Posted on 07/12/2024 12:33:05 PM PDT by Red Badger
The Mk-II Aurora rocket-powered suborbital spaceplane has been cleared for unlimited-speed test flights at an altitude of up to 80,000 ft - Dawn Aerospace The Mk-II Aurora suborbital spaceplane took to the skies last year for its maiden flight with a rocket engine. Now Dawn Aerospace has been give the official nod from New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority to undertake test flights at unlimited speeds.
"This unlocks the next major performance milestone for the Mk-II vehicle, namely supersonic flight," said Stefan Powell, CEO of New Zealand's Dawn Aerospace. "To the best of our knowledge, this would be the first privately funded UAV to break the sound barrier."
The Mk-II actually made its first test flights back in 2021, when the Civil Aviation Authority granted Dawn permission to operate out of conventional airports to assess the airframe and avionics. But the tech demonstrator didn't rocket into the air, it was equipped with surrogate jet engines.
It would be a couple of years before the uncrewed spaceplane nailed its maiden flight powered by a hydrogen peroxide/kerosene rocket engine. At that time it managed speeds of around 196 mph (170 kt or 315 km/h) at altitudes of 6,000 ft (1,829 m).
Dawn has undertaken more than 50 flight tests using jet and rocket engines since 2021, and the latest certification removes the training wheels, so to speak, to unlock unlimited speed at altitudes up to 80,000 ft (~24,385 m). That will take the Mk-II beyond the visual line of site "without the need for restricted airspace" and to supersonic speeds.
"At full performance, the Mk-II will fly faster and 2.5 times higher than any prior aircraft that takes off from a runway, including the current record holder, the SR-71 Blackbird," added Powell.
(Excerpt) Read more at newatlas.com ...
AVIATION PING!........................
Yes, but now it’s real!..................
Nice rocketplane the kiwis got there.
Maybe they can use it to lob Jacinda Ardern into the adjacent galaxy.
I once had a roommate who was into aviation and went to air shows a lot. At one show in the early 70s, he met Hanna Reitsch, a German test pilot who had flown some test flights in Me 163s before being badly injured when one crashed.
Some interesting stuff going on in NZ. Rocket Lab, now a US company, got started in NZ and operates its launch site there. They also launch from Wallops Island, Virginia.
Bkmk
USAF should sue for trademark infringement on account of the SR-91 Aurora hypersonic spy plane, which, if it exist at all, already has been in operation for 30+ years.
But there in the middle was a 3ft long radio controlled model of the Bismarck replete with the Nazi flag on the stern.
So I spoke to the older man controlling it and asked if that was the Bismarck, and he replied with a thick German accent, "Yes, that was my ship."
His name was Brono Rzonca
That must have been something to meet him. It’s always cool to meet people who were actually there at historic events.
Bismarck was the second ship on which he served that was sunk. The first was the Karlsruhe, sunk in the Battle or Norway. He won an Iron Cross second class for actions in the ship's boiler rooms after she was torpedoed. Trained as a machinist, he emigrated to the US in 1952.
I knew two other Germans who emigrated to Chicago around that time who were also machinists: the US was then soliciting machinist immigrants because of the Korean War.
I swear it looks like an unmanned version of the Concorde. Taking that flight was the best 500 dollars I ever spent. Mach 2 at 60,000 feet is awesome. 3 hours and 45 minutes from London to DC. rocks.
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