BRITISH engineers working on a revolutionary superplane project have announced a major breakthrough in engine development that brings their vision of a four hour flight from the UK to Australia one step closer to reality.
It may have taken these experts 30 years to solve the problem of over heating in a rocket jet engine but they have finally done it. The trick to this rocket power was to figure out how to instantly chill the air entering the engine from 1,000°C to minus 150°C.
This phenomenon was described as “the biggest breakthrough since the invention of the jet engine”, by researchers at Reaction Engines, Abingdon.
British Science Minister David Willetts envisaged that the engine known as Sabre, would “revolutionise the future of air and space travel” while Alan Bond, the mastermind behind this new rocket technology, declared this to be the proudest moment of his life, reported The Sun.
The revolutionary ‘air-breathing’ rocket engines, could power superplanes with the capacity to carry 300 passengers.
The futuristic aircraft proposed by the team of UK engineers have the aim of cutting long-haul flight times. A flight from Heathrow to Australia could be cut from 21 hours to a mere four.
This latest engine advancement opens doors for the construction of a reusable space shuttle referred to as Skylon, as well as the Lapcat 4,200mph hypersonic airliner.