4 ms·

Boom Supersonic (US) has a Mach 1 test flight in 2 days, https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/boom-supersonic-mach-one-speed-of-sound https://www.aerotime.aero/ar

• esskay 2y ago
  It's going to be interesting to see where things go with this. I'm still struggling to see why their offering would have a different fate, if not worse. It's got a lower passenger capacity but still has the same cost issues that plagued Concorde. I guess the only difference really is they arent shy about making it clear its for business customers and not commercial airliners, and tickets will be expensive.
  • idlewords 2y ago
    The real product Boom hopes to offer is regulatory capture, so that restrictions on supersonic business jets can be lifted. Then the bizjet itself can sell as a luxury status symbol.
  • bragr 2y ago
    It is really going to come down to how much they can reduce the sonic boom. Supposedly their aircraft will produce more of a rumble like distant thunder rather than a bang. If its at a level that's agreeable to both regulators and the public, that would open up all the overland routes the Concord could never do. If they can combine that with higher production numbers with a corresponding drop in unit, operating, and maintenance costs, they _may_ have a valid business model. Looking at how many people rent (or own) business jets with five figure+ price tags per flight, I think there's definitely a market for premium tickets, especially if you can do say LAX to Heathrow in ~5 hours instead of 10.5 hours.
    • gosub100 2y ago
      I really hope this isn't the kind of innovation where the company breaks the law and asks for forgiveness later. Like "oh the sonic boom is only slightly louder than Concord but really it's just a bunch of first nations people in Canada who are impacted and we are super rich and our time is so precious please just ignore these marginalized people and we promise we'll throw them a few bucks"
      • deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
      • kfcjligmom 2y ago
        [flagged]
        • aredox 2y ago
          Do you like to piss on other people's pants? Do you like to get pissed on by other people?
        • gosub100 2y ago
          we share the same preferences, which is not to have our lives disrupted by sudden, loud, percussive sounds. There is a video from the 90s taken from a ship in the atlantic that shows how loud Concorde's sonic boom actually was, 40k feet below. you should watch it and ask if you would be ok with that sound throughout the day and night. not to mention how the wildlife could be affected.
        • Bjartr 2y ago
          Yeah, screw anyone we can throw into some "other" bucket. I got mine and that's all that could ever matter. /s
        • jakeydus 2y ago
          OK so this dude sucks
        • NBJack 2y ago
  • Retric 2y ago
    The world and more importantly the wealthy are vastly richer today than in 1976 when the concord started flying, and the R&D costs should be far lower. There’s thousands of billionaires in the world. Not all of them would buy a supersonic private airplane, but include non billionaire CEO’s etc and the market is plenty large to support moderate scale production assuming they can keep costs within a fairly low multiple of a business jet.
  • WeylandYutani 2y ago
    What killed Concord iirc is that only a few airports could handle them. A rich person would just prefer a slower private jet that can land much closer to their destination. Especially since today you can basically turn your plane into a private office.
    • gosub100 2y ago
      The sonic boom limited them to only flying over the sea. They could technically fly at any airport that handles large passenger jets. But if you fly supersonic over land you will piss off everyone below you.
      • tonyedgecombe 2y ago
        Something tells me that wouldn’t have been a problem if Concord had been made by Boeing.
        • gambiting 2y ago
          Boeing knows how to make sonic booms that don't shatter windows?
          • RugnirViking 2y ago
            I believe the idea of the parent comment is that Boeing knows how to get the government to let them shatter windows
            • mrguyorama 2y ago
              We tried. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_sonic_boom_tests https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_sonic_boom_tests The outcomes were SUBSTANTIALLY worse than the US government expected. The results of this study are why even war planes rarely go supersonic over the continental US.
              • 2y ago
• TylerE 2y ago
  Not really. THat's an unmanned small scale model. Every credible engine manufacturer on the planet has declined to work with Boom. Viable engines do not exist and will not exist.
  • WrongOnInternet 2y ago
    [flagged]
  • walterbell 2y ago
    Yes, the 64-seat commercial version is years away, but this subscale prototype will carry a civilian test pilot, https://x.com/bscholl/status/1883218536476061803 https://x.com/bscholl/status/1883218536476061803 - YC incubated, 150MM+ total funding - quiet medium bypass turbofan engines - wing aspect ratio higher than Concorde - 5y of production orders, incl. United and American
    • kristianp 2y ago
      > We wanted to build our safety technology and culture, sop we designed XB-1 without an ejection seat. Wat.