Super Heavy Cargo Plane

I would like to improve on my idea of “Very High Bypass Aircraft Engine”. I presume there is no need for a propeller in front of the engine. The bypass air can pass though freely like in a ramjet engine. Additionally, the engine would have a small nozzle. This nozzle would preheat the bypass air before it mixes with the exhaust of the rocket engine. Additionally, the nozzle would serve as a compressor for the air intake. The rocket engine would be placed in front of the engine. It would have a shield to protect it from birds. Unlike the traditional rocket engines, the modified engine would burn fuel rich. The mass flows of a Raptor3 engine are ~510 kg/s O₂ and ~140 kg/s CH₄. If ambient oxygen is not used to burn the methane, the engine would require so much propellant that it would carry no useful payload. As a result, the duct of the engine would extend backwards to give time for the bypass air to burn the unburned fuel. The temperature of the fuel would be above the auto ignition temperature and would require no spark plug to initiate ignition. The accumulated heated gas would then be exhausted from the nozzle of the engine to generate immense thrust. This setup would be much simpler and lighter than an equivalent turbofan equivalent. Raptor3 engine has a maximum thrust of 2750 kN. With two engines it totals to 5500 kN. Whereas Antonov An-225 had 6 engines with a maximum thrust of 230 kN x 6 = 1380 kN.

In order to allow short takeoff and landing, the super heavy cargo plane would have circular wing around the two engines and the fuselage. It would give the plane a kind of Toyota logo look but, it would have acceptable drag for increased lift. I also propose the vertical stabilizer to be placed inside the circular wing to remove any extension from the rear of the plane.

The rocket engine of the plane would be modified to use natural gas instead of pure methane. This would reduce the additional infrastructure cost for the existing airports that already have natural gas infrastructure build in.

The cryogenic propellent of the plane would require special tanks that cannot be placed on the wings. I propose the LNG and LOX tanks to be placed in the center of the plane where the engines and the wings extend. IT would balance the plane perfectly. The payload would be loaded and unloaded from the nose and the rear of the plane which reduce the servicing time.

Aerospace industry is critical for every developed nation. Like the engines of the aerospace vehicles that consume fuel fast, the R&D costs would also consume the resources fast. Merging the critical technologies between air and space would allow advantage for the nation that implements this strategy.