Gulstream's 'Quiet Spike' goes supersonic on NASA's Boeing F-15
I can finally reveal exclusive first photos of the 'Quiet Spike' sonic boom-mitigation device being developed by Gulfstream, which has just had its first supersonic flight on a Boeing F-15.
The telescoping nose boom extends in flight and divides the bow shock into a series of lesser pressure waves, softening the sonic boom. Flightglobal.com recently published an animation of how it works.
Despite all the work going on to try and develop practical supersonic business jets, by companies such as Aerion, a solution is still a long way off and will be very expensive.