Category Archives: Aircraft Propulsion & Energy

Speed is the New Stealth – Lockheed Martin Skunkworks to Develop Mach 6 Hypersonic Fighter

SR-72In 1976, US Air Force SR-71 Blackbird crews flew from New York to London in less than two hours, reaching speeds exceeding Mach 3 and setting world records that have held up for nearly four decades. Today, at the birthplace of the Blackbird – Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works – engineers are developing a hypersonic aircraft that will go twice the speed of the SR-71. It’s called the SR-72. Continue reading →

Northrop Grumman Readies MQ-8C Fire Scout for Flight Operations

Northrop Grumman Corporation turned on the power to the U.S. Navy’s first MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter and rotated the aircraft’s four blades for the first time during initial ground testing and engine runs at Naval Base Ventura County Point Mugu, California, on Sept. 20. Continue reading →

Solara – Five Years in the Sky at 65,000 Feet

Imagine a featherweight aircraft built of composites boasting an enormous 160 foot wing, swathed in solar cells that can take off at 20 mph and remain aloft for five years. The plane would fly at 65,000 feet, above most air traffic aside from the odd U-2 zooming past. It would, without a doubt, be the loneliest plane in history. Continue reading →