Hypersonic Engine Test Milestone

We've demonstrated turbojet to ramjet transition within our engine, Chimera. This is one of the most important technological feats to making operational hypersonic flight a reality.
Chimera is a turbine-based combined cycle engine (TBCC) - which basically means it’s a hybrid between a turbojet and a ramjet. The ability to switch between these two modes allows our first aircraft, Quarterhorse, to take off from a regular runway and then accelerate up to high-Mach speeds.
Our TBCC engine is unique in the field of hypersonics. Most hypersonic platforms are powered by a rocket engine. But this approach makes reusability much harder and inherently more dangerous for passenger flight.
By making a full-range air-breathing hypersonic engine that does not require a rocket to accelerate, Hermeus is setting the stage for operational hypersonic flight - meaning aircraft that can be rapidly re-used.
An additional benefit of this engine design is that it accommodates existing transportation infrastructure. Our aircraft are designed to be operational at traditional airports.
This is important not just for hypersonic testing, but critical given Hermeus’ goal of radically accelerating passenger travel through hypersonic flight.
With mode transition successfully demonstrated, the Hermeus team is now racing to manufacture the first Quarterhorse aircraft that will begin flight testing in late 2023.

[@druginducedfeverdream1613]

Will this fit in my civic?

[@phoenix0166]

Average Civic driver

[@calebbowling4137]

That'd be a hell of a mod

[@davidorocu1325]

Idk but im goin to try

[@gegaloo1441]

We gona need a bigger wings boys.

[@aidan0244]

Maybe also put twin turbos on the jet engine

[@TheBigChad]

I love how they named it Quarter Horse. It’s a misconception that thoroughbred is the fastest horse breed when in reality, the quarter horse has the fastest recorded speed, and they do it in bursts. It’s really fitting considering how this hybrid engine works

[@Perkeletricksterservantofrher]

but its not the fastest in the races which is the only reason. muttpropaganda.

[@Michael_Michaels]

Fascinating stuff guys! Congrats for such achievement! That engine cutaway with the ramjet flow is just brilliant! At last we have more detail about Chimera! Thank you all

[@tristank9821]

I remember seeing a video about you guys not too long ago, and I was like: "oh yeah that'll take a while... (like y'know 1-2 years)" and yet here you guys are pushing the boundaries, so quickly. So fast in fact that you could say that your development is moving at Hypersonic speeds... (ok I will see myself out the door now)

[@pepperidgefarmremembers6350]

THATS WHAT IM THINKING RN

[@renejacques1763]

That Weston guy seems pretty cool.

[@westonhood3705]

👀

[@akshay.kumar.k]

The SR 71 had something like this except the high pressure bypass ran from high pressure compressor instead of directly from the inlet. Cool idea.

[@mastershooter64]

ya J-58

[@33moneyball]

Indeed….it became popular to refer to the J-58 as a “turbo-ramjet” as a brief description of its unique functionality powering the incomparable SR-71 but this is actually a truer version of the aforementioned engine type. I LOVE what Hermeus is doing….they’re killing it at every stage of development due to a brilliantly practical philosophy….this has enabled them to attract and retain the necessary funding and engineering talent. Actually breaking the speed record long held by the Blackbird followed by hitting hypersonic speeds is going to make this team legendary while giving them all the momentum necessary to keep going. The reliable dual cycle scramjet problem has an incredibly high threshold for commitment, funding, and innovation making it practically impossible for a startup to crack that code. Allowing Lockheed to focus on that while leveraging the existing tech/ramjet model was an inspired call by Hermeus.

[@davewarrender2056]

Hell yeah guys/gals , as someone who was a teenager at the beginning of the shuttle programme , and was fascinated by the X plane programme , all I can say is man was born to explore , to stand on the summit of a mountain and look at the next one and wonder what lies there. Keep looking at that next mountain .. keep exploring , keep pushing , and remember.. if at first you don't succeed, try , try , try , try again. Good luck to all of you

[@babybirdhome]

@@user-zi7eg5ir2xWooooow…. Clearly you also don’t do any of the real work. But I’m sure you take credit for plenty that others do.

[@DutchThackers]

Good to see young engineers pushing boundaries. Congratulations. Looking forward to seeing it in the aircraft!

