6 ms·

Boom Supersonic (YC W16) XB-1 Fuselage Construction Underway

76 points by starpilot 7y ago

Isamu 7y ago
More about the XB-1 "baby boom": https://boomsupersonic.com/xb-1 https://boomsupersonic.com/xb-1
cconcepts 7y ago
I hadnt heard of this company till now but looks like they're doing some gutsy work. I went to their website to learn more and (call me cynical) was surprised how emotive it was. I understand that getting this sort of thing done requires a stupendous amount of capital but I would have thought appealing to the emotive sensibilities of your average web trudger isn't going to help for this kind of project....
- MarkMc 7y ago
  Useful for attracting talent, I guess
  - OnlineGladiator 7y ago
    I always find this sort of thing to be a turnoff, and I work in robotics and have done stints in aerospace.
- beerandt 7y ago
  So the Musk business plan? I kid, but how many business pitches per week do you think start with: "Like Tesla, but airplanes!" Edit: And I don't mean it as a bad (or good) thing. If they can pull it off, that'd be great. Aviation is a different animal, but I'd have said the same thing about the Auto Industry. It just requires the right point man.
- lloyddobbler 7y ago
  They've done some really interesting brand work, for an early stage startup in an industry notorious for long development cycles. Here's a video they did for an airshow (Paris? Can't remember) earlier this year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbAQTGqHkik https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbAQTGqHkik
mark-r 7y ago
It would be great to see a new airplane company ascend as Boeing self destructs. We won't be that lucky I'm sure.
- starpilot 7y ago
  I'm sure Google or other mega tech company with enough money will do so within 20 years. Big Aero has left too many promising radical ideas on the table, they always publish some half-hearted studies (blended-wing body, various once-off supersonic platforms) while sticking with the standard subsonic tube+wings configuration that is 50 years old. The main barrier to entry is massive initial capital, for the army of lawyers to handle lawsuits and the FAA redtape, and the huge number of engineers and manufacturing staff that you need from the start for rigorous engineering. Stakes are much higher when people can die, even Icon Aircraft has had two fatalities and they have a really solid team of mostly Scaled alums.
  - themagician 7y ago
    There's no big conspiracy here. Passenger planes have actually gotten SLOWER over the last 20 years because it's more cost efficient. Supersonic flight is fun, but borderline nonsensical. The cost is outrageous, it's incredibly inefficient, and the damage to the environment and local ecosystems is terrible. Supersonic flight is the future for the 1% who can afford it and don't care about the costs they don't have to bear. Honestly, I'd rather see Zeppelins come back before supersonic planes.
    - ghaff 7y ago
      The costs and efficiency can probably be improved. But I still agree it would be for the <1%. Probably a more rarified offering for those who buy whatever the highest class seats are in a plane today. Say $5-10K for a NY to London flight in all probability.
      - schoen 7y ago
        Wikipedia says about Concorde: > For example, in 1997, the round-trip ticket price from New York to London was $7,995 ($12.5 thousand in 2018 dollars), more than 30 times the cost of the cheapest option to fly this route. I just did a search for this route in January in first class for comparison and saw various options mostly starting around $6000 (round trip), which is similar to your estimate. I'm sure there are reasons people would often pay more to fly that route in first class.
starpilot 7y ago
Might add YC W16 to the headline.
- dang 7y ago
  Ok, added. Thanks!
xrd 7y ago
I watched the video posted below. Says they have 110 engineers so they must have significant investment and growth if they were in the W16 batch. I'm really curious if anyone can speak to why they went with YC? This seems like a much longer haul. YC seems geared towards very different segments and coaching. Obviously I'm totally wrong about that!
- tim333 7y ago
  Some stuff here: https://blog.ycombinator.com/founder-stories-blake-scholl-of-boom-technology/ https://blog.ycombinator.com/founder-stories-blake-scholl-of... Scroll down to "Craig: So what made you decide to apply to YC?"

76 points by starpilot 7y ago

More about the XB-1 "baby boom": https://boomsupersonic.com/xb-1 https://boomsupersonic.com/xb-1

I hadnt heard of this company till now but looks like they're doing some gutsy work. I went to their website to learn more and (call me cynical) was surprised how emotive it was. I understand that getting this sort of thing done requires a stupendous amount of capital but I would have thought appealing to the emotive sensibilities of your average web trudger isn't going to help for this kind of project....

MarkMc 7y ago
Useful for attracting talent, I guess
- OnlineGladiator 7y ago
  I always find this sort of thing to be a turnoff, and I work in robotics and have done stints in aerospace.
beerandt 7y ago
So the Musk business plan? I kid, but how many business pitches per week do you think start with: "Like Tesla, but airplanes!" Edit: And I don't mean it as a bad (or good) thing. If they can pull it off, that'd be great. Aviation is a different animal, but I'd have said the same thing about the Auto Industry. It just requires the right point man.
lloyddobbler 7y ago
They've done some really interesting brand work, for an early stage startup in an industry notorious for long development cycles. Here's a video they did for an airshow (Paris? Can't remember) earlier this year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbAQTGqHkik https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbAQTGqHkik

mark-r 7y ago

It would be great to see a new airplane company ascend as Boeing self destructs. We won't be that lucky I'm sure.

starpilot 7y ago
I'm sure Google or other mega tech company with enough money will do so within 20 years. Big Aero has left too many promising radical ideas on the table, they always publish some half-hearted studies (blended-wing body, various once-off supersonic platforms) while sticking with the standard subsonic tube+wings configuration that is 50 years old. The main barrier to entry is massive initial capital, for the army of lawyers to handle lawsuits and the FAA redtape, and the huge number of engineers and manufacturing staff that you need from the start for rigorous engineering. Stakes are much higher when people can die, even Icon Aircraft has had two fatalities and they have a really solid team of mostly Scaled alums.
- themagician 7y ago
  There's no big conspiracy here. Passenger planes have actually gotten SLOWER over the last 20 years because it's more cost efficient. Supersonic flight is fun, but borderline nonsensical. The cost is outrageous, it's incredibly inefficient, and the damage to the environment and local ecosystems is terrible. Supersonic flight is the future for the 1% who can afford it and don't care about the costs they don't have to bear. Honestly, I'd rather see Zeppelins come back before supersonic planes.
  - ghaff 7y ago
    The costs and efficiency can probably be improved. But I still agree it would be for the <1%. Probably a more rarified offering for those who buy whatever the highest class seats are in a plane today. Say $5-10K for a NY to London flight in all probability.
    - schoen 7y ago
      Wikipedia says about Concorde: > For example, in 1997, the round-trip ticket price from New York to London was $7,995 ($12.5 thousand in 2018 dollars), more than 30 times the cost of the cheapest option to fly this route. I just did a search for this route in January in first class for comparison and saw various options mostly starting around $6000 (round trip), which is similar to your estimate. I'm sure there are reasons people would often pay more to fly that route in first class.

starpilot 7y ago

Might add YC W16 to the headline.

dang 7y ago
Ok, added. Thanks!

xrd 7y ago

I watched the video posted below. Says they have 110 engineers so they must have significant investment and growth if they were in the W16 batch. I'm really curious if anyone can speak to why they went with YC? This seems like a much longer haul. YC seems geared towards very different segments and coaching. Obviously I'm totally wrong about that!

tim333 7y ago
Some stuff here: https://blog.ycombinator.com/founder-stories-blake-scholl-of-boom-technology/ https://blog.ycombinator.com/founder-stories-blake-scholl-of... Scroll down to "Craig: So what made you decide to apply to YC?"