Aurora: is it real?

[BloodPhoenix123]

The Aurora is a rumored supersonic capable aircraft, and might go as fast as Mach 20.
Here's the basic deatails in a nutshell:



What the Aurora's statistics are thought to be:


Mission:
Reconnaissance

Length:
About 110 feet

Width:
About 60 feet

Take-off Weight:
Completely unknown

Fuel:
LH2/LO2

Fuel Weight:
Completely unknown

Main Propulsion:
At subsonic speeds:
Conventional jet engines.

At supersonic speeds, there are 4 possible propulsion systems:
Pulse Detonation Wave Engine
Ramjet
Scramjet
Regular Pulsejet

Get more information on these propulsion systems with the book, Advanced Airbreathing Propulsion.

Take-off Thrust:
Probably very high

Maximum Speed:
Mach 6-20 (Most people believe that its speed is Mach 6-8, but some think that it could go up to Mach 20.)

Armament:
Unlikely to be capable of armament but may be capable of launching Phoenix Air to Air missiles.


The most likely system of thrust it uses is a Pulse Detonation Wave Engine. Heres a site link: http://www.abovetopsecret.com/pages/pdwe.html

Post whether you think it exists or not, and it would be pretty cool if a user made a model for fsx.

[MOUSY]

I've heard about this so-called craft. Quite possible it exists; 2-3 decades ago, people were dead sure that nothing could travel at Mach 3, reach to the limits of our atmosphere, or have the radar cross section of a small bird.

Anyway, No one can model it without pictures and this is in the wrong forum anyway, should be in the "Specific Aircraft Types" section.

[BloodPhoenix123]

It got moved..., and im gonna post a picture, im just looking for a good one...

[BloodPhoenix123]

Heres a fairly good picture: http://img.timeinc.net/popsci/images/20 ... s_ss_4.jpg
just look up aurora on google images if you want more.

[BloodPhoenix123]

And the wiki page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_aircraft

[krigl]

Heres a fairly good picture: http://img.timeinc.net/popsci/images/20 ... s_ss_4.jpg
just look up aurora on google images if you want more.

I don't care if Aurora exists or not, if someone made a model like that I'd fly it with joy  :)

I read in a recent aviation magazine that Congress recently gave some money for development of a new spyplane to replace the (now defunct I believe) SR-71. Maybe it already exists or is in a late state of development if this is true and they are getting ready to announce it to the public....

[john_uk]

thing is, with the american government, their is every possibility it could indeed exist but then every possibility it could not, one thing the US gov can do is top secret dev. and then make it work quite well

personaly, the concept is good, but i can imagine it being like the concorde, to expensive to run.
what fuel would it use to reach mach 20?
if it was conventional fuels how much is it wasteing?
if its not conventional, is their any chance it could be accesable by use plebs in the near future as a replacemane to fossil fuels?

[BloodPhoenix123]

It may exist, in fact it probably does...
They break between the military's current day tech and the press is 12 years. The press is way behind.

[john_uk]

if thats so,

any respect i have for the US government is lost

here i am, paying 96pence on average for a litre of unleaded fuel when the us govt. possibly has a more efficent alternative, any govt. that can keep the world on the brink of bankcruptcy for its own gains over the former soviet union deserves to be shot!!!

if it is running on conventional fossil fuels, then its wasteing an awful lot of it, and for what, no particular reason, just to see how far they can push the envelope at the exepense of everyday pleb, who will suffer increase fuel prices thanks to their wasite of fossil fuels.

either way, if this project is real, its a waste or a very selfish act of supremacy over the russians.

[elite marksman]

The aurora is real, but it is neither a supersonic aircraft, nor is it a reconnaissance aircraft.

"The funding for the [Stealth Bomber] competition came out of the Air Force budget. A young colonel working in the Air Force 'black program' office at the Pentagon, named Buz Carpenter, arbitrarily assigned the funding the code name Aurora. Somehow this name leaked out during congressional appropriations hearings, the media picked up the Aurora item in the budget, and the rumor surfaced that it was a top secret project assigned to the Skunk Works -- to build America's first hypersonic airplane. That story persists to this day even though Aurora was the code name for the B-2 competition funding. Although I expect few in the media to believe me, there is no code name for the hypersonic plane, because it simply does not exist. "

Ben Rich is the former CEO of Lockheed-Martin's Skunk Works. The above quote is from his book Sunk Works, pages 309 and 310.

[expat]

Whether it is called Aurora or not and weather this particular incarnation exits of not, the USA have never got rid of a spy plane before the next one was up and running. Fact is satellites are only good when it is not cloudy. Radar pictures and IR do not give the depth and clarity of a photo, they take time to maneuver  into place, and require the space shuttle to fix them. Which means, somewhere in a hanger surrounded by large men with large guns is the next U2/SR71/Aurora. Non believer, make an advanced booking for one of the major air shows...........20 years or so should do it.

Matt

[elite marksman]

The U2 and SR-71 are only good when it is not cloudy as well. Almost all clouds are at less than 70,000 feet.

At the moment, the U-2 is the only active dedicated optical reconnaissance aircraft. We have many ELINT aircraft, but only one designed for taking pictures.

[MOUSY]

Don't forget the up and coming UAVs.

[elite marksman]

True... but they aren't real aircraft.

[MOUSY]

Does it have to be manned to be an aircraft? I pretty much think craft is synonymous with vehicle in this sense.