
Airbus patented a jet that could fly from London to New York in 1 hour - tilt
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/airbus-just-patented-a-jet-that-can-fly-from-london-to-new-york-in-1-hour-2015-7
======
drallison
The patent describes a vehicle that seems more of a concept description than a
real invention. Clearly the patent office disagreed. The primary claim is:

1\. An air vehicle including a fuselage (F), a gothic delta wing (A)
distributed on either side of the fuselage, and a system of motors (TB1, TB2,
ST1, ST2, Mf) able to propel the air vehicle, wherein: the fuselage contains a
tank (Rv) of hydrogen, wherein the hydrogen is liquid or in the state of
slush, and one or more liquid oxygen tanks (RO1, RO2); the gothic delta wing
(A) has a flat upper surface and a flat lower surface, and a wing root which
starts roughly in an area where a forward part of the fuselage broadens; a fin
(a1, a2) is attached to each outer end of the trailing edge of the delta wing
using a cylindrical part the axis of which is parallel to a longitudinal axis
of the fuselage, where each fin consists of two roughly identical trapezoid-
shaped elements attached to the cylindrical part and located in the same
plane, on either side of the cylindrical part, wherein each cylindrical part
is able to rotate around its axis such that both trapezoid-shaped elements
which are attached to the cylindrical part are positioned either in a plane
parallel to the plane of the gothic delta wing, or in a plane perpendicular to
the gothic delta wing; and the system of motors includes at least one turbojet
(TB1, TB2) positioned in a forward portion of the fuselage and able to be
retracted into the fuselage, at least one fixed-geometry ramjet (ST1, ST2),
and one rocket motor (Mf) positioned within a rear part of the fuselage,
wherein a door (D) located in the rear part of the fuselage is able to be
opened or closed, respectively to expose the rocket motor to the exterior, or
to isolate the rocket motor from the exterior.

