With this successful prototype, does this signify a new era of aircraft? Passenger aircraft utilising similar designs could reduce travel time by hours…
How feasable could such transportation be? Seems like the required rocket booster may offset fuel and weight gains. The link claims that “Engineers have pursued scramjet technology because it could allow rocket-speed travel but with considerable savings in weight.”
If anything, at least air transportation induced DVT will be reduced.
Movie name!!!
Seriously, though, this whole thing will only go foreward if the airlines and manufacturers will bother getting behind it. I think they’re happy as things are, and it will take a long time for anything to really change. Not to mention the costs of restructuring airports, altering facilities vehicle upkeep and training people to actually care for the things.
Don’t expect the “big changes” this tech will bring along for 30 years or so.
The link didn’t mention it, but I suppose it comes with its own sonic boom? It’s one of the reasons Concorde wasn’t a commercial success, too many countries wouldn’t allow Concorde to overfly their country.
Now this is more like it. :rolleyes:
Quote:
“The Department of Defense also is working on the technology, which it’s eyeing for use in bombers that quickly could reach targets anywhere on the globe.”
You don’t worry too much about a sonic boom when there’s a bomb on the way.
The Concorde died because it couldn’t generate revenue. It was too expensive to operate. Too bad, the Brits have always managed to make their planes a work of art (yah, I know, the French were involved).
I’ve been following this engine for a long time and was thrilled at the news. Also been watching the pulse jet engines just because of the home grown nature of the research. I think it’s pretty cool that some engineers would go to a junkyard and scavenge parts for their project.
I still remember my Mechanics of Compressible Fluids class 15 years ago, and the Professor telling us that combustion at supersonic ariflow velocities was impossible with foreseable technological development. (even current supersonic aicraft must slow aiflow to below Mach 1 for combustion to take place). This is an amazing achievement.
Remember that this is just an engine technology development. We are still far away from even military aircraft.
Another very promising application of this would be for an orbital launch vehicle with much greater simplicity and reliability than rocket based ones.
It’s cool, but unless I really misheard this weekend, it’s not going much farther any time soon.
Les Johnson, of NASA, was at MidSouthCon in Memphis this weekend, and said that basically any further funding for this project has been cancelled. They are instead focusing most of their resources on the recommendations of the commission investigating the Columbia accident, which include things like building a facility in the same orbit as the shuttles use–a place to stop off and make repairs, for instance–and/or having a second vehicle ready to go whenever the other is up, just in case. Both are expensive propositions.
Any mistakes and misinterpretations of what he said are my own, don’t blame him for them.
