Development
The vehicle is intended to have about 12,430 miles (20,000 km) range and good subsonic and supersonic fuel efficiency, thus avoiding the problems inherent in earlier supersonic aircraft. The top speed is projected to be Mach 5+. It calls for the use of liquid hydrogen as a fuel, which has twice the specific impulse of kerosene, and can be used to cool the vehicle and the air entering the engines via a precooler.
| “ | Our work shows that it is possible technically; now it's up to the world to decide if it wants it. | ” |
|
— Alan Bond, managing director of Reaction Engines Limited |
The developers say it would be able to fly from Brussels to Sydney in about 4.6 hours, compared to around a complete day of travel with normal aircraft. The cost of a ticket is intended to be roughly business class level.
Read more about this topic: Reaction Engines A2
Famous quotes containing the word development:
“Such condition of suspended judgment indeed, in its more genial development and under felicitous culture, is but the expectation, the receptivity, of the faithful scholar, determined not to foreclose what is still a question—the “philosophic temper,” in short, for which a survival of query will be still the salt of truth, even in the most absolutely ascertained knowledge.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)
“Understanding child development takes the emphasis away from the child’s character—looking at the child as good or bad. The emphasis is put on behavior as communication. Discipline is thus seen as problem-solving. The child is helped to learn a more acceptable manner of communication.”
—Ellen Galinsky (20th century)