Varifrank: Japan to Go Supersonic: I think I've seen this show before

« Next up on "Thats Incredible!" | Main | Well, while you are in the neighborhood... »

Japan to Go Supersonic: I think I've seen this show before

I saw this today:

TOKYO (AP)—Japan's space agency plans to launch an arrow-shaped airplane at twice the speed of sound high over the Australian outback as early as next month in a crucial test of the country's push to develop a supersonic successor to the retired Concorde.

The test follows a three-year hiatus since the first experimental flight of the unmanned aircraft, dubbed the next-generation supersonic transport, prematurely separated from its booster rocket and crashed into the desert.

Of course, the first thing I thought is " Hey, I think I've seen that before". And I did, sometime in 1976 at a museum. This is the North American X-10 Navajo. The Navajo probably did more for the space program and the Navy than any other experimental aircraft in the inventory.

Its nice to see a good idea used again. Unfortunately Mr. Rutan has just shown that the best way to go supersonic is not through the air, but over it.

Posted @ August 23, 2005 11:54 AM | Current Affairs

Wasn't Navajo the one they used to call the "Civil Service" missile? As in: Civil Service -- it won't work, and it can't be fired.

Still, if it weren't for Navajo, who knows how long it might have been before we had a flight-rated inertial navigation system? That alone made it worth the cost.

Posted by: Tim McGaha at August 24, 2005 05:56 AM

I question whether SSTs can be made economically viable, but Japan probably thinks it can use a good prestige program, and, let's face it, if anyone can make it actually worth the money it costs to develop and maintain it, that would be the Japs.

Posted by: OBloodyHell at August 27, 2005 02:07 AM

Hmmm. Thought that was the Bomarc...

Posted by: JLL3 at September 19, 2005 08:36 PM