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From London to Australia in 5 hours? Way cool.

by Iva Skoch (RSS feed) on Feb 5th 2008 at 10:30AM

A UK company, Reaction Engines, introduced exploratory plans for a hypersonic, eco-friendly passenger jet that would make it possible to fly from the UK to Australia in as little as 5 hours, reports The Guardian today. With funding from the European Space Agency, a team of engineers and scientists has come up with the A2, a plane they believe could carry 300 passengers at a top speed of more than 3,000mph.

Reaction Engines has designed an engine that would run on liquid hydrogen, rather than producing vast amounts of carbon emissions it gives off water vapor and nitrous oxide. Another advantage of the design is that while the 132 meter-long A2 is much bigger than conventional jets it would be lighter than a Boeing 747 and could land on current airport runways. There are some drawbacks, too, such as the possibility of damaging the atmosphere, because the plane would fly at around the height of the ozone layer. Also, it won't be great for anyone who suffers from claustrophobia, as it does not have any windows.

Who needs windows if surfing in sunny Bondi Beach becomes a day trip, though?

Filed under: Asia, Europe, Oceania, United Kingdom, Australia, Airlines