There’s a newly proposed concept for an airplane that holds 5,000 people, is nuclear-powered, and never needs to land. It’s flooding social media, news sites, and is utterly ridiculous.
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Ridiculous Design
A video was released on Youtube (see link below) of an absolutely ridiculous airplane. Boasted, among its many enviable features, the SkyHotel (such a clever name) is more of a cruise ship in the sky than a hotel. The design postulates that it would hold 5,000 passengers, feature a gym, observation tower, restaurants, bedrooms – anything a cruise ship would have.
Just… watch the video if you haven’t already seen this atrocity.
When I was a very young aviation geek, my imagination would wander to these types of designs. One, in particular, my mother retained for a very long time, the Super Plane (an equally clever title though in my defense, I was about seven years old at the time.)
There is nearly no aspect of the plane that accounts for aerodynamics. For example, the Observation tower, a glass-encased ring at the tail would not likely fly. It highlights exterior glass elevators – that would be fun at 300-500 knots and not utterly terrifying, right? There seems to be no general understanding of the amount of thrust required (just make row after row turbine jet engines, that should do the trick), nor the number of wheels needed to absorb the weight of such a crazy contraption upon landing.
The creator of the video didn’t even retract the gear at cruise – that should make for a smooth ride.
It would be a nuclear-powered aircraft to get over the pesky issue of fuel and refueling. No problem.
Who Would Ever Want This?
It should be clear that this is not an aircraft any manufacturer is even casually considering. Without addressing the ideal whimsy (there’s nothing wrong with a little imagination) my wife viewed it and questioned the purpose. The sky isn’t a destination, and while it would be wonderful to dance among the clouds and wake up over a distant continent in a proper bed, even the longest cruises have stops along the way and ultimately reach destinations.
No one, even aviation geeks like me, would want a flight that never lands. Above the clouds, the view would be rather boring for vast swaths of the trip, and of course, there would be turbulence, restocking of food and drink, and the general need and desire to return to daily life.
Even if it were to follow a cruise schedule (10-14 nights), I can’t find the advantage.
The One Worthwhile Thought
There is one worthwhile thought to come from this absurd design. We have nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers, why couldn’t we use nuclear energy for the propulsion of a large aircraft (or spacecraft?) The concern about the ability to control a nuclear reactor on a vessel with people aboard has already been answered, so why not airplanes?
If nuclear-powered flight was a possibility, I could see the practical application for long, slow flights to far-flung regions of the world but more as a means to an end. Without the concern of fuel burn and a reduction of carbon emissions, leisure travelers could span longer distances for less money carrying a larger volume of passengers with less time-sensitive concerns.
Space travel, where propulsion is needed for a longer duration over a vast distance would make more sense as a practical application of the technology.
Conclusion
I’ve seen this absurd design pushed at me from a number of sources all week long and it’s become more than an annoyance just because of how little the design is based in fact. That said, a benefit could be some sort of rethinking if there are better or other ways to fly. Faster-than-sound flight was the last true challenge to the basic model of commercial flight that’s been with us since the 1960s. Maybe this ridiculous design will lead to someone creating something truly inspiring, but if so, perhaps they will consider the real-world issues such as aerodynamics or a retractable landing gear.
What do you think? Have you seen this ridiculous model passed around this week? What do you think about nuclear flight?
Yeah. We might not be alive to see it but i do not think something like depicted in elysium is low probability. A hotel in space for the rich with a dystopian earth left to inflighting idiots.
Emirates just placed an option for 30 aircraft.
In the 60s, the Soviets actually did test a heavily modified Tu-95 bear bomber with a submarine nuclear reactor powering the props. It was unreliable and very, very heavy but the biggest problem was the potential disaster any sort of crash would end up being. Long story short it is technically feasible but unless we make some breakthroughs in reactor design the weight of the reactor and the limits on thrust possible from existing turbine tech makes it impractical even if we ignore the safety concerns.
Don’t forget the b36 modified to have a reactor onboard. Didn’t work for weight and safety reasons
This is literally from some guy on reddit’s worldbuilding sub. They made the video for fun, as a hobby. It is not supposed to be a viable design. Frankly it’s hilarious to see blogs/news outlets running with it like it came from Boeing or Airbus. It’s just the fruits of some person’s hobby LOL
Please, PLEASE have some credibility and don’t further this garbage. Stop giving that twit page views. For crying out loud.
The usa did and the soviets did look into nuclear powered aircraft. Safety and weight considerations made them drop the plan.
For space flight, it may be feasible, except for the concern that any issue at launch would cause radioactive materials to spread over a large area. So safety again.
Regarding your space flight comment, I will note that nuclear power has been used for space travel for quite some time (50+ years)
https://www.nei.org/news/2021/nuclear-taking-us-faster-and-farther-into-space
Nope!!! My Passage is booked on the Big Bus, the Cyclops, from Coyote Bus Line with Joseph Bologna and Stockard Channing, I like my nuclear reactors, bowling alleys, paino bars, and swimming pools traveling on the ground at 70 miles oer hour like God intended!!!,