NASA validated sonic boom reduction theory using modified F-5 flight tests
Dr. Christine Darden · a16z Podcast | From Hidden Figure to Sonic BOOM · Jan 2, 2019 · at 15:59
Dr. Christine Darden was a NASA aerospace engineer who developed mathematical models for sonic boom minimization. She describes live flight validation at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.
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“We got two F-Fives from the military, and we took just volume and changed the volume of the area distribution of the airplane just using volume of the F-Five, and then we flew a second F-Five with no changes. We flew them out at Dryden Research Center down near LA, and we Measured that, those signatures coming off of those two airplanes all the way to the ground, first using F-fifteens, and then slower airplanes, and maybe use some balloons, and then finally measuring on the ground, and we were able to show that, yes, this theory is working.”
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