Aircraft able to fly London-New York in just FOUR hours is preparing for take-off – and
An impressive aircraft that can whizz from London to New York in just four hours is almost ready to take-off.
NASA‘s X-59 is a supersonic research aircraft that is expected to reach speeds of up to 990mph – which is faster than the speed of sound.
Such a quick rate means the vehicle could technically fly from the capital of the UK to New York in around three hours and 44 minutes.
This is astonishingly fast compared to commercial flights that typically take seven to eight hours to complete the transatlantic journey.
It is currently undergoing the final safety tests before it can make its debut flight.
Described as ‘quiet’, the aircraft’s special design means it will make a thump noise instead of a loud sonic boom.
This is a change from other planes which were so loud they were seen as unsuitable for flying over populated areas.
Instead, X-59 boasts a thin, tapered nose which accounts for almost a third of its length and breaks up the shock waves that usually result in a supersonic aircraft causing a sonic boom.
NASA ‘s X-59 is a supersonic research aircraft that is expected to reach speeds of up to 990mph – which is faster than the speed of sound
This is astonishingly fast compared to commercial flights that typically take seven to eight hours to complete the transatlantic journey
The $247.5 million jet has been dubbed the ‘Son of Concorde’, after a famous aircraft that made a sonic boom when it hit speeds faster than sound.
It is currently being tested in California at the US Air Force Plant 42 and is undergoing safety system evaluations.
The impressive aircraft’s first flight won’t reach its full speed potential, and will instead consist of a 240mph lower-altitude loop.
This is to check the system integration and further tests will look at the jet’s safety and ‘airworthiness’.
However, the X-59 will eventually be flown at its full potential and exceed the speed of sound in higher and faster upcoming tests.
A spokesperson for the NASA Armstrong test centre said: ‘As NASA’s one-of-a-kind X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft approaches first flight, its team is mapping every step from taxi and takeoff to cruising and landing – and their decision-making is guided by safety.’
The jet has been developed by American aerospace firm Lockheed Martin after being awarded the $247.5 million design contract by NASA in 2016.
‘This is a major accomplishment made possible only through the hard work and ingenuity from NASA and the entire X-59 team,’ said NASA deputy administrator Pam Melroy previously said last year.
It is currently undergoing the final safety tests before it can make its debut flight
‘In just a few short years we’ve gone from an ambitious concept to reality.
‘NASA’s X-59 will help change the way we travel, bringing us closer together in much less time.’
Meanwhile, one of the lead engineers involved with the new jet, Peter Coen, previously scoffed at the nickname.
‘The X-59 is not, I repeat not, the son of Concorde, other than the general wing shape,’ Coen, mission integration manager for NASA’s Quesst mission, told DailyMail.com last year.