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posted by janrinok on Wednesday August 05 2015, @10:03PM   Printer-friendly
from the higher,-faster,-noisier? dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

The BBC writes about a hypersonic plane concept patented by Airbus. With the mix of engine types, comparatively exotic fuel, it sounds like those tickets might get really expensive. We'll see if this ever flies, and if so, whether it will be a commercial success, unlike the supersonic Concorde. On the military end, things might be of more interest...

According to the documents, the jet would reach speeds as high as Mach 4.5, or four-and-a-half times the speed of sound. That compares to Mach 2 for Concorde.

The patent application says that the aeroplane would use a variety of engines that would serve different purposes and power would come from hydrogen stored onboard.

Two turbojets under the fuselage and a rocket motor in the rear would be used during take-off. It would lift off vertically like a Space Shuttle. Once launched, the turbojets would be shut down and retracted and the rocket motor would then kick in to climb to an altitude of more than 100,000 feet. Then ramjets, more usually used on missiles, would be ignited and the flight would reach a top speed of Mach 4.5.


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  • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Wednesday August 05 2015, @10:19PM

    by maxwell demon (1608) on Wednesday August 05 2015, @10:19PM (#218812) Journal

    Launching vertically like the space shuttle doesn't sound like the type of experience most flight passengers long for.

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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by bob_super on Wednesday August 05 2015, @10:56PM

    by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday August 05 2015, @10:56PM (#218826)

    I'll only book a front-row seat, unless they provide umbrellas.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Wednesday August 05 2015, @11:24PM

    by Grishnakh (2831) on Wednesday August 05 2015, @11:24PM (#218840)

    Yeah, I can't see grandma taking a ride on this thing to see her kids and grandkids.

    What the heck are they thinking here anyway? No one's going to want to ride this thing. Well, maybe some young men won't mind, but they're not going to be able to afford tickets. The Concorde died out for a good reason: it was way too expensive, people that rich can afford personal or chartered jets anyway, and the TSA is going to eliminate any time savings you had from the speed.

    • (Score: 4, Informative) by bob_super on Thursday August 06 2015, @01:11AM

      by bob_super (1357) on Thursday August 06 2015, @01:11AM (#218893)

      Concorde was officially breaking even before the accident. Even if it hadn't been, it was a prestige thing for AF and BA. Rich people loved it, because only the richest rich can afford transatlantic-range private planes, and they don't do Mach 2.
      The retrofit after the accident, and the increased maintenance cost on aging proto-volume airframes hurt it.
      But if the US hadn't banned it for political reasons (or if it had been invented now, when the sales volumes are elsewhere), it would still be flying.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 06 2015, @12:38PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 06 2015, @12:38PM (#219053)

      Yeah, I can't see grandma taking a ride on this thing to see her kids and grandkids.

      Unless her kids & grandkids are already in Heaven.

  • (Score: 2) by el_oscuro on Thursday August 06 2015, @12:26AM

    by el_oscuro (1711) on Thursday August 06 2015, @12:26AM (#218863)

    This would be totally cool. Lots of people would fly it, even if it just came back to the same airport. Flying from New York to Paris in an hour would just be a minor side benefit...

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