X-planes: Are they needed in the new era of drones?
Where do America's X-plane projects fit in an era of cheap drones?
Reporting preview
The long nose of the X-59 is designed to dampen the plane's sonic boom
There's a weird and wonderful jet flying over the US. It has the nose of anteater, parts cannibalised from other planes and a cockpit so far back the pilot depends on a camera to see where he's going.
This contraption, the X-59, might just be the future of air travel.
The X-59's owes its eccentric design to the problem of sonic booms. The shockwave created by a jet breaking the sound barrier restricted Concorde to flights over the sea and barred it from lucrative routes across the US.
Now Nasa is working around that problem using the X-59's elongated snout to flatten supersonic booms into tolerable bumps in the background.
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