An Airbus design for a successor to Concorde will fly at 4.5 times the speed of sound and get passengers from London to New York in one hour flat.
The Concorde 2 would take off vertically and fly at speeds of 3,425 miles per hour – three times faster than the original Concorde, according to a video by Patent Yogi.
Described as “the highest rollercoaster in the world”, the aircraft would rely on three different types of engine, each fuelled by different forms of hydrogen.
Two turbo jets would propel the plane into the air in a vertical take-off. A rocket motor would then accelerate it through the sound barrier, taking it to 35,000m altitude. Finally wing-mounted ramjets would push the Concorde 2 to its final cruising speed of Mach 4.5.
The designs, based on a patent awarded to Airbus in July, are of a sleek, futuristic aircraft that look more at home in a Hollywood sci-fi than over the skies of London.
But the smooth bubble-shaped outline will also make the aircraft quieter, cutting down the volume of the infamous sonic boom as the plane breaches the sound barrier.
The hypersonic jet might not not only cut down trans-Atlantic journey times - it could also potentially cross the Pacific from LA to Tokyo in just three hours.
However not all its specifications improve on the original Concorde. It will only carry 20 passengers – sitting in hammocks according to the video - and the cost of a ticket could burn a hole in your pocket.
“In the case of civil applications, the market envisaged is principally that of business travel and VIP passengers, who require transcontinental return journeys within one day,” the patent states, according to the Daily Mail.
Airbus says the jet could also be used for military purposes, transporting soldiers at high speed, creating the ultimate rapid-reaction force.
