Supersonic nuclear-powered plane

 Supersonic nuclear-powered plane would fly from London to New York in 80 minutes

The concept of a nuclear-powered supersonic aircraft is becoming more and more popular among experts, and according to their calculations, it would drastically reduce the time it takes to travel from one distant destination to another. For example, with this aircraft, it would take just 80 minutes to get from London to New York, which is less time than a football match.   

The Hyper Sting as the next generation of air travel.

It has capacity for 170 passengers.

It would travel at a speed of 4,287 km/h (2,664 mph).                  

Let’s put that into perspective. This concept for a supersonic nuclear-powered plane would fly from London to New York in just 80 minutes. The vision of Barcelona-based designer, Oscar Viñals, The Hyper Sting would travel at a speed of 4,287 km/h (2,664 mph). That's more than three times the speed of sound and almost twice the speed of the Concorde. Simply put, it would reduce the transatlantic flight by up to five times. It’s being hailed as the potential next generation of air travel, but it’s not the first foray into supersonic passenger air travel. Viñales is the designer behind other major high-speed flight projects, including the Sky Whale and the Big Bird. It would fly 170 passengers within its 328ft (100m) interior – that’s 100ft (30m) longer than the Concorde. Plus its wingspan of 169ft (52m) dwarfs Concorde’s 85ft (26m).

Concorde was the the world’s last commercial supersonic jet and was retired in 2003. "The fuselage would be shaped like a 'big stab' with a very sharp 'nose,'" says Viñales. According to him, it would have the function of controlling the front air flow, in order to redistribute it through the central part and over the wings. The design’s name comes from the shape of the aircraft, as Viñals explains. Speed ​​and power are paramount in the designer's vision. It has two ramjet engines, powered by a small but powerful nuclear reactor to propel the jet to its incredible speed. This innovative system will enable Mach 3,5 speed capability.

While other concept planes favour style and eco-credentials, speed and power are most important in Viñals’ vision. So how does a nuclear-powered plane actually work? It has two ramjet engines, powered by a small, but mighty nuclear reactor to propel the jet to its unbelievable speeds. However, for the moment it it set to remain a theoretical concept because the cold-fusion nuclear reactor needed doesn’t exist yet. This innovative system would enable a Mach 3.5 capability. Mach is the ratio of the speed of a body to the speed of sound. Mach 1 is the speed of sound and Mach 3 is thrice the speed of sound.

Mach 3.5 is enough to power these two ramjet engines or four next-gen hybrid turbojets. “Concorde was a brilliant piece of machinery, a noble experiment, but it put too many emissions in the environment, too much noise into our communities, and was too expensive to operate,” Viñals said. “Supersonic flights will return, but in this case due to some very innovative systems, like the cold fusion reactor, the date of a possible production, would be over 2030 and the cost would not be cheap.”

“Today, there are some projects for a new era of supersonic flights from different private and public initiatives, some of those are well underway and could become in a few years a real concept. The Concorde was the last commercial supersonic aircraft in the world and was "retired" in 2003.