A
Mach 5 civil transport aircraft designed by a UK team is leading a pack
of three concepts undergoing preliminary studies for the three-year, €7
million ($9 million) European hypersonic research project, Long Term
Advanced Propulsion Concepts and Technologies (LAPCAT). With
€4 million from the European Commission and the rest from industry,
LAPCAT aims to develop a vehicle capable of travelling from Europe to
Australia in 2-4h. To fulfill t...
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An aircraft capable of flying five times the speed of sound and
reaching Sydney in between two and four hours from Brussels is the
leading design in a €7 million European research project to find a
hypersonic civilian airliner replacement to the supersonic Concorde.
A
Mach 5 civil transport aircraft designed by a UK team is leading a pack
of three concepts undergoing preliminary studies for the three-year, €7
million ($9 million) European hypersonic research project, Long Term
Advanced Propulsion Concepts and Technologies (LAPCAT).
With
€4 million from the European Commission and the rest from industry,
LAPCAT aims to develop a vehicle capable of travelling from Europe to
Australia in 2-4h.
To fulfill this mission requires a hypersonic aircraft with
near antipodal range (20,000 km). To achieve the range requirement liquid
hydrogen fuel is mandatory since the specific calorific energy of hydrocarbon
fuels is too low. Reaction Engines have conceived the Scimitar precooled engine concept which exploits the
unique thermodynamic properties of liquid hydrogen. This engine is capable of
sustained Mach 5 flight whilst achieving an effective exhaust velocity of order
40,900 m/s. In addition the engine has a second operating mode that features a
high bypass airflow permitting efficient subsonic flight and moderate takeoff
noise.
