MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
While they "unveiled" it appears to me that they are trying to keep it somewhat secret because they did it in the almost dark. Ummmm, why is is chained down? Is it LTA and might float off?
From AvWeb:
Start-up hypersonic aircraft developer Hermeus has unveiled a manufacturing prototype of the single-engine flight demonstrator it will test in advance of the development of a Mach 5 turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) powered transport concept.
"We've framed it as less a mockup and more of a prototype," Hermeus CEO A.J. Piplica said. "Internally the purpose of building it was to go through a full-scale manufacturing process and to get the team to build a full-scale aircraft. We've gained a lot of insight going through this process over the past four months, and we are rolling that back into the design of the vehicle for both manufacturing integration and operations."
Dubbed the "Quarterhorse," the single-engine structural prototype is just under 40 ft. in length and has a wingspan of almost 12 ft. Although the prototype is largely representative of the sharply swept Mach 5 demonstrator vehicle Hermeus plans to flight test in 2024, Piplica said "there's obviously quite a bit of iteration still to come over the next few years, but it's in the ballpark for what we expect to fly."
Hermeus has meanwhile moved into its recently completed 5,000-ft.2 propulsion test facility near Atlanta, Georgia. There it will build the flight demonstrators as well as evaluate a larger, flight-scale version of its TBCC engine. Testing is intended to pave the way for the follow-on development of the first of three flight-test vehicles to be built under a $60 million U.S. Air Force contract awarded earlier this year under the U.S. Air Force's recently launched Vector Initiative.
Supported by the AFWERX Strategic Funding Increase program led by the Presidential and Executive Airlift Directorate, the work is a follow-on to an earlier Phase II small business innovation research contract covering potential development of a high-Mach capable Air Force One transport. The collaboration also includes support from the Air Force Research Laboratory.
Each demonstrator vehicle will incorporate a General Electric J85-21 turbojet at the heart of the TBCC propulsion system. "We'll be getting into ground testing within the next couple of weeks on the other side of the roll out," Piplica said. "We'll look to get that wrapped up early next year and then complete all of our high-speed testing by the end of the first quarter."
Testing, which for this phase continues at the company's original engine test site in DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, Georgia, will be focused on mode-transition work in a series of direct connect runs. For these tests, the flowpath will include all major components apart from the inward turning inlet. "We will connect to the front of the pre-cooler at the test facility, and then everything downstream—including the bypass system, turbojet, ram-burner and nozzle," Piplica said. "The major goal is really demonstrating transition from the ramjet mode to turbojet mode and back. That's the real key risk that we're looking to reduce here."
From AvWeb:
Start-up hypersonic aircraft developer Hermeus has unveiled a manufacturing prototype of the single-engine flight demonstrator it will test in advance of the development of a Mach 5 turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) powered transport concept.
"We've framed it as less a mockup and more of a prototype," Hermeus CEO A.J. Piplica said. "Internally the purpose of building it was to go through a full-scale manufacturing process and to get the team to build a full-scale aircraft. We've gained a lot of insight going through this process over the past four months, and we are rolling that back into the design of the vehicle for both manufacturing integration and operations."
Dubbed the "Quarterhorse," the single-engine structural prototype is just under 40 ft. in length and has a wingspan of almost 12 ft. Although the prototype is largely representative of the sharply swept Mach 5 demonstrator vehicle Hermeus plans to flight test in 2024, Piplica said "there's obviously quite a bit of iteration still to come over the next few years, but it's in the ballpark for what we expect to fly."
Hermeus has meanwhile moved into its recently completed 5,000-ft.2 propulsion test facility near Atlanta, Georgia. There it will build the flight demonstrators as well as evaluate a larger, flight-scale version of its TBCC engine. Testing is intended to pave the way for the follow-on development of the first of three flight-test vehicles to be built under a $60 million U.S. Air Force contract awarded earlier this year under the U.S. Air Force's recently launched Vector Initiative.
Supported by the AFWERX Strategic Funding Increase program led by the Presidential and Executive Airlift Directorate, the work is a follow-on to an earlier Phase II small business innovation research contract covering potential development of a high-Mach capable Air Force One transport. The collaboration also includes support from the Air Force Research Laboratory.
Each demonstrator vehicle will incorporate a General Electric J85-21 turbojet at the heart of the TBCC propulsion system. "We'll be getting into ground testing within the next couple of weeks on the other side of the roll out," Piplica said. "We'll look to get that wrapped up early next year and then complete all of our high-speed testing by the end of the first quarter."
Testing, which for this phase continues at the company's original engine test site in DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, Georgia, will be focused on mode-transition work in a series of direct connect runs. For these tests, the flowpath will include all major components apart from the inward turning inlet. "We will connect to the front of the pre-cooler at the test facility, and then everything downstream—including the bypass system, turbojet, ram-burner and nozzle," Piplica said. "The major goal is really demonstrating transition from the ramjet mode to turbojet mode and back. That's the real key risk that we're looking to reduce here."
