- 12 hours ago
What will the planes of the future look like? New generation of panes are promised to be twice faster, more silent and 'greener'. Supersonic planes, travelling faster than the speed of sound failed once. But it turns out, they've been given a second chance. Let's take a look at the supersonic dream and why it might might be our possible reality.
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00:03so you take off from New York Airport and head to London you gain altitude and then you are
00:10sharply pressed into the back of your seat you can feel the plane picking up more and more speed
00:15and then the plane is fine that boom simply means that you've passed the speed of sound
00:22and you're now traveling faster than 761 miles per hour at that speed a trip across the Atlantic
00:29ocean to London takes about five hours by comparison conventional subsonic planes like
00:35the Boeing 747 can cross the ocean in about eight and a half hours right now we have a
00:42non-commercial supersonic aircraft one of the most famous planes is the Lockheed SR 71 it was
00:49as long as a limo and weighed like 10 SUVs this plane holds the world's record for speed in the
00:55air it was able to reach 2,193 miles per hour at that speed it could circle the globe in
01:0310 hours
01:03and it covered our route from New York to London in just one hour and 54 minutes so traveling at
01:11the
01:11speed of sound seems like a great idea sometimes you spend up to three hours a day in a traffic
01:16jam
01:16just to get to work imagine if you could travel between continents in that time the Concorde supersonic
01:23plane was supposed to do it this plane was as long as half a soccer field and had a wingspan
01:29the size
01:30of a basketball court the empty Concorde weighed almost twice as much as a Boeing 737 and it could
01:36carry about 100 passengers the Concorde could go over twice the speed of sound but it required an
01:43incredible amount of fuel the flagship of transatlantic flights the double-decker Boeing 747 burned one gallon
01:51of fuel for 80 miles per passenger Concorde burned one gallon for only 17 miles per passenger given fuel
01:59prices Concorde tickets cost almost five times as much as a regular plane and although it could fly
02:05almost twice as fast it was not allowed to do so it's all about the sonic boom when an airplane
02:13passes the
02:14speed of sound and shock wave appears on its nose and tail these waves merge into one and then reach
02:20the ground and this supersonic plane doesn't just appear at the very moment when the plane gets to
02:25supersonic speed it appears continuously so when the Concorde flew at top speed it made a sound similar to the
02:33constant beating of drums and to feel this level of noise put your ear to the wall and ask your
02:38friend to
02:39start drilling the wall from the other side so naturally Concorde was forbidden to fly faster than
02:45the speed of sound over land and it only used its full power when flying over the ocean when we
02:51travel we
02:52spend a lot of time driving to the airport then we go to check-in go through passport control and
02:58wait for
02:58boarding then we go through passport control in another country pick up our luggage and drive to our
03:04destination it all takes a lot of time and flying at high speed doesn't bring that much change so
03:10Concorde was inefficient expensive and noisy before long supersonic airplanes went on the shelf for
03:17several decades but maybe they'll be back soon arian as2 it's a private supersonic jet in development
03:26it's as long as three school buses and has a wingspan almost like a Concorde it can reach a speed
03:32of
03:32about 925 miles per hour and will be able to cover the distance from new york to los angeles and
03:38back
03:38modern engines have made it more fuel efficient and less noisy but the supersonic boom is still a problem
03:46nasa is developing the x-59 quest experimental aircraft to study how to deal with supersonic waves
03:53the plane is slightly longer than a train car and with a wingspan as long as a limousine it's expected
03:59to
04:00fly at 940 miles per hour at an altitude of 55 000 feet that's 1.5 times higher than conventional
04:07commercial airplanes fly its narrow shape and small wings near the cockpit should prevent sound waves from
04:13appearing and the long distance to the ground should give the sound waves time to slow down engineers
04:19expect the volume of the supersonic boom on the ground to be about 60 decibels that's 1 000 times quieter
04:26than concord and it won't feel like a drill behind a wall but like the noise of a washing machine
04:32if engineers solve the problem of loud noise and allow the planes to fly at supersonic speeds above
04:38the ground they'll be able to fly from new york to los angeles in two and a half hours instead
04:43of six
04:44hours of a regular flight the price of an aircraft like the arian as2 will start at 120 million dollars
04:51that's 12 times more than a cessna cj4 for example which uses less fuel and can take just as many
04:57people on board but the huge airbus a320 has been known to be bought as a private jet for 500
05:04million
