An astonishing new plane could cut the time of transatlantic flights by more than five times, claims Spanish designer Oscar Viñals. The latest in a series of futuristic designs going viral, Oscar’s images show a super streamlined jet – dubbed the Hyper Sting – soaring through the sky, transporting travellers from place to place in record time.
The idea uses a combination of theoretical cold fusion nuclear systems and innovative Mach 3.5 technology. Mach is the ratio of the speed of a body to the speed of sound – Mach 1 is the speed of sound, Mach 2 is twice the speed of sound, and so on. The plane would shoot through airspace at almost 2,500mph – almost five times the current average speed of commercial passenger planes that take up to eight hours to complete the journey from London to New York. If plans for the jet came to fruition, it would take just 80 minutes to complete the popular transatlantic route.
Concorde, the last supersonic commercial carrier, was powered by four Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 turbojets and completed the popular route in a record two hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds. It was seen as the ultimate development in aviation and enabled business trips to be condensed into a matter of days – even, controversially, hours – before the rise of web chat technology.
Concorde’s rule of the skies came to an end after many decades of operation when it was decommissioned in 2003, which contributed to a lack of demand due to rising costs; and the tragic case of the fatal July 2000 crash.
The Hyper Sting design dwarfs Concorde, measuring 328 feet – over 100 feet longer than the popular Boeing 747-400 currently used by many airlines around the world. With a wingspan of 169 feet, it would no doubt be a force to be reckoned with on the runways of Heathrow and beyond as it shuttles up to 170 passengers around.
While Oscar’s designs are currently theoretical, he explains that long-haul flight times are undoubtedly set to shorten as new advances in aviation technology enter the commercial market. Such innovative technology is currently reserved for the military – the now-retired North American X-15 reached a mind-blowing speed of 4,520 miles per hour (Mach 6.7) over half a century ago.
While the Barcelona-based designer believes the concept is a vision of the not-too-distant future, there are questions about the production costs required to create such a jet, something that ultimately led to the downfall of Concorde.
Oscar’s vision is the latest in a string of unique aviation designs – just recently, a concept for a flying hotel that never lands went viral, thanks to Hashem Al-Ghaili’s reimagining of Tony Holmsten’s concept.
Where the future of air travel will take us in a climate-conscious, time-poor world is yet to be seen – but we’re sure there are lots more reimaginings of the way we currently travel yet to come.
You can see more of Oscar Viñals' futuristic designs on his portfolio here.