Hydrogen tube vehicle for supersonic transport: 7. Experimental vehicle

At Mach 2, the supersonic Concorde reduced travel time from New York to London to 43% of today's subsonic aircraft. However, it was not commercially successful because of issues related to supersonic shock waves: high fuel consumption and the sonic boom. The unexplored phenomenon of aerodynamic tunneling has the potential of enabling efficient, quiet, zero-emissions supersonic transport. A vehicle is transported from terrestrial point A to B via a closed, ambient-pressure tube containing an atmosphere more aerodynamically favorable than air. A predicted speed limit of such a vehicle is Mach 2.8-3.0 in a hydrogen tube, without shock waves. We have commenced a multi-phase project to experimentally measure the power and energy of a 1:16-scale tunneling vehicle. For each of six experimental gases - methane-hydrogen (mixture), methane, carbon dioxide, air, oxygen, and argon - we will measure thrust, power, energy consumption, and propulsive efficiency. This paper concerns the completed first phase, engineering design of the experimental vehicle, a monorail, wheeled tube vehicle that balances with ailerons and uses propeller propulsion.