By By Paul Wallis Aug 9, 2010 in Technology A huge new airliner design is attracting a lot of attention around the world. The British Reaction Engines A2 is a new concept in air travel. These aircraft are bigger than an Airbus, lighter than a 747, and about 5 times faster. Liquid hydrogen engines are new as a viable proposition for big commercial aircraft. The fuel costs of airliners are a continual curse for airlines, and the power liquid hydrogen provides also means better performance. Interestingly, the planned flight performance is also designed to deal with noise pollution, as well as navigational issues. The A2 has a subsonic takeoff over Europe, with a flight path over the poles at supersonic speeds. It then flies across the Pacific to Sydney. There’s no information regarding flight altitudes, but some of the pictures indicate very high altitudes, which would also reduce atmospheric resistance and improve fuel economy. The non delta wing shape indicates the A2 isn’t a relative of Concorde in its flight dynamics. The wings are swept very like fighter wings. There’s a very long tail section and a tail with no fins. The economics are looking good for the A2. Current figures indicate a “business class” fare would be a working proposition. The A2 is expected to cost a lot of money, but with an Airbus sized load of people, it wouldn’t take long to cover production and operational overheads. The A2 is the latest in a general rethink of global air travel. The long arduous journeys are almost as long as the airport waiting times, and the idea of big supersonic transcontinental aircraft is now very much part of the new design concepts. There are possible problems with the mix of super fast giant airliners sharing the sky with much slower aircraft, but since the A2 is apparently designed to fly at much higher altitudes for most of its flights, the only real issues would be at takeoff and landing, at which points the A2 flies at normal airspeeds. The A2 , called a "hypersonic" airliner, looks very like an extended X15 test plane. There are no windows, because of design issues. It’s extremely tapered, with special heat exchange engines to deal with the very high speeds generated by the liquid hydrogen powered supersonic engines. Despite its size, the A2 can land on conventional jumbo airfields.Liquid hydrogen engines are new as a viable proposition for big commercial aircraft. The fuel costs of airliners are a continual curse for airlines, and the power liquid hydrogen provides also means better performance.Interestingly, the planned flight performance is also designed to deal with noise pollution, as well as navigational issues. The A2 has a subsonic takeoff over Europe, with a flight path over the poles at supersonic speeds. It then flies across the Pacific to Sydney.There’s no information regarding flight altitudes, but some of the pictures indicate very high altitudes, which would also reduce atmospheric resistance and improve fuel economy. The non delta wing shape indicates the A2 isn’t a relative of Concorde in its flight dynamics. The wings are swept very like fighter wings. There’s a very long tail section and a tail with no fins.The economics are looking good for the A2. Current figures indicate a “business class” fare would be a working proposition. The A2 is expected to cost a lot of money, but with an Airbus sized load of people, it wouldn’t take long to cover production and operational overheads.The A2 is the latest in a general rethink of global air travel. The long arduous journeys are almost as long as the airport waiting times, and the idea of big supersonic transcontinental aircraft is now very much part of the new design concepts.There are possible problems with the mix of super fast giant airliners sharing the sky with much slower aircraft, but since the A2 is apparently designed to fly at much higher altitudes for most of its flights, the only real issues would be at takeoff and landing, at which points the A2 flies at normal airspeeds. More about Supersonic airliner, Reaction engines, Mach aircraft More news from supersonic airliner reaction engines mach aircraft