Aircraft concept shows a hypersonic vehicle for passengers
boeing.com
boeing.com
Further links here explaining the theory behind the hypersonic engine and hinting the main reason for Boeing producing this concept art (which doesn't have any theoretical specs to back it up) is to draw a bit more attention to its hypersonic military projects which might be a very early starting point for the development of big hypersonic passenger aircraft, maybe, if the economics ever look remotely sane. https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a21948533/boeing- https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/boeing-unveils-lo...
"the skin of the aircraft (probably made of titanium) gets as hot as 12,000 degrees F during flight because of air friction."
First, there's no material on earth that could sustain that kind of heat. Titanium has a melting point at 3,000 degrees F. Tungsten about 6,000 degrees F. Other composites, maybe a bit more. But nothing at 12,000 degrees F.
Second, the only plane that somehow had regular service at that kind of speeds was the SR-71. It was indeed made of titanium. The front of the plane had to sustain a temperature of over 600 degrees F, and it was only for short periods of time. Nothing close to 12,000 degrees F and was already a feat.
Third, titanium is extremely hard to work with. Ask the SR-71 guys. Tools had to be made especially to build that plane, for hundreds times more than regular tools. They break down often and you need to replace them. Nothing to sustain a production line.
It's a concept that is 20-30 years off. Neat, but not real yet.
Who knows if we'll ever be flying anything like this to carry passengers. If it was more profitable than flying what are essentially planes from the 1950's, someone would have already turned these triangular "hypersonic" planes into a reality and made a fortune.