DailyDirt: Flying Faster Than The Speed Of Sound (Again)

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The Concorde jet flew for nearly 30 years before it went out of service. And now, the time airline passengers spend in security lines wastes far more time than a supersonic jet could make up in the air (depending on the journey, of course). Still, traveling fast is cool, regardless if it's done by air or in an evacuated tube -- as long as it's fast. Perhaps there's some analogy to the Skyscraper Index where supersonic transportation designs arise right before an economic recession... so maybe hold off on buying a high-speed ticket to London.

• Airbus has a supersonic jet design that could take passengers from NYC to London in 1 hour. This plane would takeoff vertically and then travel at up to 4.5 times the speed of sound. It would be faster than the Concorde, but it would only carry 20 passengers at a time. (It will also probably never be built.) [url]
• China's first scramjet engine has been tested, making it the second nation (after the US) to develop a scramjet engine for sustained atmospheric hypersonic flight. These supersonic planes are meant for military operations, but it's unclear if these designs will have a practical use. [url]
• Refurbished Concorde jets could be flying again in 2019. Don't get your hopes up just yet, though. There have been previous (failed) attempts to bring the Concorde back into service. [url]

After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

Filed Under: concorde, hypersonic, jets, planes, scramjet, supersonic, transportation
Companies: airbus

DailyDirt: Weird Airplane Designs

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Airplane designs have evolved quite a bit over the years. Some new planes might as well be alien spacecraft compared to the designs most people recognize. Outside of the super secret stealth aircraft, though, there are some interesting planes that are more fuel efficient and have strikingly different silhouettes. Here are just a few examples.

• Honda has a luxury jet, Hondajet, going into commercial production. Hondajet's engines are mounted in an unconventional way -- sitting on pedestals above each wing. [url]
• More fuel efficient plane engines could incorporate open rotor designs. Open rotor engines can have pretty large diameters and not require heavy shielding... and they look cool. [url]
• This fuel efficient concept combines a fuselage that provides some lift along with rear-mounted engines. Placing two engines right next to each other in the rear might be a problem if one of them fails and takes out the only other engine on this plane. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: airplane, aviation, engine design, fuel efficient, hondajet, jets
Companies: honda