Between the spaceship and the liner, the Sky Cruise could embark on a cruise 5,000 passengers. It would be propelled by a nuclear fusion reactor, and could serve as a landing strip in the sky. This crazy “cruise” version of the plane will only exist in dreams.
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The video of the Sky Cruise, announced as a concept of a giant cruise plane that can carry 5,000 passengers, has gone viral even though this ocean liner of the skies is all imaginary and will remain so. Drawn by artist Tony Holmsten more than ten years ago, then transformed into 3D animation by Alexander Tujicov, this viral video was propelled in a few days by the media, from the state of an artist’s point of view to that of a an amazing concept or project.
This liner of flying cruise would be designed to stay in theair permanently thanks toenergy nuclear which could animate its twenty electric motors. And not just any nuclear! Nothing less than an improbable reactor nuclear fusion ! Passengers would board by jet or airliner and, on the gigantic fin, would be a terrace 360 degree panoramic.
This 3D animation of a virtual flying liner may make you dream, but no aeronautical engineer would embark on such a concept. © Kashif Aziz Awan, YouTube
Only in dreams
On the video, in the cabin and under the canopyyou can see shopping malls, sports halls, swimming pools, restaurants, bars, cinemas. To avoid air pockets, a artificial intelligence would come to anticipate the maneuvers. But could such a plane technically exist? No, of course not and for many reasons. Given the proportions and the mass of such a device, no airport could be used to carry out its take-off.
Anyway, there is no track hard and long enough to accommodate this winged anvil. The landing gear and even the root of the wings could not support this mass nor the stresses on the ground and in the air; the giant canopy would weaken the structure. Finally, there will certainly be recreation centers on Mars before we can supply such a monster with energy by nuclear fusion. The dream part remains…
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