View Full Version : Designers Unveil 4,000mph Passenger Jet
W4LLACE
5th Feb 2008, 06:31
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1304022,00.html
TheOddOne
5th Feb 2008, 06:39
It runs on a liquid hydrogen Scimitar engine being developed by Reaction Engines that is based on existing technology.
Wouldn't be a relative of the RB535 being developed years ago for HOTOL, would it?
Whatever happened to HOTOL, this'll go the same way.
Yawn.
TheOddOne
Skylon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylon) - son of Hotol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HOTOL) and both the brainchild of Alan Bond (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Bond_(rocket_developer)).
Bat Fastard
5th Feb 2008, 12:15
Looks like the "real world" is starting to catch up with thunderbirds! I remember seeing one episode featuring a new airliner that looked a lot like that sketch.
You mean this (http://davidszondy.com/future/Thunderbirds/fireflash.htm) one? :ok:
Captain Smithy
5th Feb 2008, 13:23
An interesting design. Would be exciting if it was to be developed. I wonder how problems of aerodynamic overheating would be tacked though... fascinating.
No chance of that though, since Eco-Crusaders/Eco-Governments would no doubt torpedo the design. I can hear them choking on their sustainably-grown soya beans and lentils already. :uhoh:
chornedsnorkack
5th Feb 2008, 13:29
143 metres???
What are they doing with 143 metres? Even Beriev-Be-2500 finds 122 metres or so quite enough!
I can understand why Concorde likes to have a slender fuselage and long nosecone. The result is that Concorde is about 62 m long and has 25 seat rows at 4 abreast. She is considerably longer than E-190 (which has a similar passenger cabin) and matches the length of MD-11 (which accommodates 410 seats).
Now, L-2000 and Boeing 2707 target near 300 seats. L-2000 specifies 5 seats abreast, and is actually a couple of cm narrower than DC-9. 60 rows of 5 abreast would take up more space than the 172 seats of MD-80. L-2000 is supposed to be 85 m or so.
Various B-2705, Boeing HSCT, MD HSCT, Airbus AST and JAXA NEXST projects talk of 300 seats, too - and they think they need 90...104 metres. It would cause some problems with fuselage bending strength and tailstrike clearance, plus a nuisance at taxiways and gates...
But 143 metres? Where does it go? With 300 passengers?
If an airport can handle 150 m long planes, how many seats do you think should go on, say, an Airbus 380-1800 stretched to 141 m length?
Captain Smithy
5th Feb 2008, 13:34
Perhaps the SLF have lots of legroom? :E
I'd imagine you'd need plenty of room for fuel too, travelling that fast.
BOBBLEHAT
5th Feb 2008, 14:48
Hold at Lambourne........!
perkin
5th Feb 2008, 18:10
They forgot the windows?! :E
chornedsnorkack
5th Feb 2008, 18:41
They forgot the windows?!
They omitted them. Which is understandable for a freighter, and passenger airplanes like An-74 or Lockheed Galaxy - but those still have cockpit windows. Even shuttles which fly 18 times the speed of light and above have windscreen.
Try to taxi a plane 143 m long with no cockpit windows... Also, what do you think will the pitch angle be on touchdown?
speed787
5th Feb 2008, 21:54
no cockpit windows??
Who's to say, they are there but you can't see them.
The pilots see out, but not the other way, may be quite useful for heating effects ...
Suppose the land of science fiction ...
Even shuttles which fly 18 times the speed of light and above have windscreen
18 times speed of LIGHT !? I must have been sleeping lately, they've managed to break the laws of physics, again!!? :eek:
Fliegenmong
5th Feb 2008, 22:38
What sort of thronomister will trhey use?
Jonny Suave Trousers
6th Feb 2008, 05:37
Boy, that is fast!
chornedsnorkack
6th Feb 2008, 07:01
18 times speed of LIGHT !? I must have been sleeping lately, they've managed to break the laws of physics, again!!?
5 years and 5 days ago, Columbia was rather notoriously announced to have crashed when flying at 18 times the speed of light. This indeed breaks the laws of physics.
Daysleeper
6th Feb 2008, 07:23
http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/Pickover/pc/cnn_shuttle.jpg
I know I know thread drift.
aviate1138
6th Feb 2008, 07:37
Seeing as the thread is drifting....
As a young motion picture technician I was the actual pilot of the Fireflash
on the original TV series.
On Slough Trading Estate just behind the power station and Mars Bars factory!
Ah! The romance of movie making! :)
Clarence Oveur
6th Feb 2008, 07:45
It is rumoured that Ham and Enos are involved in the project. Apparently only a crew of their skill and experience can fly this thing.
chornedsnorkack
6th Feb 2008, 12:29
What do you think is the real replacement of Concorde?
BA bought two A318 planes and will in 2009 equip them with 32 business class flat beds - 8 rows of 4 abreast. They are going to fly London City - somewhere in Ireland - New York.
32 seats per frame. Concorde had 100 seats per frame - one obvious problem was that 100 seats above first are impossible to sell.
Maybe it always was the trouble with Concorde that Concorde is too big?
Lapcat claims
http://www.reactionengines.co.uk/lapcat_veh.html
that
The vehicle is sized to carry 300 passengers since this is typical of future supersonic transport designs and thought to be the minimum to achieve a competitive seat/mile cost.
Er... yeah. Widely made claim, but suspicious nevertheless. Maybe one should start designing a supersonic vehicle for 32 passengers?