Passenger planes of the future could be able to take people directly to their front door, a report suggests today.
Commercial jets could also be made that fly five times the speed of sound - meaning they could fly from London to New York in less than an hour.
Such aircraft could come into construction by the end of the century and would be part of efforts to place the UK at the forefront of future aerospace innovation, a report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers says.
The passenger drop-off idea would use what has been called 'a sort of Ark Royal for the skies'.
Scramjet planes like this one designed by NASA are among the speediest of aircraft
Looking towards 2075 and beyond, the report talked of advances that could be made in aircraft design.
It talks of passenger scramjet planes able to fly at around 4,000mph - five times the speed of sound - and commercial aircraft flying in a V-shaped formation that could to save power by making use of airflow generated by the plane in front, similar to the way migrating birds support one another in the air.
Scramjets - short for supersonic combustion ramjet - contain a 'air-breathing' jet engine, that allows them to combust fuel and decelerate the incoming air to produce speed and thrust.
The fastest current 'air-breathing aircraft' is a scramjet designed by NASA, which reached a velocity of Mach 9.8 - or 7,000mph.
So far, though, these hi-tech aircraft are unable to carry passengers. NASA's record-breaking X-43A aircraft looks more like a missile than a plane. Passenger jets would necessarily be a little hair-raising - and travel at a more 'moderate' speed of 4,000mph.
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