"Aircraft would rival the Concorde"

Sunday, June 30, 2002

Aircraft would rival the Concorde
JAPAN LAB PLANS TO LAUNCH ENGINELESS PROTOTYPE IN AUSTRALIAN DESERT


TOKYO (AP) - It looks like a winged javelin and would zip along at twice the
speed of sound, with the supersonic boom reduced to the tolerable rumble of
a Boeing 747. It would go twice the distance of the Concorde, seat three
times the passengers and cut emissions 75 percent.

Sound like science fiction? Japanese researchers say they're ready to prove
it's not.

The government-funded National Aeronautics Laboratory of Japan plans to
launch an unmanned prototype of NEXST -- short for National Experimental
Supersonic Transport -- in the Australian desert next month.

The engineless aircraft, a 10 percent scale model of the real thing, would
ride piggyback on a rocket, then be hurtled forward at a speed of 1,522 mph.
After a 14-minute test flight, it would release parachutes and land.

The July 11 test aims to determine the viability of the plane's aerodynamic
shape, which was developed through computer simulations seeking to cut the
noise of supersonic flight in half.

``What we'll be looking at in next month's experiment is if our design
really has the sound-reducing effect we've achieved in simulations,'' said
NAL spokesman Toshiharu Okuda.

Officials plan to conduct more tests with U.S.-built engines powering the
NEXST prototype over the next two years. NAL doesn't expect the jet to be
ready for commercial flights until 2012.

The program has its skeptics, who point out that Japan has developed almost
nothing of interest in aviation since World War II.

``There's a lack of experience and know-how, and in this field experience
and know-how count for a lot,'' said Hiromu Maeda, an aeronautics professor
at Kyoto University.

Maeda said the question is not so much if Japan can create a jet that would
live up to its ambitious claims. Rather, he wondered whether such a plane
could ever meet the stringent safety standards required of commercial
flight.

``Safety is the paramount consideration,'' he said. ``No matter how
economical your plane is, it won't do any good unless it's absolutely
safe.''

But that hasn't prevented companies such as Boeing, which is developing its
own supersonic aircraft called the Sonic Cruiser, from taking next month's
test seriously.

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