NASA Completes PDR on Quiet Supersonic Demonstrator

The Low Boom Flight Demonstrator (LBFD) is scheduled to begin flying in 2021 after NASA selects the manufacturer early next year, the agency says.

The supersonic, single-engined jet is intended to prove that new designs tools developed by NASA and industry can muffle the thunderous double-boom produced by a supersonic shockwave to a non-annoying thump. Such data could be used to ask regulators in the USA and Europe to overturn restrictions on flying aircraft at supersonic speeds over populated areas.

It also will serve as a testbed for other technologies. Instead of a forward windscreen, the X-plane pilot will view the aircraft’s forward path from a ultra high-definition video produced by a camera installed in a fuselage-mounted fairing, says David Richwine, who managed the preliminary design project called the Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST).

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Sounds like the tech to get efficient high speed engines are up to spec?Or are they having faith in the newer Magjet tech that they are playing with..The airframes they had that all figured out in the 50,s 60,s..

a reply to: anzha

pretty sure these quite boom jets have been whispering in our skies for a while now. but its cool that its coming into the white world.


last night i posted a video about the ill fated concord, if the XB-70 is DECADES old and flew at mach 3+ imagine if we put the quite boom tech(granted the geometry will be different than the XB-70) i don't know why we couldn't have a mach 3+ transport