Chinese scientists have tested a potentially revolutionary hypersonic jumbo jet that’d fly from New York to London in 45 minutes

Chinese scientists are working on a hypersonic aircraft that could fly from New York to London in just 45 minutes.

It’s been over twenty years since the final Concorde flight, bringing an end to a period that looked set to revolutionize air travel.

But now, scientists may have found something to improve on the Concorde.

Namely, we’re talking about an aircraft that can fly almost three times as fast.

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The way Chinese scientists want to cut down flying time from New York to London

In their latest test, they were able to reach a speed of Mach 6.56, over six times the speed of sound.

By way of comparison, the Concorde’s maximum cruising speed was Mach 2.04 – or 2,179km/h.

There are other Chinese scientists that are trying to achieve even faster speeds, namely Mach 16.

But the difference is this isn’t theoretical, as the research institute behind the Mach 6.56 aircraft has already completed its first test in the Gobi desert.

The project’s lead researcher, Cui Kai, from the Institute of Mechanics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said part of the reason why they conducted the hypersonic test was to ‘silence’ the critics.

“At the time, everyone thought it was a crazy idea,” Cui said.

“We faced almost universal doubt. Fortunately, we chose to persevere.”

This aircraft could cut down travel time from New York to London in less than an hour.

It sounds far-fetched but Cui is convinced that, realistically, a production model that’s capable of completing the same journey in two or three hours is feasible.

What’s going on with supersonic and hypersonic aircraft?

There are several reasons why we haven’t seen supersonic flights since Concorde.

When an aircraft exceeds the speed of sound it creates a sonic boom, and this isn’t just annoying, it is also potentially illegal.

Several countries have legislation in place that de-facto bans sonic booms, and therefore supersonic flights in their air space.

NASA is working on a solution to the noise problem with its supersonic aircraft known as the X-59.

Cost is another huge factor.

Concorde was expensive, and yet both British Airways and Air France, the two airlines involved in the project, struggled to make it profitable.

It’s a shame because the demise of Concorde means that traveling across the Atlantic today is slower than it was in the 1970s when flying supersonic became a thing.

And it’s difficult to think of another means of transport that’s slower today than it was 50 years ago.