CM-800 Equinox

The CM-800 is an aircraft in Vekllei.

The CM-800 Equinox is a ring-wing supersonic transport built by Government Aircraft Factories and flown by Commonwealth Overseas Airways, the international division of Commonwealth Airways. It is one of a handful of aircraft in the world today that uses a ring wing, and the only one in commercial service in the Commonwealth. Its large 18-metre ring, which provides lift and minimises the drag of traditional wing tips, was something of a design achievement for the GAF when it entered commercial service in 2061. Since then, nine airframes have been completed, with a tenth under construction in Oslola.

A “ring wing” combines the lifting force of normal wings with the horizontal forces of a tail fin into a single discrete element. Steering in this manner is conducted through control surfaces built into the trailing edge of the ring itself, which have different flight characteristics depending on the angle of the manipulated surface. This gives the Equinox a deceptive amount of control in the sky, though its performance is diminished at lower speeds. It also has canards on the forward fuselage to assist with take-off and landing, which are common features of supersonic aircraft today. These canards are essential protections against rolling, which the vessel has otherwise no protection against. It is a fly-by-wire system under control of a master computer, which makes minor adjustments to these elements thousands of times a second.

The vessel is powered by six Amun MMR-III aneutronic fusion reactors located buried in the rear fuselage, which feed an annular ramjet built into the ring of the tail rather than a discrete engine pod. Below Mach 2, the reactors drive electric fans that push air through these ducts, but any faster pushes air through at compression high enough for the reactors to heat directly, which functions like a ramjet. In this arrangement, no fuel is burned – the glow from its tail is from the ceramic exhaust nozzle and not flame. The aircraft has titanium skin because, at cruise, its surface can reach over 300°C. It also has large expansion joints, since the aircraft may “grow” by as much as a rulers’ length as it approaches its Mach 3.

The Equinox is in service along the Commonwealth’s major international trunk routes, primarily from the country’s jet hubs in Kairi, Tenerife and Oslola. The flagship service is Oslola-Hong Kong, but the jets also depart for Los Angeles, Sydney, Tokyo, Moscow and Delhi. Its use internationally is a matter of prestige, but also capacity and infrastructure – most Commonwealth republics lack runways long enough for the jet, and it seats only 80 people.