Hypersonic Jets getting closer to reality

This is moving along. How soon until we get 2 hour trips to Sydney from New York? Probably about fifteen to twenty years.

In September, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) completed 10 months' testing of a sub-scale combustor for a hydrocarbon-powered, dual-mode ramjet engine designed to operate over a wide range of Mach-number speeds -- that is, multiples of the speed of sound.

Using JP-7 jet fuel, PWR ran the combustor successfully at a variety of Mach numbers from Mach 2.5 to Mach 6.0, demonstrating "desired operability and performance" at each speed, the company said.

"No engine, to our knowledge, has (previously) demonstrated a range from as low as 2.5 to a high of 6.0," said Michel McKeon, PWR's hypersonics and advanced programs manager. "The FaCET (Falcon Combined-Cycle Engine Technology) engine demonstrated a very wide Mach range, with high performance. This really shows the technology lends itself to application for a variety of different things."