05:04dollars so if your time is valuable and you want to spend less time in the air you can buy
05:10yourself
05:10the supersonic plane the next supersonic passenger candidate is the spike s512 supersonic business jet
05:18it's a twin engine airplane almost as long as a boeing 737 with a 58 foot wingspan and it's much
05:25faster than the arian as2 the spike has a top speed of about 1100 miles per hour that's 450 miles
05:33per
05:33hour faster than conventional planes the manufacturers promise that the aircraft can travel from new york to
05:39london in three to four hours new york to tokyo in six hours instead of 12 new york to alaska
05:46in three
05:47hours instead of six and new york to dubai in six and a half hours instead of 12. the v
05:53-shaped wings
05:53and the long narrow fuselage make it possible another important aerodynamic feature is the lack
05:59of portholes not to make passengers sit in the dark there are tv panels all around the interior these
06:06screens will show images from the cameras around the aircraft so you'll see the same view you could see
06:12from an airplane window but the spike can only hold 18 passengers this is where boom technologies
06:18come in their plane is very similar to the concord with its wings and long fuselage it can hold up
06:25to
06:2555 passengers two engines are placed on the wings and one more is in the tail they will propel the
06:31plane
06:32to more than 1100 miles per hour these are turbofan engines like conventional airplanes so they won't
06:39use afterburners and they won't make much noise an afterburner is used in engines to create extra
06:45thrust the fuel may not burn completely in the engine and the exhaust gas can still burn so it's
06:51ignited again and you can see the fire just behind the airplane's engine with engines like that it would
06:57be 25 percent of the cost of maintaining this airplane over the concord a new version of this
07:03plane might be able to carry 68 to 88 passengers boom makers expect ticket prices to be the same as
07:10a
07:10regular business class flight so far supersonic airplanes make too much noise so they can only use
07:18all their power over water considering that there are about 1750 flights every day over the atlantic ocean
07:25alone supersonic planes can save time for travel if you're looking for a plane that will fly completely
07:31silently then you should take a look at electric planes such as the aviation alice it's a private
07:38plane that's equipped with three electric engines it takes off and lands without the noise of fuel
07:43burning engines and doesn't need long runways so airports for private planes can be located right in
07:49the center of the city it would significantly reduce travel time to the airport also
07:54aviation alice is incredibly cheap to maintain two hundred dollars for an hour of flight time
08:00compared to one thousand dollars for the same time in traditional private jets the disadvantages of
08:06this plane are speed and range on a single charge the aviation alice can travel about 620 miles
08:13that's like flying from new york to detroit and its top speed is only 253 miles per hour that's
08:20slower than some sports cars half of all flights in the world are under 500 miles so this electric
08:26plane could be an excellent replacement for giant fuel burning airplanes we just need to set up a
08:32network of airports and charging stations for them it can be done at about 2 000 abandoned airports there
08:39you would board the plane like a bus and it would take you to your destination you're traveling by train
08:44and hear the wheels banging against the tracks but suddenly the train rises and gains altitude none of
08:50the passengers scream in panic because this is a regular thing now well maybe not yet but it might
08:56become our reality anytime soon aka technologies company is developing such a project their goal
09:02is to reduce travel time and make trips more comfortable to travel today you need to get to
09:07the airport spend a few hours there at the check-in and security check and only after that can you
09:13board
09:13the plane when the plane lands you need to go through standard airport procedures again and then get to
09:19the city only after this your trip is over it means you use at least three different types of transport
09:25but with link and fly from akka technologies you can get to your destination without any transfers this
09:31is a train the size of an airbus a320 it's as long as four school buses and can hold about
09:37162 passengers
09:40since it's a train it can run on the subway tracks right to the city center so when you begin
09:44a trip you
09:45just need to get to the nearest subway station once you're on the train it takes you to the nearest
09:50airport and there the fun part begins the train makes a quick stop to get the wings and jet engines
09:55attached so now your train has a wingspan as wide as a soccer field the engines start the train accelerates
10:02and takes off after the flying train lands the wings get detached again and you're on your way downtown
10:08and your destination with no transfers without having to wait for a camp and again you can get
