Never-before-seen images reveal China’s ‘green’ supersonic passenger plane that’s set to take to the skies in 2035
- Chinese state media have revealed the sketches of the plane in development
- The prototype is due to conduct its first flight around 2035, an engineer said
- Researchers have made breakthrough achievements in design, it is claimed
- A supersonic plane travels faster than the speed of sound, or 768 miles per hour
Chinese state media have revealed the first sketches of a type of ‘green’ supersonic passenger plane the country is developing.
An engineer claimed that his team had made breakthrough achievements in design of the environmental friendly aircraft.
The prototype of the plane is due to conduct its first flight around 2035, the researcher told state broadcaster CCTV.
Chinese state broadcaster has released the first sketches of a type of ‘green’ supersonic plane the country’s engineers claim to be developing. A prototype is set to complete around 2035
Xu Yue, a deputy chief engineer from China Aeronautical Establishment, said his team had made breakthrough achievements in the design of the environmental friendly aircraft
A supersonic plane is an aircraft that can travel faster than the speed of sound, or 768 miles per hour (1,236 kilometers per hour). This means a flight from London to New York in 4.5 hours or less.
More advanced supersonic planes would be able to travel at speeds up to five times the speed of sound.
The ultra-fast Chinese plane is reportedly being developed by China Aeronautical Establishment, a state-owned aerospace conglomerate.
Xu Yue, a deputy chief engineer from the group, said researchers had mastered several core technologies.
He said the team were capable of giving precise predictions of the sonic boom.
Mr Xu said top scientists had been assigned to help with the development of the Chinese supersonic plane. The project is being carried out by a state-owned aerospace conglomerate
Experts had also managed to come up with a design which could help reduce the resistance of the flight and the impact of the sonic boom, Mr Xu said.
Mr Xu added that the Chinese government had been increasing its budget on the supersonic project and assigned top-notch scientists to help with the development.
‘[I] believe in the near future, a green supersonic civil aircraft developed and built by China itself will fly in the skies over our motherland,’ Mr Xu added.
The engineer did not specify the environmental friendly features of the plane.
China’s leading online travel agency, Ctrip, last year announced its investment in U.S. based supersonic airplane developer Supersonic Boom.
The Colorado-based airplane developer is currently working on a prototype for a passenger plane that would break the sound barrier and could take passengers from London to New York in just 3.5 hours – around half the time it currently takes.
If its full-size 55-seat plane is approved, the first passengers could be travelling at supersonic speeds around the world by 2023, with fares for a one-way ticket just under £2,000.
A fleet of 2,000 supersonic passenger planes could link cities across the globe in the future, according to the plane maker.
A fleet of 2,000 supersonic passenger planes could link cities across the globe in the future, according to Boom Supersonic which is working on a prototype for a passenger plane
China aspires to become an aviation powerhouse on the global stage.
The country unveiled its home-made C919 passenger plane in 2017 to take on Boeing and Airbus, and has just completed its latest mega airport, Beijing Daxing International Airport.
The hub, set to have seven runways in total, dwarfs all Chinese airports in terms of its capacity and is scheduled to open on September 30.
According to Xinhua, it is due to process 72 million passengers, two million tonnes of cargo, as well as 620,000 takeoffs and landings per year by 2025.
While in the long run, the transport hub will boast an annual capacity of 100 million passengers, four million tonnes of cargo as well as 880,000 takeoffs and landings.