Lockheed X-7

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Lockheed X-7
Lockheed X-7.  The engine is located under the actual missile
Type: Experimental airplane
Design country:

United StatesUnited States United States

Manufacturer:

Lockheed

First flight:

April 26, 1951

Commissioning:

April 26, 1951

Production time:

1951 to 1958

Number of pieces:

at least 28 X-7A and 2 XQ-5

The Lockheed X-7 (factory designation L-171) was an unmanned test aircraft for ramjet engines and flight technology. It was carried under the wing by a B-29 bomber or in the bomb bay of a B-50 to a height of about 10,000 m and notched there.

One or two rockets ignited after being released and accelerated the X-7 for five seconds to a speed of 1,625 km / h. The launcher was then dropped and the ramjet took over from that point on. The X-7 eventually landed on a parachute . The X-7 reached a top speed of Mach 4.31 and at that time set the record as the fastest aircraft to use oxygen in the air to burn its fuel. A total of 130 flights were carried out from April 1951 to July 1960.

See also

literature

  • Steve Peace: Lockheed Skunk Works , Motorbooks International, 1992, ISBN 0-87938-632-0 , pp. 96-103

Individual evidence

  1. Description on history.nasa.gov p. 13. (PDF; 1.2 MB) Retrieved January 11, 2013 .