The video above shows NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft flying with its landing gear retracted for the first time, revealing the streamlined profile central to its mission to reduce sonic booms to a quiet thump.
The X-59 completed its first wheels-up flight on April 3, departing from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Piloted by NASA test pilot Jim “Clue” Less, the aircraft flew for 90 minutes, reaching a maximum altitude of 20,000ft (6,096m) and a top speed of approximately 460mph (740km/h).
Experimental aircraft typically fly with landing gear deployed during early test flights, retracting it only after meeting performance benchmarks.
Flying wheels-up allows engineers to examine the X-59’s aerodynamic performance in its intended configuration, which is designed to enable supersonic flight while producing only a gentle thump rather than a conventional sonic boom.
The aircraft had completed eight flights as of April 10 as part of its ongoing flight envelope expansion campaign.
The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which aims to enable commercial supersonic flight over land by gathering public response data on reduced-noise sonic thumps for delivery to regulators in the USA and internationally.