10:15off at any subway station transformer planes that can drive around the city are the distant future
10:20for now this company is developing a simpler solution to reduce airport overloads instead of
10:27having a plane parked right next to the gate passengers will board the plane's fuselage right inside the
10:32airport's building the fuselage will then pull out onto the runway and the wings with the engines as well
10:38as the cockpit with the pilots will be attached here you go the plane is ready for takeoff this
10:44system will make boarding and takeoff 30 minutes faster than before the company plans to make
10:49different types of removable fuselages for short flights they will have a capacity of about 160 people
10:55there will be double deck cabins for long haul and higher capacity flights vip cabins can be
11:01customized like a private jet and if all the seats are removed the cabin can be used as a cargo
11:06plane
11:07link and fly has a special safety system in case the cabin separates from the wings during the flight
11:12three parachutes at the front and three at the back of the cabin will deploy automatically there are also
11:18braking rockets that can help to quickly reduce the speed this way the fuselage will descend slowly and
11:24safely a few seconds before touching the ground the cabin will launch airbags attached to the bottom of
11:30the fuselage for the softest possible landing another option for traveling faster is the airbus pop-up
11:36it's a kind of taxi that can travel by road and by air in the future you can simply order
11:42such a cab
11:42from your tablet phone or even smart glasses and wait for the vehicle to arrive the car itself consists
11:48of a passenger pod half the size of a modern sedan it can hold two people and has a futuristic
11:54design
11:54and interface the second part is the ground module it's the chassis and wheels for driving on
11:59conventional roads you get into the pod and after that artificial intelligence does all the work for
12:05you it steers the car safely and takes you to your destination when you get out of the cab the
12:11pod with
12:11the ground module is sent to the nearest charging station for convenience charging stations will be located
12:17throughout the city so you won't have to wait long for a cab but if your destination is far away
12:23a more
12:24interesting ride awaits you like in the first case you get into a pod on wheels the ground module takes
12:30you to the nearest takeoff site there the capsule gets attached to the air module this thing looks
12:35like a giant drone it hooks the passenger capsule and flies up separating the pod from the ground module
12:42now it's a flying cab you can enjoy the beauty of the city from above when you land on a
12:47special
12:47platform the pod reconnects with the ground module and you proceed to your destination while the air
12:52module charges for the next trip rockets might be another revolution in long distance travel
12:58for now we use them to fly into space but in the future they might completely replace airplanes
13:04let's say you're going from new york to shanghai which is on the other side of the planet the
13:09launching pad of the rocket can be on the water somewhere in lower bay you board a ferry that will
13:14take you to the rocket once you reach it you take your seat along with the other passengers countdown
13:20ignition the rocket takes off and reaches space it's now traveling at about 16 800 miles per hour
13:28when in orbit the launch vehicle undocks from the passenger rocket and heads back to the landing
13:33station there it will be refueled and prepared for the next launch at this time the rocket with the
13:39passengers will use its own engine to fly around earth it re-enters the atmosphere and lands on a
13:45platform on the water near shanghai this flight takes only 39 minutes compared to the 15 hours a
13:52conventional airplane needs but there's a downside to such trips a rocket makes a lot more noise so
13:59landing platforms have to be far away from the cities this will increase travel time the other
14:05problem is g-force standing on the ground you feel 1g when you take off in a normal airplane you
14:11feel
14:12about 1.5 g but when you travel by rocket the g-force you'll experience will be twice as strong
14:18and if it reaches 5g you'll pass out back to the ground in 2010 the number of cars in the
14:24world
14:25exceeded 1 billion and by 2030 this number is expected to double so we need to fight constant traffic jams
14:32on the roads the elevated bus could be a great solution for that this thing doesn't actually look
14:38like a bus it's two lanes wide and can consist of several cars such a bus will be able to
14:43carry up
14:44to 1200 passengers at maximum capacity and it will run on regular roads we'll need to equip the roads
14:50along its route with rails on both sides the elevated bus itself will move at about 6.5 feet above
14:57the road
14:57this is comparable to riding on the second floor of a london double-decker bus and it won't interfere
15:03with traffic on the road regular cars will still be able to drive there the elevated bus will be
15:08all electric and driven by autopilot its roof will have a large area entirely covered by solar panels
