Earlier today, we did talk about the ‘Skreemr’ jet that theoretically speaking, will be able to cut down travel time from London to New York by a drastic number – to a mere 30 minutes, now how about that? This would mean if the idea actually takes off (pardon the pun), then the amount of waiting time, check-in, et al, will be a whole lot longer than the journey itself. Perhaps we can look at something more viable, as BAE Systems has invested £20 million in a British firm to develop an engine which can power a jet from London to Sydney in a matter of four hours.
This mega motor is said to be able to send an aircraft hurtling along the air at under 4000 miles per hour, which would make it five times the speed of sound. This is over double the speed of the Concorde, which happened to be the world’s fastest passenger jet at one time when it was still in service. Apart from that, this engine can also double up as a rocket booster which propels a space plane at over 19,000 miles per hour.
Known as Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine, or SABRE for short, this might be the next big leap forward where commercial flights are concerned. SABRE can cool superheated air from 1,000 °C to minus 150 °C in under 1/100th of a second, although there is still a long way to go before it can be commercialized and is ready for everyday use.