[@DaleNorthEast]

Absolutely wonderful to see a bunch of younger folk working on this! Keep it up

[@largestella7996]

I'm no engineer, but I find this all super cool. Can't believe manned hypersonic is so close to being acheived, you guys are awesome 👍👌

[@babybirdhome]

Well, this isn’t really what I’d call “close”, but it is definitely significantly closer than it was 2 weeks ago. This is a major accomplishment. Well done, team!

[@TheBigChad]

I’m a test pilot at edwards afb and manned hypersonic is already a thing. We’re just trying to make it more efficient and for longer durations. Currently our longest hypersonic flights last about 7 minutes before fuel runs out. I’m not allowed to say what we’re flying bc it hasn’t been released into the public yet but the chimera engine has been in development for a bit now and it’s being fitted to the aircraft that I’m flying at the moment. The thing is we have to be at a minimum of 80k feet in the air for it to work. Anything lower and we can’t hit Mach 5

[@josephc.9520]

@@TheBigChad Now obviously this news (if true) isn't much of a surprise, but the 7 minute figure is really what gets me. I would assume yall cant reveal anything at all, yet this oddly specific figure seems... compromising. Better to let the tinfoil hat dreamers imagine alien spacecraft are in area 51 than reveal the underwhelming truth 😉, especially seeing how darkstar thoroughly confused China. The X 51 missile tests only happened a decade ago, but what strikes me is that we supposedly have developed human rated air... craft or whatever they are in a decade, but still cannot solve propulsion issues. It seems propulsion is a much bigger issue than I would have guessed. Anyway, good luck and happy testing! (Please delete your comment immediately or my boss is going to have to disappear you) -Your resident FBI agent

[@oris9946]

@@TheBigChad Yeah right, Chad! You ain't no professional secret test pilot anywhere but your own damn couch. If you were you wouldn't be talking about it on here or your ass would be grass compadre.

[@carl8790]

@@TheBigChad makes sense since the air resistance is quite low at that height, less drag, better efficiency. IIRC, the concorde flew at around 60k feet, right? Wonder what are the unique challenges they have to overcome, flying at 80k feet. Like the type of shielding, etc. Hope to see more in 2023!

[@freddoflintstono9321]

Congratulations - that is a *major* step forward.

[@roykdeboy]

Congrats guys and gals!! Awsome stuff!! Can’t wait to see it fly

[@alekseishkurin4590]

Well done folks, congratulations!

[@dev_echo]

Congratulations - A major achievement

[@BillDownhill]

This is quite possibly the final frontier of atmospheric air travel. You guys are true pioneers. Godspeed.

[@Perkeletricksterservantofrher]

it's too expensive & violent for anyone to travel

[@stuart207]

Good luck with the future testing!

[@kaviator]

Bravo to your team! This is no small feat. It is refreshing to see a younger generation take on challenges involving radical pieces of hardware. Hats off to you all and Godspeed!

[@mikegoodno3112]

This is so awesome to see. My father in law worked with NASA on the x-43 planes. I will definitely be showing him these videos!

[@bullvine2062]

Great to see young engineers build this. It’s beautiful and exciting. Well done.

[@sp00f64]

Go Hermeus! You guys are amazing. You are literally making history.

[@rickintexas1584]

That is super exciting stuff. If you give engineers a problem, they will work to find a solution. Nice work team!

[@ek3910]

So young and so brilliant ! Congratulations 🎉🍾

[@lolimthenoob]

I can honestly say this sent goosebumps over me.

[@nobodyhome2318]

Amazing achievement! Congratulations and looking forward to seeing the quarter horse donuts thing! 🥂Cheers!

[@dougbourdo2589]

Wow!! Awesome. Great work gang.

[@realv3ro]

great stuff! wish you guys the best in the future!!!

[@PhilipBlank]

Incredible to see! Keep it up

[@rockystefano]

Congratulations. 90 minutes Toronto to Paris sounds great.

[@BegudMaximan-zp2tc]

Bring it on! Worth a try 😊

[@aerodesignmanufaktur3044]

That shows once again how advanced the Concorde was, and that in 1960! Do 2.2 and that for over 100 PAX

[@slckb0y65]

now on to making it fit in my twingo ! might have to slightly modify the firewall for that one i think ...

[@Dr_Mario2007]

Scramjet afterburner is just insane. Imagine that loud roaring of the afterburners upon takeoff (especially with the military takeoff power). SR-71 was a brutally powerful plane, so I can't wait for the eventual hypersonic flight test.

[@sergiovboas]

This is, like, the most, like, amazing, like, thing in the business. Like!

