FLYING from Paris to New-York in 1.5 hours at Mach 4 !

This is the brand new project being designed by EADS, and supported by Japan as well as the French DGAC (Direction Générale de l’Aviation Civile – FAA or CAA equivalent). The European consortium has just unveiled its ZEHST project as the Paris Air Show 2011 is opening. ZEHST stands for Zero Emission Hypersonic Transportation.

This aircraft would be both a commercial airplane, and a rocket. It could cruise at « flight level 1056 » i.e. 20 miles or 32 kilometers above the mean sea level… The ZEHST specifications feature a speed of Mach 4 but according to the video below, it might reach Mach 4.5 i.e. 5,500 km/h or 3,000 kts through the stratosphere. It would use two independent turbojets for taking off, then it would gain speed thanks to two cryogenic rocket engines, finally two ramjets would propell the aircraft to hypersonic speeds.

The ZEHST is supposed to pollute far less than the Concorde as it would have a main cruise stage in the stratospheric layers, and according to EADS, its carbon footprint should be very low. There could between 60 and 100 passengers on board who could join Tokyo from Paris in 2.5 hours instead of 11.5, and New-York in 1.5 hours instead of 8! The prototype is expected to fly by 2020, and the first passengers might enjoy stratospheric flights around 2050.

Watch the video:

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Brand new drone in China

The V750 is a brand new unmanned helicopter designed by Qingdao Haili. It successfully completed its maiden flight in Shandong province three weeks ago.

This UAV has a load capacity of more than 77 kg. It can reach more than 160 km/h, and it can be remote-controlled from up to 153 kilometers away. The V750 drone could be used for ISR purpose. With a weight of 100 kg, it is deemed to be the largest drone in China as it could be as large as the American MQ-8 « Fire Scout ».

Watch the video (in Chinese):

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ASTOUNDING and FUNNY – Flying things… and more!

You can watch more video about flying things HERE >>>>>
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Oustanding views from homemade spacecraft!

This video features an American family that managed to send a balloon into space – up to 100,000 feet – and retrieve its camera which shot outstanding views from the upper stratosphere. Special thanks to Xavier (http://passiondesavions.blogspot.com) who provided the link to this amazing footage:

Homemade Spacecraft from Luke Geissbuhler on Vimeo.

Video from a camera attached to a weather balloon that rose into the
upper stratosphere and recorded the blackness of space.

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X3 concept – experimental compound helicopter

The Eurocopter X3 concept is a High-speed long-range Hybrid Helicopter (H3 concept) which flies up to 220 knots or 410 km/h. Special thanks to Xavier – http://passiondesavions.blogspot.com webmaster – who stumbled upon this French-subtitled video:

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