Just saw an article about this new engine that British aerospace firm Reaction Engines Limited is working on. They claim the new type of engine will be powering the plane to fly ... literally like a rocket! 4 hours you can fly to anywhere on the surface of earth, hm, that would save a lot of time for travellers and they don't have to suffer from being squeezed in the tiny seat space for 11 hours when they fly between Europe and Asia or wherever. People don't have to stay in line for toilet on the plane, they don't have to worry about the food on plane, 4 hours and you can sit in restaurant having a relaxing meal. But it would be some less fun, thinking of how much less movies you could watch in 4 hours compare with 11 hours.
Anyway, how is it possible to fly that fast? I'm trying to figure out. Apparently the secret is the cooling system:
"The engine system is called SABRE, and it relies on a device called the precooler - technology that cools down the air entering the engineer system by more than 1,000 degrees Celsius in .01 seconds. That corresponds to an unheard-of cooling rate of 400 megawatts, and will allow the plane to “breathe” oxygen.
This means that the engine system will be able to run at a much higher power than is currently possible."
Overheating is always a problem for any kind of engine, no matter in cars or aircraft... well, especially for aircraft. Overheating can lead to engine seize and damage, imagine if you design a rocket without cooling system, once it takes off, the engine is gonna burn itself first, and the whole aircraft would be like a firework show instead of transportation tool. My understanding is, it's not that modern engines can't reach a high speed like 4 hours go to the other side of the earth, but rather it's because the cooling system doesn't allow people to fly that fast. So here you go, SABRE engine, give you a super cool summer, you travel with that you also get served with some popsicles made by that engine.
My popsicle is SABRE brand, aircraft engine coolant flavor, what about yours?
oh right, forgot to say, the first test flight is projected to be in 2019!
oh right, forgot to say, the first test flight is projected to be in 2019!
check out the article: http://snip.ly/tuIQ#http://www.sciencealert.com/this-plane-will-be-able-to-fly-anywhere-in-the-world-within-4-hours
and the video:
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