[@rustymiller1295]

Incredible engine. Could have, like, totally literally, like, gone without hearing the girl speak about the celebration but, like, that's literally totally fine

[@larrybaker5316]

wow, amazing to see such technology being developed by young folks.

[@danielglavas]

Beautiful!

[@markjmaxwell9819]

This engine is impressive I love my Hybrid powertrains. Good job guys and you did it on a pretty small budget. This design should just nudge over into Mach 5 territory. Looks like hypersonic travel is just around the corner real ground breaking stuff. Calculating the smooth transition from Turbojet to Ramjet with airflow and combustion calculations needing to be just about perfect would have been very difficult. Too long a delay between the transition could be devastating while an aircraft is in flight. These guys still have a little bit of work to do the FAA is very strict on new designs. I am glad they decided to show the world what they are doing and how the new engine works some people would be worried their designs and idea's would be stolen. 😎👍👍

[@waldemarferens]

Great job, wish to be successfull as you. Good luck in future work.

[@ejb1714]

That’s awesome!!!

[@michaelcox5096]

Awesome.... I'll take 2 please. Post to Australia 😊👍

[@Starscream513]

Dang i didn't know buzz from home alone was a rocket engineer

[@suruxstrawde8322]

Man, I still don’t understand enough about this field to just think up my own varieties of things. So many complex variables with so little references.

[@pepperidgefarmremembers6350]

Ik this gonna sound weird af but I’m so proud of the team of engineers and designers, and everyone behind this incredible engine. The fact this was made by a startup company and has combined a normal jet engine with a SCRAMjet shows even startup companies can create technology NASA could only dream for (I know they have the X-43A, but that required a separate rocket booster unlike this where it’s conbined). This is the moment in history where mankind has created something extraordinary, where we should all look back and think about how fast aviation technology has grown in the past 120 years. Anyway enough with the speech, I wish you good luck trying to get the quarterhorse to be in constitution with the FAA’s sonic boom laws once the passenger prototype is out, good luck!

[@wja14msu]

Awesome!

[@Knight-rous]

dude rambo is the perfect name for this engine and noone can say otherwise

[@krisgodfrey]

Soo cool, props to the smart young guys n girls working there. Smart cookies

[@lukeamato2348]

Very impressive.

[@CorporalAdamYeehaw]

I found a way to keep myself warm.

[@ryan_roga]

Future engineer: "We like didn't like celebrate because like we had to like focus and like engineering is like hard so like we like celebrated after." 👌

[@arnoldmayii3563]

Fascinating

[@theAquillo]

Yeehaw!! Ah the best you guys!

[@josephnoelkiren2414]

The Lockheed SR 71 Black Bird engine works on a similar concept.

[@LuxGamer16]

I had the same thought. The moment they explained the engine, i was like "so like the SR-71..?"

[@Teth47]

@Omar Khurshid No they did not. They fed bypass air into the afterburner and the jet engine got subsonic air and kept running continuously. In this engine, the turbojet is shut down and bypassed entirely, and a ramjet engine starts up that does not require the turbojet pumping air and fuel in, allowing it to viably run at hypersonic speeds.

[@GeorgeVenturi]

@@Teth47 Please don't help the enemy

[@Teth47]

@@GeorgeVenturi Elaborate.

[@carl8790]

@@Teth47 if I have to guess, it's probably because he's muslim or has an Arabic name, which is messed up because they're muslim americans who served in the USAF.

[@adamgatehouse5767]

Weston's jawline is the cutting tool used to shape diamonds.

[@aldionsylkaj9654]

Take a shot every time she says like and you'll get drunk

[@NeverlostatBSgaming]

I see what you did naming it J-85 when the first high performance dual mode engine was the Pratt-Whitney J-58

[@braxeton671]

:D

[@therestorationshop]

Their engine is built on the GE J-85, that's the the turbo-jet in the middle of their diagram. They're adding the intake, bypass, ram-jet and misc. That's a significant add but basing the turbo-jet on the proven J-85 was a smart move... plus I think they were given several.

[@josephc.9520]

No, the J85 is the engine used on the F 5/T 38 and is unrelated to the J 58

[@micaelramos9157]

Awesome!!! Using bypass to transition away from the compressor was the same strategy as J58... I believe there might be thrust/efficiency gains with Chimera design, any figures that can be shared at this time?

[@samuelsnowdon2271]

great !!

