After 50 Years, the F100 Is Going Hypersonic
After 50 Years, the F100 Is Going Hypersonic
It's sleek and shimmering, gliding through sun-tinted clouds. It's moving at nearly four times the speed of sound – faster than the famous SR-71 Blackbird, which set the airspeed record some 50 years ago.
它優美閃耀，在陽光照射下滑翔。它以接近音速的速度移動-比50年前創下空速紀錄的著名的SR-71黑鳥更快。
Its name is Quarterhorse, its mission is to be the world's first high-Mach autonomous aircraft, and its creator is the U.S. startup company Hermeus.
其名稱爲Quarterhorse，其使命是成爲世界上第一架高馬赫自主飛行器，其創造者是美國初創企業Hermeus。
But powering the futuristic aircraft and its ambitious goals is an engine familiar to aviation enthusiasts – the Pratt & Whitney F100.
但是爲未來飛機及其宏偉目標提供動力的引擎對於航空發燒友而言並不陌生，那就是普惠-惠特尼的F100。
Rather than build a new engine, Hermeus will use a modified F100, a propulsion system with 30 million flight hours and a track record aboard the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Falcon, which celebrates 50 years of flight in 2024.
Hermeus將使用F100的修改版，F100具有3000萬的飛行小時數，並在F-15鷹式戰鬥機和F-16獵鷹式戰鬥機上有記錄，在2024年的50年飛行慶典中展現了其實力。
Now, the engine is looking toward its next 50 years.
現在，這個引擎正迎來它的下一個50年。
"Fifty years of life combined with the opportunity to remain in service for another 50 years is something that's unique," said Josh Goodman, senior director of the F100 program. "Pratt likes to do hard things, and utilizing the F100 in this solution gives us the opportunity to once again go solve hard problems."
F100項目的高級董事Josh Goodman表示： "五十年的使用壽命加上保持服役另外五十年的機會是獨一無二的。普惠喜歡做困難的事情，利用F100解決這個問題再次給了我們解決困難問題的機會。"