15:15on cloudy days it'll be powered directly from the rails passenger boarding will take place at special
15:21stations located above ground for emergencies there will be an inflatable ramp light in the middle of
15:27the bus this way passengers will be able to leave the bus safely some concepts of such a bus even
15:33suggest that the racks with the wheels should be able to rise for example to bypass an obstacle if
15:39some car breaks down right in the way of the elevated bus it'll lift one wheel rack move forward
15:44and lower the wheels back onto the rails then it'll do the same with the rear rack this way the
15:50bus will
15:50be able to move around the city at about 37 miles per hour it's faster than driving in a traffic
15:56jam
15:56another option to avoid traffic is tunnels you would be able to travel through them in your own car
16:02a hypothetical tunnel system under large cities would have multiple entry points you'd drive
16:07your car onto a special platform and the platform would then be lowered down it would accelerate in
16:12the tunnel to 124 miles per hour you'd be able to get to the other end of the city in
16:17just a few
16:18minutes the platform would then lift your car back to the surface and you'd keep driving to your final
16:23destination tunnels can also be the future of traveling between cities first you'd have to arrive at some
16:29sort of a train station there you'd board a passenger pod these pods would hold four to six passengers
16:36then it'd follow the tunnel dock into a pod cluster and connect with the transporter capsule
16:41special pumps would suck the air out of the tunnel and the transporter capsule would move in an almost
16:47complete vacuum theoretically this train would be able to reach speeds that are faster than those
16:52of commercial airplanes and even faster than the speed of sound so you could get from new york city
16:57to los angeles in 3.5 hours compared to six hours by a conventional airplane after reaching its
17:04destination the transporter capsule would open and the passenger pods would arrive at the station
17:10in the future these pods would be able to travel even on conventional roads so you just need to order
17:16such a passenger pod to your home just like a cab this way you'd have the opportunity to cross the
17:21united states from coast to coast without any transfers
17:41there you are a few thousand feet up in the air you're surrounded by walls although it doesn't
17:48quite feel like it right now you're on a plane and if you look down you can see the ocean
17:54above you there's the sky and to your sides the clouds that's right you can see through walls
18:03well you're not a superhero but you can see through these walls that's because they're transparent
18:10still when you look around you can sort of make out what the limits of the walls are
18:15this means that you'll be constantly reminded you're flying on an aircraft you're not floating or
18:21falling a few thousand feet down the scenery is all yours to take in you can even see a bit
18:27of
18:28the earth's curvature from up here our planes are still not transparent to this day they're made from
18:34good old aluminum such walls are trusted and provide us with sturdy security the experience
18:41of flying on a transparent plane would have us feeling like we're the ones flying like eagles
18:47soaring through the sky without the help of any aircraft consider a regular plane aluminum walls
18:54big wings just an overall massive aircraft now see these windows let's widen them a bit
19:02okay now they're wide just like the windows we find on trains and when you look out of them you
19:08can
19:08see a lot more but let's remove the windows all together for now the aircraft is now a huge dark
19:15box on the side of this airplane let's insert one big window that would go from the bottom up and
19:22from
19:22the tail of the aircraft right to the cockpit the same goes to the other side this by itself would
19:28already create a huge panoramic scenery in fact you might need a pair of sunglasses to not be blinded by
19:35the
19:35sun imagine you're going skydiving jumping out of a plane although terrifying provides you with an
19:42unmatched scenery since you're so high up you put your parachute backpack on safety glasses so your eyes
19:49are safe correct skydiving attire and you're ready to go the scenery you would see from a transparent
19:55aircraft would be similar to the one when you jump out of a plane but with none of the terrifying
20:01risks
20:01or feelings plus when you skydive you'll always be on your way down while on a transparent plane
20:08you're able to see the show sitting in a comfortable seat and flying at a steady altitude okay an engine
20:16might be tough to make transparent and the wings too there's a very delicate system in those and we
20:22can't mess with it but let's say that the whole body of the aircraft where the passengers are is
20:28transparent looking around you can't see any of the walls you're at the airport ready to board the
20:35plane you're about to board is transparent you enter the bus a regular kind and it takes you to where
20:42the
