Ep 292: Supersonic flight, rocket planes and the edge of space

By thelabwithbradbarton | February 11, 2021

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Supersonic flight, rocket planes and the edge of space

After world war II, the world became very interested in super sonic flight, and high altitude research. Along with a side trip to how jet engines work, we take a look at rocket planes—the first manned vehicles to reach the edge of space.

As a side note, have a link to a short article about the MIT icon drive powered plane.

MIT engineers fly first-ever plane with no moving parts

Here’s more information about the pulse jet engine.

The Past and Future of the Pulse Jet

Here’s a bit about the v-1 flying bomb.

V-1 Cruise Missile

Here’s a link to a page about different types of engines.

Engines

Here’s an article about the sound barrier.

What happens when an aircraft breaks the sound barrier?

Here’s a video about on going efforts to make sonic booms a bit quieter!

Breaking the sound barrier, quietly

Here are a couple of videos about the Gloster Meteor—the English world war II fighter plane.

The Worlds Only Airworthy Gloster Meteor

The Last Ever Flight For This Gloster Meteor

Here is a video about the Messerschmitt Me 262—Germany’s world war II jet fighter.

Inside The Cockpit – Messerschmitt Me 262

Here’s a vintage video about the Messerschmitt Me 163 Comet—the world’s first rocket powered fighter plane.

ME-163 KOMET GERMAN ROCKET POWERED FIGHTER AIRCRAFT

Here’s a sight about the b-52.

Boeing: B-52

Here are a couple of videos about the X-15 rocket plane.

The Fastest X-Plane

The Fastest X-Plane – Mach 7 North American X-15

Here’s a vintage video about the Bell x-1—the rocket plane that first broke the sound barrier.

The Bell X-1

And here’s an article about the X-1, and the challenges of lifting it to it’s launch altitude with a modified b-29.

Dropping the Orange Beast That Broke the Sound Barrier