X-51A Takes First Ride Aboard B-52

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The X-51A WaveRider was carried aloft for the first time Dec. 9 by an
Air Force Flight Test Center B-52 Stratofortress over Edwards Air
Force Base, Calif. The test was a key milestone in the X-51 test
program. In 2010, USAF officials plan to light its supersonic
combustion ramjet engine and propel the aircraft at hypersonic speed
for about five minutes before plunging it into the Pacific Ocean.

"This was a great day for the program," said Charlie Brink, X-51A
program manager with the Air Force Research Laboratory at
Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. "The early look is we successfully
captured all of our test points without any anomalies. I'm really
proud of the AFRL, Air Force Flight Test Center, and Boeing/Pratt
Whitney Rocketdyne teams' efforts to move us toward the big event.
That flight test is currently planned in about two months, he said.