Boeing Hypersonic Plane

Boeing’s Hypersonic Passenger Jet Concept can achieve speeds of Mach 5 (3800 mph), which is approximately five times the speed of sound. This means it could cross the Atlantic Ocean in a mere 2-hours, and the Pacific, in 3-hours. “We settled on Mach 5 version. This aircraft would allow you to fly across the ocean and back in one day, which is all most people would want. So why go past those boundaries and complicate it? The world’s just not big enough to go much faster than Mach 5,” said Kevin Bowcutt, Boeing’s senior technical chief scientist of hypersonic aircraft. Continue reading for two videos on its predecessor, the legendary Concorde, including one of a real on-board flight.

“For this plane, the two engines would share the same air inlets, and the jet engines would operate up to Mach 2 or 3 before the inlets seal off the jet engine and divert air into the ramjets, which can handle faster airflow. The famed SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft used such a system in the 1960s, as have multiple missiles and experimental aircraft. Boeing is collaborating with Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems on the engine technology,” reports Wired.

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