A prototype for a new aircraft, the Pulse Aircraft, designed to fly at 1,000 mph despite having an engine that doesn’t spin like other planes
The “bullet” airplane that could revolutionize aviation
Passionate aerospace engineer Stefan Linke is leading a project to produce a new kind of airplane that would blow the current limits of the technology out of the water.
The Project Pulse Aerospace concept is a four-seater plane able to fly at up to 1,000mph without a conventional propeller and a two-blade engine. Linke, the founder of a German airframe manufacturer, currently has around $2m of his own money and grants to develop the concept.
Given its unique design, the Pulse aircraft, which was shared on the firm’s website, has not yet secured any funding, or a partner, but Linke has high hopes that interest will grow over time.
“The Pulse aircraft is going to offer speed and agility to an unimaginable level,” Linke told the New York Times. “I never wanted to raise money for this kind of airplane. I see it as something that can change the future of air travel.”
Pulse aircraft looks like a drone but folds into a package the size of a briefcase
The project began in May 2012 and Linke hopes the first flight will take place within two years. Aside from increasing air travel speeds by a thousand percent, the development of the project has a more charitable motive.
“I was extremely close to flight school but everything just got put on hold,” Linke told the Times. “When I saw people dying on planes, I said: ‘I’ve got to do something about this.’”
Designing the design on a laptop, Linke assembled the plane using scratch paper and a ruler. The designers used 3D-printing to create the aluminum body of the aircraft and made a prototype using a design file that used Google SketchUp. However, with the help of a California engineer, Linke assembled the plane into a two-foot box that comes out to the size of a briefcase.
The project has been put on hold but Linke hopes to launch the Pulse Aircraft within the next five years.