Fifty years after researchers tested a unique engine inlet design for Lockheed's Mach 3.2-capable A-12, a novel inlet concept is being evaluated that could lead to a new generation of simpler and lighter supersonic and hypersonic propulsion systems. Detailed analysis of results from tests of the Channeled Centerbody Inlet Experiment, or CCIE, will begin this month following the final evaluation flight on NASA Dryden Flight Research Center's F-15B testbed aircraft on Jan. 5. The CCIE was flown on a pylon mounted under the F-15B over a series of eight flights, starting with initial tests in late August 2011.
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