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NASA’s X-59 supersonic jet is cleared for final assembly
NASA's experimental X-59 jet, which could make supersonic commercial travel a reality, has been cleared for final assembly. The X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft, designed by Lockheed Martin, could take its first flight as soon as 2021.
NASA will soon start testing its first all-electric X-plane
The first all electric X-plane, the X-57 Mod II, has arrived at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in California and is now ready to undergo some rigorous testing. X-planes are the aircraft the agency uses to test and evaluate new technologies -- NASA plans to put this plane's electric propulsion system through testing, with the intention of sharing "valuable lessons learned along the way" in order "to inform the growing electric aircraft market."
NASA explores ‘quiet’ supersonic flight over land
Today, NASA announced its latest X-plane experimental aircraft called the Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator (LBFD). The agency signed a contract to design the plane back in 2016; now it's ready to proceed with development and construction. If the LBFD is successful, it will be a testbed for quiet supersonic technology, and possibly allow for supersonic flights over land, getting passengers from New York to Los Angeles in just two hours.
NASA will take images of its quiet supersonic jet's shockwaves
When NASA begins testing its supersonic jet, you won't only hear about it -- you'll see cool images from the experiments, too. The agency has recently completed a series of flight tests proving that the imaging technique it developed is capable of capturing the shockwaves NASA's Low Boom Flight Demonstration (LBFD) aircraft will make when it starts flying faster than the speed of sound.
NASA starts wind tunnel tests for its quiet supersonic jet
NASA's plans for a quiet supersonic jet, the QueSST, just became tangible: the agency and Lockheed Martin have started wind tunnel tests for the future X-plane. It's a scale model at this stage, but it will be subjected to winds as high as Mach 1.6 (950MPH) to gauge both its aerodynamic performance as well as parts of its propulsion system. The tests should run until the middle of 2017.
DARPA unveils its next VTOL aircraft concept
DARPA announced on Thursday that it had awarded the Phase 2 design contract for its unmanned VTOL X-Plane concept to Aurora Flight Sciences (AFS). VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) planes, like the current generation of V-22 Osprey or F-35B Lightning II, have to trade off between a number of mission requirements including flight speed versus range or fuel efficiency versus power. With the X-Plane, DARPA hopes to have it all and make this VTOL platform more functional on the battlefield.
NASA picks a supersonic jet design for its X-plane initiative
NASA has awarded a key contract for its New Aviation Horizons X-plane initiative, bringing supersonic passenger travel a step closer (back) to reality. The space agency will give Lockheed Martin $20 million to complete the preliminary design for its Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST). As that name suggests, the goal of the competition is to create a jet that can fly faster than sound without the normal sonic boom that can shatter windows in houses below. The teams are tasked instead with creating a sonic "heartbeat" that is more like a soft thump.
X-Plane 10 is out for iOS and it is terrific
X-Plane is the premier flight simulator for Mac, Windows and Linux computers as well as iOS. It's accurate enough to have received FAA certification for some phases of flight training, and TUAW editor Steve Sande even mentioned seeing airline pilots waiting to get on their aircraft "playing" with X-Plane 9 on their iPhones. Today, the creators of X-Plane have released a brand new version for iOS devices. X-Plane 10 is free, but if you want additional planes there are a few in-app purchases. The free version lets you fly a Cessna 172, and gives you access to all the scenery areas including The Grand Canyon, Seattle, Alaska, Hawaii and the mountains of Austria. The graphics are first rate. You can look freely around the cockpit by dragging your finger. A tap gives you views outside the plane from multiple angles. Like the version that runs on the Mac, you can set equipment failures and really horrible weather to fly in. Cities are rendered with 3D buildings that sparkle at night. X-Plane lets you decide the time of day you are going to fly in. Planes you can add as purchases include an F-22 Raptor, an F-4 Phantom and seven more aircraft including the Airbus A320 jetliner. With Game Center, you can participate in multi-player adventures. A built-in flight school will teach you about the basics of flying. X-Plane is impressive software for any computer platform. On my iPad Air, the graphics are smooth and the terrain and flight instruments are very detailed. You can lose hours just flying around, doing some sightseeing, and landing again. This free version of X-Plane is a nice gift to the iOS community. You may be tempted to buy some fancier planes, or just enjoy the free stuff. I hesitate to call X-Plane a game, as it is a great simulation of flight. X-Plane 10 requires iOS 8 or later. It is universal, and it's optimized for iPhone 5 and 6 series phones. Highly recommended.
DARPA trying again to develop a high-speed VTOL aircraft
If at first your unmanned aerial vehicles don't succeed... try, try again? After a series of unsuccessful tests with the Boeing X-50 Dragonfly and Groen Heliplane, the US government is once again trying to develop a high-speed, vertical takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) aircraft. DARPA just announced the VTOL X-Plane program, a 52-month, $130 million project with one mission: to build an aircraft that can exceed 300 knots, achieve a hover efficiency of 75 percent or better, and hit a cruise lift-to-drag ratio of 10 or more. In layman's terms, such an aircraft would be faster than a traditional helicopter, but still have better hover efficiency than a modern high-speed 'copter. Sounds like a sensible idea, right? The thing is, DARPA doesn't know yet how such a thing would look: for now, the agency is merely soliciting proposals, with a particular emphasis on smaller, non-traditional companies nimble enough to develop products quickly. So if you've got any good ideas, may as well head on over to the source link, we guess, and try your luck.
