New York To London In An Hour? Airbus Has A Design For That
Imagine having an Airbus plane cut your international flight time, say between New York City and London, U.K., down to just one hour. Airbus has patented an “ultra rapid air vehicle” design that travels at four times the speed of sound that can do just that. Remember the Concorde? Well, forget about it. That plane pales in comparison to what Airbus might have in store for future customers.
The Airbus design is unique in that it has three sets of engines, with one set that lifts the plane vertically into the air without having to careen down a runway for takeoff, which would eliminate the sonic boom that would ordinarily come with the landing and takeoff of a plane that travels at Mach 4.5, or four and a half times the speed of sound. It is this sonic boom that made the Concorde an unwelcome guest in many places the plane could have served before the aging fleet was decommissioned in 2003.
How high can it go? The Airbus plane can travel a full 20 kilometers higher in the air than your average commercial airliner, which will require drastic changes to the limits of the mile-high club.
According to the Express, The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office approved and published the patent that has weary travels giddy. At least business travelers who the plane is aimed at serving will be smiling to know they could have Parisian croissants for breakfast and then New York pizza for lunch. And, of course, Airbus has the lucrative military commissions in mind with this design, as well.
The Airbus Concorde can’t come fast enough https://t.co/a39UzrCZI1
— Javier Soto (@Javi) August 5, 2015
This is exciting news from an industry that has been in the news lately more for the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 than it has for its innovative designs. What is the bad news in all of this? Being awarded a patent doesn’t mean the plane will ever actually be made. Sorry, Javier. The CBC reports that Airbus has applied for hundreds of patents that have never come into fruition, as explained in a statement sent by email.
“These patents are often based on R&D concepts and ideas in a very nascent stage of conceptualization, and not every patent progresses to becoming a fully realized technology or product … Therefore at this time, we will not be providing any interviews or further information on this topic.”
Other designs that have been patented by the company include the use of bicycle seats on planes to increase the number of people that they can cram into an airborne vehicle, and many travellers assuredly would prefer that Airbus idea never sees the light of day.
[Photo from United States Patent and Trademark Office]
