London and New York may never have been closer. The European aeronautical giant Airbus has, in fact, filed in the US the patent for a new hypersonic aircraft, informally renamed "Concorde 2“. The plane would be able to fly at 4,5 times the speed of sound (Mach 1), more than double the original Concorde, which stopped at Mach 2: to travel the distance between London and New York it would take only one hour. Now.
Concorde 2 will be powered by several engines: two conventional jets attached to the fuselage, two rocket boosters on the tail and two ramjets propelled by a mix of oxygen and hydrogen under the wings. Unlike the original Concorde, the new aircraft will be decidedly exclusive: it will be able to accommodate on board a maximum of 20 passengers, against 120 of its predecessor.
The aircraft, which will be able to operate from normal airfields, will use the two normal jet engines to take off and land. Once it reaches Mach 1 its jet engines will be shut down and retracted into the fuselage. At the same time the rocket engines will be activated which will make it soar almost vertically.
Once the cruising altitude of 35 km has been reached, the aircraft will proceed in horizontal flight, the rockets will be turned off and the ramjets will be activated which will accelerate them up to a maximum speed of mach 4,5 equal to 5.480 km/h.
