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USAF Hypersonic X-51 Plane Fails Flight Test

  • 12:00 AM, August 16, 2012
  • 2323
The U.S Air Force announced on Tuesday that the latest launch of the X-51 hypersonic test aircraft was a failure. The X-51, called the Waverider, was successfully launched by a B-52 bomber but 16 seconds later “a fault was identified with one of the cruiser control fins”. “It is unfortunate that a problem with this subsystem caused a termination before we could light the Scramjet engine,” Charlie Brink, X-51A program manager for Air Force Research Laboratory, said in the statement. “All our data showed we had created the right conditions for engine ignition and we were very hopeful to meet our test objectives”. Program officials are working to determine the cause of the failure. The last two flight tests completed its hurdles without any trouble with the fins.
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