Stratolaunch, the company of American billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen, has news for us. In the Californian desert, in complete peace, they built the largest plane that will fly into space. As befits a billionaire. This huge airship was taken for its first 'walk-through' last Wednesday and it looks, well, megalomaniacal.
the plane
Experienced travelers are surprised by few things. They may even find a flight without a slight shaking from turbulence to be boring, and they already know the introductory warnings by heart. In short: nothing surprises them anymore. But airplanes have their secrets. Read about things on airplanes you didn't know existed.
70 years have passed since the first flight that broke the sound barrier. That's when Charles Yeager piloted the Bell X-1 and made history for all time. Now, after so many years, NASA, in collaboration with Lockheed Martin, is planning a supersonic passenger plane. What is the thing that worries their engineers the most or scratching their brains? Let's see.
When traveling by plane, we have to take into account quite a few safety conditions, one of which is turning off your mobile phone. The reasons for X-rays and the rest of the procedures are pretty obvious, so we rarely ask about them. What about turning off the mobile phone or switch to airplane mode? Are you wondering why it is needed?
Do you still remember the movie Back to the Future, where Doc Brown flies his car back (or forward) in time? That car was a DeLorean DMC-12. Why are we telling you this? Because the DeLorean company once again took care of a quick jump into the future. This time with the DR-7 vessel, whose characteristics resemble a Formula 1 racing car. It's hard to imagine what it will look like when the traffic is whizzing by above our heads, but it seems that we'll have to get used to the idea quickly.
Sweden's Maria Pettersson does the job that almost every man dreams of. At the same time, she looks like she stepped straight out of a man's dream. Is this the most beautiful female pilot in the world?
Russians are undoubtedly a nation that can always surprise. And the Russian company Private Jet Studio makes you look rich on Instagram. So if you really can't afford a private plane, you can "fake" it without worry.
In the Russian company Hoversurf, where they make flying vehicles, they say that our freedom is most important to them. In their context, freedom means flying. And if we ever look up at the sky and see how the birds carefreely abandon themselves to the wind, it's easier to imagine freedom, isn't it?
Anyone who has ever flown in economy class on a larger airliner has thought enviously and dreamily of the comfortable seats they just passed while walking towards their seat. First class. Your own comfortable space, the best service, actually a small living room at 10,000 meters above sea level. Let us show you how they imagine flying in first class with Emirates airline.
The 1985 film Back to the Future featured “footage from the future” that was pretty real at times, don't you think? Remember flying cars? Well, for now we can't see them in the sky, but soon you will be able to order a taxi service that will take you to the desired address by air. This time, Uber and Nasa joined forces and presented UberAIR, which is expected to fly in 2020.
The companies Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Siemens have combined their knowledge and together they will create a completely new aircraft engine E-fan X. It is a hybrid-electric aircraft engine system that should be ready by 2020. After 'ground' tests the real one will follow, in the air, when one of the four conventional turbine engines will be replaced by an electric one.
Aerion and Lockheed Martin are collaborating on a very interesting project called AS2. Together, they will make the world's first supersonic business-luxury plane, which will transport those five-somethings who can afford it at high speed. The world will become even smaller for them, and the travel time will be significantly shorter.