Hypersonic Skreemr Jet Concept Could Travel NYC To London In An Hour

Right now, the fastest way to travel by air is inside a normal commercial jet. In the past people in a big hurry could jump on the Concorde and travel between the US and other nations at supersonic speeds, but that aircraft was retired. A new concept jet called the Skreemr promises to be fast enough that it would make the trip from New York to London in under an hour.

The Skreemr is the design of Charles Bombardier, the same Bombardier name on some of the fastest private jets in the world. The design describes a passenger jet that could travel at ten times the speed of sound, a bit less than 8,000 mph.

If the concept were able to achieve that speed, it would be five times faster than the Concorde, which was able to speed at up to 1,565 mph. To reach such high speeds the Skreemr would need special launch system consisting of a magnetic rail-gun. Once in the sky, the liquid oxygen and kerosene rockets would ignite.

Skreemr would then climb to altitude where it would reach Mach 4 before the scramjet engine kicks in using hydrogen and compressed oxygen to push the plane to Mach 10. The concept could carry 75 passengers. A test flight is a long way off, scramjet engines are still in the testing phase and are years from commercial use.

SOURCE: Livescience