NASA Reaches Halfway Point In Construction Of QueSST Demonstrator Written 5 January 2021
Artist's concept of NASA’s QueSST jet | NASA
Aviation International News reports that NASA now expects the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) demonstrator to make its first flight in 2022, and the agency said that construction of the demonstrator was halfway complete as of the end of 2020. NASA “said assembly of the Mach 1.4 aircraft ‘made great strides’ in 2020 as work progressed on the flight deck, wings, and other hardware. In addition, GE Aviation delivered the F414-GE-100 engine that will power the X-59 QueSST in the third quarter.” In November, the agency completed “the closing of the wing section, which NASA termed as the ‘structural backbone of the aircraft.’”
Full Story (Aviation International News)