The case for a high-speed research airplane - Results from an in-house study

Results of a study aimed at determining the feasibility of developing a single versatile high-speed research airplane (HSRA) which will meet flight research needs of both Mach 3 to 5 JP-fueled military aircraft and of hydrogen-fueled aircraft, both military and civil, for speeds up to Mach 10. The proposed HSRA design concept is an air-launched, rocket-boosted research aircraft designed to accommodate a wide variety of large-scale propulsive and structural flight research experiments. The aircraft is a 60-foot-long discrete wing-body concept with high wings and a center-line vertical tail. Heat sink shields are proposed as an effective and versatile method of achieving low-cost, low-risk thermal protection of the all-aluminum primary structure.-