Imagine flying from London arrived in New York for a lunch meeting and got home in time for tea.
Well, that could soon be a reality for transatlantic business travelers if an aviation designer makes it up. However, do not pack your luggage.
Want more specific airline news? Registration for TPG’s free biweekly aviation newsletter.
Sign up for our daily newsletter
Spanish designer Oscar Viñals claims his latest invention can take passengers across the Atlantic at three times the speed of sound, making a trip from the British capital to the Big Apple in less than 80 minutes.
Theater is named “Super Sting” will not only be twice as fast as Concorde – the London to New York record holder – managing the route in two hours and 53 minutes – but also nearly twice the size.
At 328 feet long, the Hyper Sting will carry 130 to 170 passengers; In theory, it can reach a top speed of 2,664 mph.
The Concorde is just 200 feet long, can carry 100 flyers, and has a top speed of 1,354 mph. Meanwhile, an average commercial airliner is currently flying at 460 to 575 mph.
It means a trip from London to New York would take the same amount of time as a subway train from the Bronx to Brooklyn.
How will it work?
The success of this aircraft as the fastest commercial airliner in history rests firmly on the untested theory of fusion via a “cold fusion nuclear reactor” which will provide powering two turbofans and four next-generation hybrid turbofans.
Viñals claims that his vision of a new dawn of high-speed air travel will be capable of reaching speeds of Mach 3.5.
Related: ‘The most fascinating machines ever made’: How jet engines work
For now, such advanced technology is the treasure trove of the military. The fastest aircraft ever to shoot through airspace was the now retired North American X-15, which hit a face-melting speed of 4,520 mph (Mach 6.7) on October 3, 1967 – 55 years ago.
When will it work?
Among some of the questions posed for the future of Hyper Sting were its financial viability – how much would it cost to produce such a jet, with problems eventually leading to its demise. by Concorde?
Related: Key travel tips you need to know – whether you’re a beginner or a pro traveler
However, Viñals remains optimistic in the face of considerable skepticism about his idea from the aviation community.
“The Concorde is a great piece of machinery, a noble experiment, but it creates too much emissions in the environment, too much noise into our community and is too expensive to operate,” he explains.
“A new era of supersonic flight may be near, but there are challenges to overcome when flying faster than the speed of sound. Hyper Sting is a new concept for future supersonic commercial aircraft,” he added.
However, he admits that “supersonic flights will return, but in this case due to some very innovative systems, like cold fusion reactors, the date of production, will be more than 2030 and it won’t come cheap.”
Will it work?
While the idea currently exists only in Viñals’ imagination, it revives a dream that has plagued aircraft designers since the 1950s: How can you build a reactor nuclear into an airplane?
The invention of the nuclear reactor in the 1950s offered the promise of cheap travel, not to mention the ability to fly planes for days or even months. The only barrier is making it secure.
Related: Amex partners with Boom Supersonic to deliver exclusive events
It started on boats, then – as technology narrowed down – it found its way onto submarines. Submarines can now cruise under the sea at high speeds for decades without refueling.
However, making a nuclear reactor flyable has proved a much more challenging conundrum. It begins with preventing the reactor from spewing lethal radioactive particles into the bodies of passengers and crew. The required cover would be too heavy for an aircraft to take off.
Next, so it’s a matter of scale – how can you shrink a reactor to fit an airplane?
Difficult history
It began in the US when the Cold War was rapidly progressing with the establishment of the Aircraft Nuclear Thrust program. Between 1946 and 1961, huge teams of engineers walked away in a whirlpool of blueprints and chalk dust trying to unlock the secret of eternal flight.
In the end, only one aircraft has ever successfully carried a nuclear reactor – the Convair NB-36H in the late 1950s. However, it was never powered by the reactor. It’s just carrying it around to see what effects it might have on the flight and the crew.
Related: Could the A380 be the key to unlocking fossil-free flight?
In 1961, President-elect John F. Kennedy canceled the program. “Fifteen years and about $1 billion have been spent on the development of nuclear powered aircraft; but the possibility of achieving a useful military aircraft in the near future is still very far away,” he said.
Technology has evolved since then, and several attempts to harness nuclear energy have begun. However, we have yet to see one get out of the ground. As for high-speed aircraft, there is a different opinion. This summer, Boom Supersonic announced plans to take a plane into the sky that can travel at 1,304 mph.
Related: Concorde at 50: Faster than a speeding bullet
Dubbed the Boom Supersonic Overture, it has four small wing-mounted engines with “gull wings” for improved speed and stability, and it can fly from London to New York in three and a half hours.
That’s still a bit buggy though. Boom confirmed production will begin in 2024, with the jet in production in 2025. Then it could be another four years until the jet is ready for passengers, but the company says know it should be in 2029.
“Aviation has seen a giant leap over the decades. Overture is revolutionary in its design and it will fundamentally change the way we think about distance,” said Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom.
“With more than 600 routes globally, Overture will make it easier for tens of millions of passengers around the world.”
Key point
While technological advancements in aviation are nothing new, there are still many hurdles before Hyper Sting can take to the skies. It’s an exciting prospect, but don’t rush to pack your bags.
