Its sharp nose takes up half the plane’s length, the cockpit is not visible, the wings look tiny compared to the fuselage, and the giant tail engine looks like an awkward bump.
However, there is a certain logic behind this madness. The design is an important element that creates a unique supersonic jet that does not create a loud sonic boom.
By the way, the sonic boom has long been the “Achilles heel” of supersonic flight. When an airplane exceeds the speed of sound, pressurized air molecules near the aircraft’s fuselage create shock waves that create a loud, destructive sound heard on the ground.
This noise has historically been a major obstacle to the commercial viability of supersonic flight over land.
Developed in partnership with NASA, the X-59 was designed for experimental testing to determine what level of sonic boom people around the world were willing to accept from a supersonic aircraft.
According to Lockheed Martin X-59 program director Dave Richardson, people shouldn’t expect much noise thanks to the new design.
The main advantage of the X-59 is its shape rather than the use of expensive materials or exotic engines.
If its shape looks more like an alien ship from an anime than a real man-made vehicle, it’s because it was designed in another dimension using special software created by the company’s engineers, with the help of computers and humans.
Source: Ferra
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