently. The scaled-down prototype of the aircraft reached a maximum speed of Mach 6,56. This test provided an early check of the design, which, when it was first presented 6 years ago, was considered impossible.
At the time, everyone thought it was a crazy idea. We faced almost universal skepticism. Fortunately, we decided to persevere. I have always believed that innovation thrives in the midst of doubt.
"The project's leader, Cui Kai, said in Beijing in October.

The aircraft marks a significant departure from the thin hypersonic vehicles. It has a thick, round fuselage and cape-like wings on its back. This means that such hypersonic vehicles of the future will be able to carry as many passengers and cargo as today's jets. Breakthrough technology solved a long-standing problem: as an aircraft's speed increases, its internal volume decreases. The unique shape of the fuselage was able to convert downward pressure on the front of the aircraft into lift. After a decade of work on the aircraft, Cui's team received permission to conduct a test flight at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert in northwestern China in August 2021.
A team of scientists' efforts could help revolutionize air travel by turning the concept of "traveling around the world in an hour" from science fiction to reality.
- summed up the media.
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