20:42plane is the aircraft is breathtaking all by itself the body is transparent but the wings are white and so
20:50is the tail and cockpit before entering you notice that you can make out the entire shape of the plane
20:56not just the visible colored parts that's because even though the plane is a clear object it bends
21:03the light as it passes through it take this glass of water as an example it's on a table and
21:09you can
21:10clearly see it however you're actually only seeing the background of where the glass filled with water
21:16is that's because of light refraction this means your brain is able to deduce the presence and the shape
21:22of the glass because of the distortion just like it does to the plane when you enter even the seats
21:29are transparent so as not to break the trip's immersion still to help people see them better
21:35they're outlined with black paint in fact all the necessary and important objects are
21:41if you're afraid of heights this might not be a fun trip the plane's about to take off and the
21:47struggle
21:48to get a window seat or to try and peek through your sitting neighbor's window is over the whole plane
21:54is
21:56the takeoff begins you can feel and see the plane moving you look down and it feels like the highway
22:03strip is moving faster and faster but it has nothing to do with the strip it's the plane that's moving
22:09suddenly you're off the ground your heart starts beating a bit faster you're excited you're thousands
22:16of feet up in the air and you can see absolutely everything birds that are flying at the same altitude
22:22as planes might have difficulty seeing the plane and not only birds but other pilots too if most of
22:29the plane's body is transparent who's to say pilots will be able to see it so far up in the
22:35air they'll
22:36have to rely on communication and their radars more work for the people down there at the air traffic control
22:42stations what if instead of fully transparent walls or even translucent there are displays replacing
22:50aluminum walls and windows firstly this means the aircraft would weigh less than regular ones
22:56which means less fuel to move it might pose a concern as to whether they can handle the pressure
23:02so better and improved technology would probably need to be developed it might become a bit more
23:09aerodynamic too since any interruption in the surface creates drag
23:15with displays instead of windows you could be flying above anywhere yet you'd be able to choose
23:21the place where you want to be in take this you're flying across the ocean at noon on your private
23:27jet
23:27it's a very beautiful sight but you've seen it a dozen times it's not your first rodeo with a
23:34transparent plane you feel like you want to be in paris right now and since the jet is yours you
23:40call the
23:40shots you press a switch choose a location and you're right in the center of paris overlooking
23:46the eiffel tower okay but now you want to watch your favorite tv show you can just grab your remote
23:53and press play now your windows are just like a big lcd screen playing whatever show you like since
24:00their displays your jet might even have software that allows you to do anything you'd normally do on
24:05a computer you catch your flight at 1 p.m but you have an important meeting at 2 p.m
24:10on this plane
24:12that's not a problem you can just open up a conference app on your wall display set up a
24:17professional background and you're good to go and with a good pair of earbuds the noise the plane makes
24:23while flying will be barely noticeable it's like you're at an office an office that's a few thousand
24:29feet up in the air and moving at incredible speeds and who knows maybe in the distant future these
24:36transparent jets and planes won't only become real but we'll also be able to choose when they become
24:42visible or not with the press of a button what about transparent cars those can already be made there's a
24:50company that made an acrylic car they made it to show off some security features inside the car
24:55and it worked out perfectly the outside of the vehicle was fully transparent and you were able
25:02to see the engine security features airbags the seats and the rest of the car's components
25:10if you rent a glass house made specifically in one of those places to immerse people in nature
25:15you can experience incredible scenery just as beautiful as you would on a transparent plane
25:21in some of these places the unique views of the night sky are priceless they also blend in the
25:27environment keeping the scenery around it almost untouched you know those crystal clear lakes like moraine
25:34lake in canada or blue lake in new zealand which is the clearest lake in the whole world by the
25:39way
25:39making for absolutely breathtaking views a kayak ride in them sounds about right but what about a transparent
25:48kayak they are very much real even today with them you're able to see everything underneath you
25:55sitting on such a kayak looking down you're able to realize just how crystal clear this water actually
26:02is you can make out every tiny detail underwater you can see the fish clearly every pebble every rock
26:10even the sand is crystal clear