b'14 Partner News Winter 2022EnterpriseWhats all the hype about hypersonics? By Chris Summers,Summer 2022 saw Captain Pete Mavericksupersonic speeds requires hugely powerful Mitchell take to the skies as a test pilot flyingengines, a lot of fuel and a structure that Principal Engineer atthe SR-72 Darkstar. Though the aircraft is acan withstand massive temperature changes work of fiction, it did raise questions aroundduring flight. Morson Projects.the validity of hypersonic aircraft. Now, with UK Aerospace announcing its investmentThe high temperatures experienced during into the Hypersonic Air Vehicle Experimentalsupersonic flight famously caused Concordes (HVX), its time to askwhats all the hypefuselage to grow around 300mm, with its about hypersonics? max speed limited to Mach 2.02 due to the 127 degree Celsius limitation of some of What does hypersonic actually mean?the materials. Hypersonic air vehicles are Aside from the nuances around what theexpected to see temperatures due to friction speed of sound is, simply put, hypersonic isas high as 1000 degrees Celsius when the term used when discussing speeds of, oroperating at low altitude. greater than five times the speed of sound.However, the huge engineering challengesSo, with numerous complex challenges, why for designing aircraft at even half thatall the interest in going so fast? Again, the speed are not so simple. Travelling at highanswer is actually quite simple.'