Chinese Develop Civilian Hypersonic Jet, Prototype Reaches Speeds of Over Mach 6

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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.

Chinese Develop Civilian Hypersonic Jet, Prototype Reaches Speeds of Over Mach 6

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.
14 comments
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  1. 0
    15 December 2024 15: 14
    How will passengers cope with such speed?
    1. +1
      15 December 2024 15: 24
      In anti-gravity suits. What other options?
    2. 0
      15 December 2024 15: 41
      We don't know what the acceleration is.
      1. 0
        15 December 2024 16: 13
        Well, judging by the fact that 11000 km in two hours - the overload will certainly be no less than that of the Drozdov pilots. Otherwise, the schedule will not be met.
        1. 0
          15 December 2024 16: 32
          6mach x 1200km/h = 7200 km, 11000:7200 = 1,53 hours, 2 hours. Acceleration of a civil aircraft during takeoff is 2,5 m/sec2.
          1. 0
            15 December 2024 17: 18
            20 minutes for acceleration/braking. But in fact - 7 minutes for both, plus altitude gain. You need to gain 1700 m/sec. So 2,5 is not enough. You need about 5 m/sec. And the overload is more difficult to calculate. It also depends on the vertical speed. The sum of forces. So it will happen anyway.
            And in general... At 6 Machs you have to climb high - otherwise it will simply burn out. There will be an overload. At 3 there are many problems. Both for the Americans and for us. And here is such a fool - at 7 hundred pax.
            1. 0
              15 December 2024 21: 44
              Nobody knows the TX, we can guess about the flight characteristics. Local heating of the hull can reach 1000+ degrees, this is hypersonic. There will be many questions about reliability. Somewhere they wrote that it is more reliable for civilians to fly long distances along hyperbolic trajectories. Let's wait.
              1. +1
                16 December 2024 06: 04
                Yes, I agree. From the first results to commercial flights there can be a very long distance. As with peaceful thermonuclear fusion.
    3. 0
      16 December 2024 10: 29
      Passengers will be selected and trained like astronauts. Nothing less.
      What's interesting is something else. What if such a hypersonic device encounters space debris during its flight, what will be left of the passengers?!
      1. +1
        17 December 2024 07: 09
        Memories Yes
  2. 0
    15 December 2024 15: 23
    - How does it fly?
    - Who knows.
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  3. 0
    15 December 2024 15: 40
    Congratulations to Chinese aircraft scientists on their success in the fight for speed in civil aviation.
  4. 0
    15 December 2024 20: 55
    Only suicide bombers and suicide bombers will fly on it. If anything, then the chances of salvation are zero. In addition, I know from experience that the Chinese declare a lot of things, but they do not really allow you to believe them, or the data is far from what is declared, if this still works out.
    1. 0
      16 December 2024 12: 55
      Submariners have little chance of survival, airplane passengers have slightly more. If there is a mid-air collision, the probability of survival tends to zero.
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