Supersonic plane could get from London to New York in 80 minutes

By Dean Murray via SWNS

A jaw-dropping new supersonic plane could get from London to New York in 80 minutes.

The Hyper Sting concept would travel at 2,486 MPH - almost twice that of Concorde.

Spanish designer Oscar Viñals says 170 passengers could enjoy travel at over three times the speed of sound.

He explains that a Mach 3.5 capability would be thanks to innovative systems like a so-far theoretical cold fusion nuclear reactor.

This would power two ramjet engines and four next-generation hybrid turbojets.

At 328 feett, the Hyper Sting would be over 100 feet longer than Concorde and have a wider wingspan of 169 fettt (Concorde 85 feet).

"Concorde was a brilliant piece of machinery, a noble experiment, but it put too much emissions in the environment, too much noise into our communities, and was too expensive to operate," Oscar said.

"A new era of supersonic flight might be just around the corner, but there are challenges to overcome when it comes to flying faster than the speed of sound.

"The Hyper Sting is a new concept for future supersonic commercial airplanes.

"Today, there are some  projects for a new era of supersonic flights from different private and public initiatives, some of those are well underway and could become in few years in a real concept."

Oscar says his design's name is influenced by the shape of the aircraft.

"The fuselage would have the shape of a "big sting" with a very sharp "nose", that would have the function to control the front airflow (pressure/speed), in order to redistribute it over the central part and over the wings," he said.

The Barcelona designer believes his concept is feasible, but would need advances in technology.

"Supersonic flights will return, but in this case due to some very innovative systems, like the cold fusion reactor, the date of a possible production, would be over 2030 and the cost would not be cheap."

HYPER STING SPECIFICATIONS:

• Capacity: 130–170 passengers 
• Length: 328 ft 4 in (100.03 m) 
• Wingspan: 168.63 ft 0 in (51.40 m) 
• Maximum speed: 2,664 mph (4,287 km/h, 2,315 kn)  (Concorde: 1,354mph)
• Maximum speed: Mach 3.5 (temperature limited) 
• Cruise speed: 2,486 mph (4,000 km/h, 2,160 kn) 
• Service ceiling: 65,616 ft (20,000 m)