Accelerating hypersonic airplanes with ground-power

Author

Oman, Henry

Author_Institution

Boeing Aerosp., Seattle, WA, USA

Volume

5

Issue

4

fYear

1990

fDate

4/1/1990 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

9

Lastpage

14

Abstract

The possible benefits of using ground power to accelerate the airplane on a launch ramp are quantified. A passenger-carrying hypersonic airplane leaving its loading ramp carries fuel for acceleration, cruise and landing. For example, a 230-passenger plane starting a Mach 5 trans-Pacific flight will be loaded with 80 metric tons of liquid hydrogen, up to 40% of which is burned in generating kinetic energy. Catapulting this airplane to cruise speed with ground power would reduce weight and liquid-hydrogen volume. However, there are limits. A ramp for launching a 150-metric-ton vehicle to Mach 5 with 4 g acceleration would be 38 km long and require up to 10 GW of power. In the final second, 2.8 MWh of energy is consumed along 1720 m of ramp. Possible scenarios and acceleration mechanisms are evaluated.<>

Keywords

acceleration; aerospace propulsion; 10 GW; 38 km; Mach 5; acceleration; ground-power; launch ramp; launching; liquid H/sub 2/; passenger-carrying hypersonic airplane; ramp; stored mechanical energy; Acceleration; Aerodynamics; Airplanes; Airports; Fuels; Hydrogen; Kinetic energy; Noise level; Physics; Vehicles;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0885-8985

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/62.54609

Filename

54609