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NASA continues to make steady progress towards the possible launch of a low-boom supersonic demonstrator program* later this decade. This would take boom-shaping techniques proved in the windtunnel and test them in the real world to gauge the public acceptance of shaped booms.
The goal is to reduce boom annoyance to a level where regulators can be persuaded to lift the ban on supersonic flight over land. Previous windtunnel work has shown that careful shaping of the aircraft can get the sonic boom for a small supersonic airliner down to what NASA believes is the threshold of acceptability.
Under Phase 2 of the so-called N+2 system-level experimental validation program, Boeing and Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works are continuing work on small airliner concepts that are about the capacity and range of Concorde, but with dramatically quieter sonic booms – around 80 PLdB versus 105 PLdB.
And the shockwave signature observed on the ground would be more of a sine wave, resulting in a muted whoosh rather than the traditional double bang generated by the classic N-wave boom signature, with its sharp pressure rises caused by the powerful bow and tail shocks.
Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by Aliensun
You know, it's truly amazing. The "triangles" are supposed to be some ultra secret black project, yet unlike EVERY black project before them the Air Force is flying them low over cities, with thousands of witnesses, defying the laws of physics in front of people, the supposed specifications for them are all over the net, but when you ask anyone that works in the industry, no one has ever heard of them, including people who would tell me if they had.