Geekologie I Watch Stuff The Superficial

'Zhest' Hypersonic Plane To Carry Passengers At Mach 4, Do London To Sydney In 3.5 Hours

zhest.jpg

...by 2050.

The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), which owns Airbus, claims they could have a Mach-4 traveling airplane in the skies by 2050 that could fly passengers around the globe at over 3,000MPH while shitting their pants like babies.

The plane - named "zero emission hypersonic transportation" (ZEHST) - would take off from a standard runway, and carry up to 100 passengers above the atmosphere, cruising at 3,125mph - more than four times the speed of sound (Mach 4).


While the plane is still at concept stage and will require huge funding to get it off the ground, EADS says demonstration flights could be happening as early as 2020.


EADS says the plane would be virtually emission-free, as it would be powered by sea-weed based biofuels, hydrogen and oxygen, producing only water emissions.

Okay, the Mach-4 thing I can believe, but zero-emissions running on sea-weed? How about we build some regular planes that do that first? That would be like, a small step. Or, should a say, a giant leap? See what I did there? Space talk, yo. GW to moonbase alpha -- fire the LOLserbeams.

Hit the jump for a conceptual video about the plane.

London to Sydney in 3.5 hours: hypersonic plane could be a reality by 2050 [terminalu]

Thanks to Staticwolf, who's cool riding an immobile canine.

Related Stories
  • June 26, 2008 / Comments
    The problem with traditional scramjet planes (planes with the potential of hitting Mach 12-24) is they require supersonic airflow in order to function. So getting up to Mach 4 is a problem. That's why they've typically been piggybacked on other p... / Continue →
  • January 19, 2011 / Comments
    Planes: they go fast, get you from here to there, and I have to get preeeeetty drunk to step foot on one. But hopefully not so drunk I pass out under a row of seats at the gate and wake up outside security. *ahem* I'm looking at you, LAX. Someb... / Continue →
  • September 2, 2011 / Comments
    We've seen other wingsuit flights here on Geekologie, but this is by far my favorite. The real-life batman's name is Jeb Corliss (and possibly soon to be Lifeliss), and he hits a staggering 122MPH in the video plus pops some f***ing balloons like ... / Continue →
There are Comments
  • A large horizontal wing with an airfoil cross-section shape. The wing deflects air downward as the plane moves forward, generating lifting force to support it in flight. The wing also stabilises the plane's roll (tilt left or right), and the wing-mounted ailerons control rotation about the roll axis.

blog comments powered by Disqus