Long distance air travel is extremely excruciating, especially when you have to travel at night. But not for long. The comprehensive research by EADS might ease off your pain of long haul flights. The UK based aerospace company with its ZEHST (Zero Emission Hypersonic Transport) concept unveiled an aircraft of the future at the Paris Air Show. Under the partnership of ONERA and backed up by the French Agency Direction Generale de l’Aviation Civile(DGCA), the ZESHT study promises to design this most desirable plane giving the passengers a “painless” flight experience.
The plane will be able to cover distant countries in a much reduced time say, London to Tokyo in just two hours, which takes 10-12 hrs. of journey. With a remarkable ability to cruise at Mach 3.5 at an altitude of almost 60,000 ft. (18.9 km.), this aircraft is designed as a commercial transport system unlike “Virgin Galactic”. Besides, its high speed quality, this commercial plane will be virtually pollution free with the reduced CO2 and NOX emissions and no louder than today’s modern plane. In short, it is not going to reiterate the flaws Concorde had.
The ZESHT project aims at investigating smart materials that could meet the technological challenges while designing this highly futuristic plane. It also includes examining the ways to deal with certain environmental issues like minimizing the impact of emissions on the fast depleting ozone layer as well. Proper evaluation of the “three tier propulsions system” is also being done. Stage one would use biofuel to make a conventional runway take off and the turbojet engines will run at the speed of Mach 0.8. Then, the plane would attempt a steep climb to around 23 km at a speed of Mach 2.5 with the help of hydrogen/liquid oxygen-powered rocket engines. In the last stage, the hydrogen fueled engines would take over the aircraft to the expected speed of Mach 3.5 at 18.9 km. Finally, the turbojets would be re-employed to facilitate a conventional landing. However, it would be another big challenge to manage the transition between these phases.
This plane will be utilizing a set of engines known as ramjets, which are currently used in missiles. These jets are highly speed-efficient and will help the plane to cruise at the speed beyond Mach 4.Undoubtedly, these supersonic planes will revolutionize the aircraft world. It is expected to be completed as early as 2020.
Via: Gizmag
