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Is it specifically to demonstrate that they can make a quiet aircraft then? I think I'm curious specifically whether this is more about internal R&D and buildi
by jamestimmins 7y ago
Is it specifically to demonstrate that they can make a quiet aircraft then?
I think I'm curious specifically whether this is more about internal R&D and building systems, or if it's meant to demonstrate they have the capability to to create a performant supersonic aircraft, which they can take to potential investors.
- phire 7y agoThis demonstrator is a 1/3 scale model of their final design. It allows them to prove their exact final design will be quiet, along with verifing the rest of the aerodynamics.
- jamestimmins 7y agoAny idea how often the final design and the prototype don't match in terms of volume and aerodynamics? I would have assumed that those parts are the easiest to model with high confidence.
- elil17 7y agoYou don't need to build it to test volume and aerodynamics (math and wind-tunnels can figure that out for you). This is probably more about finding unknown flaws in the design/running down risk. Spending however much on a prototype (10s or 100s of millions of dollars) just to marginally reduce the risk that there's a fundamental flaw in your approach makes a lot of sense when you plan to spend 6 billion total to develop the plane.
- loeg 7y agoAerodynamics modeling is incredibly difficult. You could probably test a smaller scale model, though (probably they have).