PROTOTYPE HYPERSONIC AIRCRAFT UNVEILED AT KPDK

Startup Hermeus Corporation’s structural prototype hypersonic aircraft was recently unveiled at the company’s engine test site at Dekalb-Peachtree Airport (PDK) in Atlanta. The prototype was purpose-built as a way to get the team to go through a full-scale manufacturing process under conditions anticipated during the future phase of manufacturing the actual full-scale aircraft, according to CEO A.J. Piplica.

Named the “Quarterhorse,” the prototype is a single-engine model just under 40 feet long with a 12-foot wingspan that will be piloted remotely. Testing of the prototype will continue at PDK and will focus on the so-called mode transition process, during which the engine transitions from turbo-jet mode to ramjet mode and back. The TJ100 turbojet engine is supplied by Czech high-speed turbine maker PBS, and is part of the company’s proprietary turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) engine. The in-house developed ramjet component completes the system. The turbojet engine is designed to operate from a standstill to Mach 3.3 and the ramjet operates over the transition from about Mach 2.8 to above Mach 3 and then on to power the aircraft to Mach 5.