Tiger Koster Name and picture from twetch — not on-chain. The signature is; the profile is not.

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Hey

The NASA X-29, built by Grumman, was an aircraft built to test the performance of forward swept wings and advanced composite materials. Reply with why they swept wings that way! Source https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/news/FactSheets/FS-008-DFRC.html

Although different sized aircraft do face different challenges to a certerain degree, in this case the entire concept is restricted by energy density. Jet fuel contains over 35 times the energy of Lithium Ion batteries per Liter of space!

Even unmanned with a light load, current technology would struggle! The energy density of Lithium Ion batteries is only about 0.9 MJ/L whereas for jet fuel that number is 34.7 MJ/L!

Second of all, the size of the aircraft doesnt matter as much as people think it does. Whether it is a handheld device or the size of a Cessna Grand Caravan, an airplane crossing the Atlantic under battery power is just not possible with current technology

First, this is the state of current battery powered aircraft. https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/largest-electric-plane-yet-completed-its-first-flight-it-s-n1221401

Just curious, at what size does it become feasible? You define airplane for this one!

Exactly! It's about the energy density of the fuel. Very good reply!

Could a battery powered airplane make it across the Atlantic Ocean? Reply with your thoughts on why or why not!
/poll [Yes‚ easily. ,Maybe half way. ,Maybe it could take off. ,Not a chance it could fly]

A plane without wings? The NASA X-24 and the Martin X-24a and X-24b (all built by Martin) were aircraft that tested whether the body of the aircraft could produce enough lift to eliminate the need for wings! Do they look futuristic or silly?

Source: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/multimedia/imagegallery/X-24/X-24_proj_desc.html
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Marietta_X-24

The Convair XFY Pogo was one of the first VTOL aircraft ever! Known as a tail sitter, this aircraft was regarded as hard to land due to the position of the pilot during landing.
Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_XFY_Pogo

Source: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-x-59-quiet-supersonic-research-aircraft-cleared-for-final-assembly

The X-59 from NASA is an experimental aircraft meant to change noise regulations that prohibit supersonic flight over land in the US by demonstrating that a low boom supersonic aircraft is not too disruptive to people on the ground!

Notice anything about this cockpit? There are no digital instruments! This happens to be the cockpit of the fastest manned aircraft to ever fly, the X-15! Source: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/multimedia/imagegallery/X-15/E63-9834.html

The North American X-15 was the fastest manned aircraft ever! It flew faster than 6.5 times the speed of sound and was rocket-powered! Source: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/news/FactSheets/FS-052-DFRC.html

Nice intuition!

The wingtips of the Valkyrie were the largest moveable aerodynamic devices ever used! Find out more: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_XB-70_Valkyrie
https://lmgtfy.app/?q=largest+aerodynamic+surface+xb-70

The North American XB-70 Valkyrie was one of the most interesting supersonic aircraft ever built! It could fly over 4000 miles at over Mach 3 and 70k feet. The wingtips could droop up to 65 deg. during supersonic flight, share your thoughts on why below!

Indeed the reality of the Universe is something to behold!

No doubt about that

Both valid points, Cowboy. Thanks for the reply. Don't forget the Concorde had a droop snoot to accommodate visibility during takeoff and landing!

Great answer! You can learn more here: https://lmgtfy.app/?q=bow+shock+vs+oblique+shock

Source: https://www.britannica.com/technology/space-shuttle
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concorde

Why did the space shuttle have a blunt nose when Concorde had a sharp nose? The space shuttle could travel over 20 times the speed of sound while Comcorde only went about 2 times the speed of sound!! Reply with your thoughts!