Do you think the A2 (a hypersonic aeroplane) would be possible in the next 25 years.?

Question

The project is part of an EU drive to push forward the boundaries of air travel. Scientists were asked to find out if it was possible to build a commercial plane that used the sort of technology more closely associated with travel to the edge of space and beyond.

Oxfordshire-based Reaction Engines designs and develops space transport and hi-tech propulsion systems. Its directors are experts in fields ranging from space rockets and weapons systems to nuclear power.

Alan Bond, a senior engineer and managing director at the company, said the A2 could be operating within 25 years if there was demand for it. Bond said: "The A2 is designed to leave Brussels international airport, fly quietly and subsonically out into the north Atlantic at mach 0.9 before reaching mach 5 across the North Pole and heading over the Pacific to Australia.

"The flight time from Brussels to Australia, allowing for air traffic control, would be four hours 40 minutes.

Answer 1

Not so many years ago, the idea of hypersonic travel was mooted using ram-jets, the idea being, as you stated, of using a normal lift off, and as soon as the aircraft reaches high altitude, the ramjets kick in and speeds of up to Mach 8 would push the craft into a high altitude hyperbolic route over such as the Arctic or Antarctic, thus enablig aircraft to cover distances such as Heathrow to Sydney in just over 3 hours. Sadly, as with most British ideas, the finance was never considered. We were lucky to have had Concorde!!!

Currently, the only planes likely to fly at this sort of speed will be military/government sponsored. If you ever go to the Jodrell Bank visitor Centre in Cheshire, you can see models of the sort of craft that were designed to do such a trip.

Sir Richard Branson has a project (Virgin Galactic) that will put civilians into orbit by around 2016 (only 8 years away). Don't hold your breath!!!

Answer 2

Very possible,  very unlikely to happen.  Unless there is a government willing to subsidize the project with $Billions,  the current state of commercial aviation will give us more slow cattle cars and no hypersonic aircraft.    Remember that the Concord was a dead end and never recouped the investment made.     Consider that air travel today is less reliable,  less comfortable and much slower than it was 20 years ago.  (yes, the planes actually fly slower to conserve fuel and lower ticket prices).  

There may be a few small hypersonic jets developed for very high end private or corporate travel,  but for the great unwashed majority of flyers,  things will get slower and nastier.