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Supersonic Pioneers
The first operable supersonic jet bomber was the Convair B-58 “Hustler”, powered by 4 General Electric J79 engines with afterburner, operational during a relatively short period between 1960 and 1969. Future developments were studied, among others the CV-58-9, anticipated as a supersonic commercial aircraft with J58 engines and 72 seats for passengers (according to Bill Gunston: ‘Jet Bomber’). The “Hustler” was to be surpassed by the XB-70A of North American Aviation, based on NASA’s WS-110A proposal. In 1954 the Air Force had called for two parallel bomber developments: The Weapon System 125A was to be a subsonic bomber, propelled in part by nuclear power, a modified B-36H being used a tested (also in the Soviet Union a nuclear flying test-bed was built, the Tu-119, based on the Tu-95). In 1959 the 125A program was canceled in favor of the Mach3 jet bomber XB-70A, developed by “Stormy” Storms’ team. That 6-engined “Valkyrie” with her set-back wing is unique due to her downfolding wingtips, using the tunnel effect. “The controversial XB-70A owes its extraordinary shape and speed (Mach 3) to a design theory called the compression lift rule. The basic idea here is that surfaces can be so arranged that shock waves will actually reinforce each other to provide lift … the forward ‘canard’ wings are actually stabilization surfaces”, so described by experts. Facing the missile development, the program was canceled in 1961 under President Kennedy. Only 2 planes, completed for researches, had their rollout at Palmdale in 1964. A speed of Mach 3.06 was achieved, but one plane suffered a midair collision and was lost. The other is stored in the Air Force Museum at Dayton, Ohio. The supersonic reconnaissance jet SR-71, known as the “Blackbird”, had a longer career. It was developed by Lockheed ‘Skunk Works’ under engineer Kelly Johnson initially as the A-12, successor of the secret A-3 concept, and had its first flight in 1964. The SR-71A Blackbirds were operational until 1990, with a temporary comeback. The speed attained was Mach3.2, the record altitude 85,000ft and the distance New York – London had been covered within 1 hour 54 minutes.
USSR In the Soviet Union, jet fighter development got famous with the MiG series by Mikoyan and partner Gurevich. The Lavochkin La-190 was reported having surpassed Mach1 in 1948, nose-diving however. “In late 1949 or early 1950 the MiG-17 became the world’s first series produced combat aircraft to repeatedly exceed the sonic speed in level flight” (according to Bratukhin). The MiG-21 of 1955 surpassed Mach2. The Myasishchev M-50 strategic bomber had its first flight around 1957 and a speed of Mach1.83 is reported. The Tu-22 was presented in 1961 and the Tu-22M with retracting wings attained Mach1.88 like also the larger Tu-160. Other programs, such as the La-350, M-40 and the Tsybin RSR reconnaissance aircraft were stopped. The Mikoyan E-155 had its first flight in 1964, leading to the fighter MiG-25, which was watched during reconnaissance flights over Sinai at Mach3. The four-engined delta-winged Sukhoi T-4 bomber, intended as a downsized Mach3 competitor to the “Valkyrie”, had its first flight in 1972, but was stopped in 1975.
Other Countries In France, the Nord “Griffon II” with turbojet and ramjet propulsion attained between 1957 and 1959 speeds up to Mach2.19. In Sweden the supersonic jet fighter Saab-35 “Draken” appeared in 1955. In Canada the CF-100 interceptor, which had replaced jetliner development, was to be followed by the supersonic Avro CF-105 interceptor. In 1959 the government stopped this ambitious program. Also in other countries supersonic military jets were built, however without any direct influence on supersonic passenger jet development.
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