NASA funds supersonic bi-directional flying wing aircraft

The commercial aircraft we all are used to flying in could get us to our destinations a lot faster if they were allowed to break the sound barrier. A 747 typically reaches speeds of 550mph, whereas a supersonic craft can more than double that. Concorde, for example, used to fly at 1,350mph (Mach 2.04).

The reason we don’t all fly at Mach 2 is because of sonic booms: a loud shockwave heard when you break the speed of sound. Hearing them several times an hour is not desirable in our busy skies, especially if you live near an airport.

NASA has been working to solve this problem with the development of new aerodynamics and engines to allow a quiet sonic boom to occur. However, an aerospace engineer from Florida State University has beaten them to it. Ge-Chen Zha has developed a bi-directional flying wing that is capable of achieving supersonic flight without the sonic boom. The concept looks like a flying ninja star, but in reality it’s two wings set on top of each other.

In one configuration the aircraft is capable of subsonic flight, but in mid-air it can carry out a 5-second rotation to the secondary wing configuration and go supersonic. Apparently anyone on board would hardly notice this rotation happening, but they would enjoy the hours being knocked off their flight time.

If you’re skeptical of such a design, don’t be. Zha has presented the flying wing to NASA and received $100,000 in funding for his efforts. If NASA scientists think it works, it’s likely to make it into some form of production. Even if this aircraft never becomes a passenger-carrying solution, it will be of great interest to drone manufacturers. Drones capable of silent supersonic flight would certainly be a feature any government would want to have available to them, both for home surveillance or one of the many hostile locations around the world.

Personally, I hope this concept is adapted to the commercial passenger carrying field of aviation. You could be across the world in a couple of  hours. The possibilities are endless. But in my heart I know it will be used exclusively for reconnaissance, surveillance and spying in general; maybe even to deliver a missile to a target. How do I know?? Because we always revert to our basic warmongering nature.