3 ms·
From the marketing fluff, "Supersonic intakes: XB-1’s engine intakes slow supersonic air to subsonic speeds, efficiently converting kinetic energy into pressur
by justinator 3y ago
From the marketing fluff,
"Supersonic intakes: XB-1’s engine intakes slow supersonic air to subsonic speeds, efficiently converting kinetic energy into pressure energy, allowing conventional jet engines to power XB-1 from takeoff through supersonic flight."
I'm under the impression that's something most jet engines do.
- TylerE 3y agoMost jets aren’t supersonic at all.
- rbanffy 3y agoI don't think the air intake speed of a subsonic plane is ever supersonic.
- justinator 3y agoMost air intakes of jet engines are designed to slow airflow/compress the air (which was my point - my apologies for being oblique)
- pictureofabear 3y agoYes, this is what every supersonic intake does. The leading edge of the intake for supersonic flows is meant to create an oblique shockwave that reflects off the other parts of the intake to progressively slow the flow to subsonic speeds before reaching the front of the engine. Fixed intakes, like the one on the XB-1, are optimized for a certain speed. The gap between the intake and the fuselage diverts the dirty boundary layer air so that the intake is more efficient.
- class3shock 3y agoIt sounds like marketing fluff, which I think alot of their site is, but this is a real thing. As soon as you start flying faster than sound you have to do extra work on the intake for your engine you wouldn't otherwise need to do (put simply).