48: Pulse detonation, terrifying supersonic speed!

A Mach ring.

Also known as a Mach disk or shock diamond, it is a circular sound wave phenomenon formed by pressure fluctuations due to local velocity changes in a supersonic fluid.

It usually only appears around high-speed aircraft or other high-speed moving objects like jet engines.

This is a visual testament to the superior performance of an aircraft.

Among the audience of the Ace Pilot Program Group, some military enthusiasts are very knowledgeable about fighter jets.

When our J-35 fighter jet made its world debut a few years ago, it shocked countless foreign friends.

The fundamental reason was the appearance of Mach rings.

At that time, people clearly captured six small white dots within the blue-red flames at the tail of the fighter jet.

Six Mach rings!

That not only represented our huge progress in aero-engine technology but also laid a solid foundation for the development of domestic fighter jets and rockets.

Even today, the J-35 fighter jet is still often mentioned with pride.

But just now, the professors and mentors on the rostrum, aerospace engineers, and hundreds of thousands of viewers in the live stream jointly witnessed another piece of history!

Eight Mach rings!

That was the first time eight Mach rings appeared on a domestic aircraft!

It's important to know that the number of Mach rings also represents the difficulty of achieving the technology; with each additional ring, the difficulty increases exponentially.

Six Mach rings were the limit of the J-35, but not the limit of the dongfeng no. 1 prototype!

"Director Wu, this Young man is from your Qingbei University, right? How could you hide such a talent until now and only release him!"

"Eight, that's a full eight Mach rings!"

"Just based on those eight Mach rings and the rocket that successfully launched without a stable frame, with just these two technologies, I can declare on the spot that Qingbei Team Two is the undisputed first place in today's competition!"

"This Young man is called Su Yu, right? Someone, immediately submit an application to the research center. I want to make an exception and let him directly enter the Aerospace Research Institute to participate in the upcoming key work!"

"Now I believe his introduction to rocket technology specialization earlier was not an exaggeration. Not only was it not an exaggeration, but his description was even too modest!"

On the rostrum.

A group of old men looked up at the sky, witnessing the fleeting eight beautiful diamonds at the tail of the rocket, reluctantly... On the other side.

Ace Pilot Program Group.

The model aircraft that took off simultaneously with the "dongfeng no. 1 prototype" rocket was now experiencing unprecedented pressure!

In previous rocket model demonstrations, there were also teams specializing in rocket acceleration technology. Their rocket models could reach speeds of 270km/h.

However, even so, among this batch of top model aircraft, there was still the "Falcon 37" fighter jet, famous for its burst speed, which could completely overpower it in terms of speed.

The "Falcon 37" can reach a maximum speed of 320km/h, which translates to almost 88 meters per second.

The pilot operating it is one of the top three model aircraft pilots in the country.

As the Ace Pilot Program Group's ace pilot, even though the "Falcon 37" had already flown into the sky three seconds before the rocket launched, the "dongfeng no. 1 prototype," which took off like a sky rocket from a standstill, instantly overtook it after less than ten seconds of acceleration.

A terrifying air current created a huge sonic boom in the air!

Unlike the sky rocket Su Yu made last time, which emitted sharp "whoosh whoosh" sounds in the air, the dongfeng no. 1 prototype truly reached supersonic speed as it cut through the sky!

This was a real sonic boom!!

As everyone knows, the speed of sound in air is 340 meters/second, while the speed of the "Falcon 37" is only 88 meters/second. This nearly fourfold difference made the gap between the two visible to everyone present!

"Too fast!! What the hell is this thing? How can it fly so fast!!"

"Even the Falcon can't catch up to its speed, it's terrifying."

"Oh no, we've really hit a snag this time. Look, all the model aircraft have been utterly destroyed by this rocket model!"

"The key is, even if we get instantly killed, if we can't even keep up with its speed, how can we compare and compete with the rocket model later?"

The contestants of the Ace Pilot Program Group turned pale at this sight.

They knew the opponent was not to be underestimated.

But this was clearly no longer a simple matter of not being underestimated; they couldn't even catch up to its towering height!!

It was too outrageous!

..."Look, what's that?! The Mach rings behind the rocket model have disappeared!! Am I seeing things?"

"What's so surprising about them disappearing? Mach rings only appear when an object is at its fastest. Who can guarantee that the fuel will continuously provide terrifying thrust? It's normal for them to disappear."

"But, although the Mach rings have disappeared, why do I feel that the rocket model's speed has increased even more?!"

"Heaven, look quickly! The camera can't keep up!!!"

As the Mach rings at the tail flame of the "dongfeng no. 1 prototype" disappeared in the live broadcast, after a brief two-second loss of acceleration, a series of rapid and urgent "bang bang bang bang bang" sounds suddenly came from the distant sky!

The "dongfeng no. 1 prototype" vanished in the blink of an eye!

By the time the photographer recaptured the rocket model's figure, it was already several seconds later!

At this point, the rocket model was already thousands of meters away from where the continuous sonic booms occurred. It could only be seen through the ultra-high-speed capture lens that a series of discontinuous small air masses, like an ellipsis, were left in the air.

"Pulse Detonation!!!"

"Good heavens, I know this, this is Pulse Detonation!!!"

"To be able to use Pulse Detonation to instantly accelerate the rocket model while flying at supersonic speeds, what kind of heaven-defying design is this!"

"What do you think, how many times the speed of sound could the rocket model have reached in that instant?"

"No, what you care about is how many times the speed of sound? What I care about is that it's already this fast, and the rocket hasn't disintegrated yet? Is this really the level that ordinary university students can build by hand?!!!"

When the dazzling visual effects and beautiful sound of Pulse Detonation appeared, everyone across the network watching the live broadcast involuntarily clenched their fists.

Unassisted vertical launch, eight Mach rings, supersonic speed, Pulse Detonation!

In just over ten seconds.

The twenty-something Young man standing in front of the camera, carefully observing his rocket model, brought them an unprecedented shock!

No one expected that a minute ago, everyone was still mocking the Young man in front of them, calling him arrogant and boastful.

But a minute later, the answer sheet he submitted exploded like a thunderclap in everyone's hearts.

Looking back, it was as if I was the clown all along.