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From the artist’s impression, it looks like a giant pen placed on its side. It’s the design for a revolutionary hypersonic passenger plane that will reportedly cut flying time from Australia to northern Europe to less than five hours.
British designed and European Space Agency funded, the new plane called the A2 can carry 300 passengers and reach speeds of 3000 miles per hour (!). It is part of an ongoing effort by the EU to further extend the boundaries of aviation travel.
The A2’s designers are gung-ho about the possibility of demand for the futuristic looking jet, but aviation experts say the cost of flying might prove too expensive. Like the Concorde that was discontinued five years ago because of diminishing demand, A2 passengers will also have to deal with the rather expensive tag.
At 132 meters long, the A2 is longer than conventional jets, but still small enough to fit onto a runway. Conventional fuel however will not be able to achieve desired speeds, and so Reaction Engines – the company that has developed the A2 – has designed an engine that runs on liquid hydrogen. Environmental concerns too are unfounded, designers say — Reaction Engines is researching ways to eliminate any NOX elements produced by liquid hydrogen.
There is one hitch though. Because of the intense heat build-up that can result from flying at such speeds, planes won’t have portholes. Not a good idea for those suffering from claustrophobia, although the company plans to get around this by installing flat screen panels in place of windows, displaying images of scenes outside.