X-51A WaveRider Breaks Record for Longest Hypersonic Flight | Aviation International News

X-51A WaveRider Breaks Record for Longest Hypersonic Flight

The Boeing X-51A WaveRider hypersonic vehicle, powered by a Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne scramjet engine, achieved aviation history this week by making t

By Chad Trautvetter • Online Editor

May 29, 2010

The Boeing X-51A WaveRider hypersonic vehicle, powered by a Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne scramjet engine, achieved aviation history this week by making the longest ever combustion ramjet-powered supersonic flight. During its first jaunt, the craft reached 70,000 feet and an approximate speed of Mach 5 on a 200-second flight over the Pacific Ocean on May 26 at 10 a.m. before it was purposely crashed into the water.

During its first flight, the unmanned WaveRider was carried beneath a U.S. Air Force B-52H and dropped from an altitude of about 50,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean off Southern California. A solid rocket booster fired and propelled the cruiser to speeds greater than Mach 5, creating the supersonic environment necessary to operate the engine.

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