Pioneering astronaut Neil Armstrong dies at 82
It's a story that we hoped we'd never have to report. Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on Earth's Moon, has died at the age of 82 after complications from heart surgery three weeks earlier. His greatest accomplishment very nearly speaks for itself -- along with help from fellow NASA astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, he changed the landscape of space exploration through a set of footprints. It's still important to stress his accomplishments both before and after the historic Apollo 11 flight, though. He was instrumental to the Gemini and X-series test programs in the years before Apollo, and followed his moonshot with roles in teaching aerospace engineering as well as investigating the Apollo 13 and Space Shuttle Challenger incidents. What more can we say? Although he only spent a very small portion of his life beyond Earth's atmosphere, he's still widely considered the greatest space hero in the US, if not the world, and inspired a whole generation of astronauts. We'll miss him. [Image credit: NASA Apollo Archive]
X-Plane Airliner / Helicopter versions now available
X-Plane is an amazing cross-platform flight simulator app, and it has brought the thrill of flying to iPhone / iPod touch owners as well. The small screen size and limited memory of the iPhone platform made X-Plane for iPhone somewhat less impressive than the Mac and Windows versions in that you could only fly four different aircraft types.Austin Meyer, the developer of X-Plane, has resolved this dilemma by releasing versions of X-Plane for iPhone for airliner and helicopter fanatics. X-Plane-Airliner for iPhone / iPod touch (click opens iTunes) is now available for US$4.99. You get the choice of three different present (Boeing 747, 777, and Airbus 380) and one future (Boeing 787) airliners with up to 98 airports in Southern California to fly to. Yeahhhh, I want to try landing at SNA in an A-380! X-Plane Helicopter (click opens iTunes), also priced at US$4.99, lets you experience the helicopter flying experience with your Apple handheld. There are four helicopter types to play with: the Robinson R-22, Bell 206, BlackHawk, and Sea King. Be sure to check out the TUAW review of the original version of X-Plane for iPhone / iPod touch.
iGaming news: LineRider and X-Plane
A couple of new games from the wider world have hit the App Store, and fans of both should be excited: LineRider brings an online sensation to the touchable side, and X-Plane brings flight simulation street cred to iPhone and iPod touch users.LineRider (store link) started out as a simple, no-frills sledding Flash game from a Czech Slovenian student and has exploded into an online phenom -- the current version runs in MS Silverlight, and it has spawned over 11,000 videos of courses (including a couple of McDonald's advertisments) and forthcoming versions for the Wii and PC. The iPhone version features the same basic gameplay as the online flavor (build a track, release the sled, crash and burn) along with a course-sharing option to let your friends download your creations. LineRider is $2.99US.At the other end of the gaming spectrum, Laminar Research's X-Plane flight sim has long been acclaimed for its accuracy and flexibility. Now the experience of X-Plane 9 (store link)has been squeezed into your pants with the iPhone version. The portable X-Plane lets you fly four different aircraft around the game's demo area (the skies above Innsbruck, Austria) using the device accelerometer to control your flight, or onscreen touch controls if you prefer. The quote from Laminar on the iTunes store page is illuminating:We here at Laminar Research are still a bit shell-shocked at how powerful this little device is, and how much power in flight simulation can be stuffed into it...That bodes well for future sim development. X-Plane is $9.99US.Thanks to everyone who sent these in.
Saitek independent LCD interface boxes for flight sims
At E3 earlier this month, Saitek demoed a peripheral sure to spark the interest of many a flight sim enthusiast. Their product, for now with no name, enables flight simulators to display different, customizable information from the "game" on three separate LCDs. Effectively, the displays emulate a real cockpit, where each bit of information comes from a separate module that is integrated into the dash. The device is scheduled for a fall launch, will cost only $99.99, and will be supported in several flight sims beyond the obvious Flight Simulator X -- we're crossing our fingers for X-Plane support.
X-Plane 8.5 Beta now available
Laminar Research has released a new Beta for X-Plane 8.5, developer Austin Meyer's comprehensive flight simulator and personal labor of love. Beta 11 is available for Mac, PC, and Linux, and features dozens of modifications such as new environmental effects and joystick button controls. There are also some tweaks to the instrument panels, which may be the most welcome update given the game's challenging learning curve.Read Joystiq's review of X-Plane 8.21.
Joystiq Review: X-Plane 8.21 (PC/Mac/Linux) [Update 2]
X-Plane is a title developed practically single-handedly by an eccentric ginger-haired Mac loving programmer called Austin Meyer. Flight aficionados like myself will not find it hard to fall in love with the detail that this sim brings to the genre. Our question for X-Plane is: will the majority of gamers (including ones that can't fly a plane) enjoy this title?