[@johnroutledge9220]

Title: Highway car test Actual content: Turning ignition key

[@GERRYMALONEY47]

Is one of the greatest discoveries this world will ever see absolutely fantastic job guys keep up the good work

[@garthrupert7610]

👏👏👏👏👏 Well done.

[@GK-qc5ry]

Good luck 👍

[@Choppedncured]

Like, like, like, like incredible

[@devrim-oguz]

Godspeed

[@kkrobertson1]

Just a slicker looking engine design of the KR-71 blackbird.

[@evanbeers1644]

Awesome stuff. I can't even imagine all of the shit that could go wrong and has to be accouted for...

[@alejandro52612]

Vtec kicked in yo!

[@iamthebaird]

Amber said "like" ten times in 15 seconds. Very impressive!

[@dougaltolan3017]

Should probably switch to decaf.

[@spamspasm8183]

So you watched a video about a ramjet experiment and this was your takeaway? Huh.

[@Kazooboi23]

I wanna do that when I grow up hehe 😊

[@markrix]

What kind of thrust numbers did you get.. seems kinda important

[@manzoorhussain2520]

This well fit on the darkstar

[@eastindiaV]

That looks like the ram jet I drew on my Jail cell wall this year, pretty good, jail

[@pangrac1]

Wow! 👍🤓

[@monkey2god998]

Propulsion Engineer that says “like” ever other word is funny

[@peterdoyle8571]

Cool!!! 1) Loitering hypersonic cruise missiles 2) Hypersonic missile defense vehicles 3) Loitering megawatt class laser defense vehicles 4) 6th gen fighters 5) Supersonic Commercial Jets 6) etc. etc. etc !!!!

[@dougg1075]

Like you know, like wow what a cool project. Sleek

[@TheInsaneupsdriver]

look into reaction engines pre cooler, brings the temps down to like -150c in a fraction of a second.

[@kingothesea1]

Post the unedited test footage.

[@ejay9263]

1:35 Amber managed to say "like", like 8 times in like the first 15 seconds!

[@luisgarcia22]

NOICE.

[@NitroTom91]

I state that the fuel consumption of that engine is equivalent to the one of this young woman for saying the word "like" so often.

[@maninthemiddleground2316]

Hmmm 🤔 bypass method is been there since SR-71 engines. It might be good for you Hermeus to explain difference between their Chimera and SR-71 engines.

[@JubbyCustard]

The Inlet temperature reduces only 675F, is it using jet fuel as the cooling media ? Also have they gone with stainless , cupronickel or incoloy in the precooler? For the internal engine baffles, is it a single bypass duct or multiple, how do you compensate for resurgence from multiple ducts merging ldownstream of the exhaust turbine ?

[@evilelf5967]

the future is definately in good hands.

[@firstnamelastname8815]

Can't wait to see when Integza builds this in his garage using 3d printer

[@aandc2005]

I wonder if you compress the air so tightly will naturally combust..? Also do you use titanium? I have to watch out for those high temperatures and combustion because you'll get a titanium fire... I think?

[@sqr2024]

The SR71 had one back in the 60’s

[@royshashibrock3990]

And hypersonic travel is a step closer...

[@samspade8612]

A J85 engine? What about shockwave & intake heat simulation? Glad you're making progress.

[@jonathanleviton5787]

That valley girl sounds very smart

[@lukasjackson9172]

Dark star on its way

[@hullza5632]

What fuel does this system use? JP-7 or something more proprietary?

[@somenygaard]

My uncle built one of these 20 years ago… get with it.

[@Khalrua]

Hermeus as a word sounds hilarious

[@theconfederacyofindependen7268]

If there's less hassle, you might wanna build a Turbo-Ramjet, it works as both Turbojet and Ramjet, but this is a HUGE breakthrough however

[@dremwolf5419]

Unless it is part of your "secrets" will you be using a translating spike on the SR-71 to make the transition from super to hyper-sonic?

[@DreStyle]

Me: I need to sleep, it's 3Am... At 5 I need to get up Brain: LOOK A VIDEO ABOUT A ENGINE!!!!

[@BlazeIsaf]

I wish the blonde girl would’ve said “like” at least one more time. Really disappointing… In all honestly, that’s a really big accomplishment. Great job Hermes team!

[@auwz66]

VTEC kicked in yo

[@jamesloundagin3581]

It like about 75% combustion efficiency and sounds like there is some combustion instability

[@looped7979]

I'm getting Aera 51 vibes from this