The aircraft "SKYLON" test which can arrive in the back side of the earth in 4 hours will be implemented in 2019

Passenger aircraft flying at speeds of 5 times the speed of sound · Mach 5 or more and reaching the other side of the earth in just 4 hoursSKYLON"Hybrid engine equipped with innovative technology that makes it possible"SABRE"Is being developed, and in 2019 it is planned that a flight test will be carried out on actual equipment.

This Plane Will Be Able To Fly Anywhere In The World In 4 Hours | Business Insider
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/reaction-engines-tests-new-cooling-system-2014-12

The development of SKYLON is being promoted by research and development institutions based in the UKReaction EnginesA company. At the company, a new type aircraft engine with a mechanism of both conventional jet engines and rocket engines "SABRE(Synergetic Air - Breathing Rocket Engine) "for 20 years, and in 2019 a test flight of the aircraft actually equipped with SABRE engine is planned.


SKYLON equipped with the SABRE engine, burning fuel with oxygen in the air during low-speed flight less than Mach 5.4 "Breathing modeFlying in. From there it will burn liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen like a rocket "Rocket mode"To accelerate further to reach the orbit of spaceOrbital speedIt is a space plane that allows you to reach. When SKYLON is realized, it is expected to realize a space rocket that can be operated at remarkably lower cost than before, and an ultra-high-speed airliner that can arrive at the back of the earth in just 4 hours.


Here is CG showing the concept of SABRE engine. The main body has a slightly curved shape, and a stepped "Pre-cooler"Is a part that plays a major role in realizing the SABRE engine.


Videos containing SABRE engines and SKYLON's flight images are also released on YouTube and you can see actual motion images and concepts.

Alan Bond Interview - (Reaction Engines Ltd) - YouTube


The experimental stage SABRE engine is here. It is about a little smaller jet engine, but one of the features is that it is not fitted with a huge "fan" that is often installed in front of the engine.


SKYLON and SABER engine in flight in "breathing mode". Because the super high speed of Mach 5 (approximately 6000 km / h), compressed air is heated to a temperature exceeding 1000 degrees and can not be taken into the engine as it is. To solve the problem, the mechanism of "pre-cooler" using liquid helium was developed. Ultra high temperature air is cooled to minus 150 degrees at the moment of 0.01 second by the precooler and taken into the engine.


In the pre-cooler, numerous thin pipes through which liquid helium passes are designed and designed to effectively absorb the heat in the air. Its heat exchange efficiency is tremendous, 400 megawatts. In the movie, hot air enters from the left, making a vortex around the pipe, you can see the motion image being cooled.


A movie showing the mechanism by which the SABER engine operates in each mode is also made public, and the concept is well understood.

SABRE Cycle 2 on Vimeo


This SABRE engine uses the compressed air as it is for combustionScramjet engineIt is a different mechanism. It is regarded as a merit of SABRE engine that operation can be expected at lower cost than before.

SKYLON is being developed as an unmanned aircraft capable of flying without a pilot. In Reaction Engines, SABRE and SKYLON realize that it is possible to deliver goods to outer space with less than 1/10 of the conventional one. In addition, it says that the amount of money necessary to get on a passenger plane reaching the back of the earth in just 4 hours is said to be "between the first class and the business class", and when will this model be put into practical use , Expectation is likely to gather.