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X-51A “Waverider” longest ever hypersonic flight

1,870 views · Published 26 May 2016 · 0:38 · Indexed 31 October 2026

Channel: MechDesignTV · 2016 · Science & Technology

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Edwards Air Force Base
#ThrowbackThursday to 26 May 2010 at Edwards Air Force Base - The X-51A “Waverider” Scramjet Engine Demonstrator vehicle made the longest ever supersonic combustion ramjet-powered hypersonic flight in a the mission performed off the coast of southern California. The approximately 150-second burn by the X-51A’s Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne-built air breathing scramjet engine accelerated the test vehicle to approximately Mach 4.9. The previous longest scramjet burn in a flight test was 12 seconds. U.S. Air Force officials called the test an unqualified success. The flight was considered the first use of a practical hydrocarbon-fueled scramjet in flight. The X-51 departed Edwards AFB, carried aloft under the left wing of an Edwards B-52H. Flying at 50,000 feet over the Point Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center Sea Range, the “Waverider” was released; four seconds later, an Army Tactical Missile solid rocket booster accelerated the X-51 to about Mach 4.8 before it and a connecting interstage was jettisoned. At that point, the X-51’s engine ignited. The flight reached an altitude of about 70,000 feet. (U.S. Air Force video by NASA photographer Lori Losey) #EdwardsAirForceBase #aviation #history #TBT #OTD #avgeek

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