Slashdot Mirror
Aerospace Startup Will Build A Supersonic Mach 2.2 Aircraft (fortune.com)
A new commercial aircraft will fly more than twice the speed of sound, traveling from New York to London in 3.4 hours. An anonymous reader quotes Fortune:
Colorado-based startup Boom Supersonic is one step closer to making such travel a reality after securing $33 million in investments to construct and fly its first supersonic jet, the XB-1 demonstration and testing craft, according to TechCrunch... With the new funding, Boom will be able to put that concept -- and the technology needed to power it -- to the test. "This funds our first airplane, all the way through flight tests," Boom founder and CEO Blake Scholl told TechCrunch. "Now we have all the pieces we need â" technology, suppliers and capital â" to go out and make some history and set some speed records."
They'll be testing a prototype that's one-third smaller than the commercial version within the next year.
They'll be testing a prototype that's one-third smaller than the commercial version within the next year.
Modern commercial aircraft development, testing and certification programs take upward of $5Billion these days, just what do these people think they are going to achieve with $30million? That won't cover the cost of the engines...
I remind you that Concorde was substantially more expensive than $2500 and it was kept busy. There are a lot of bigwigs who are willing to pay that sort of money especially if their company is paying for it.
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
Editor, thy name is click-bait credulity.
Exactly. They would LIKE to design and POSSIBLY build such a plane. MAYBE. What is more likly is that they will enjoy a trendy office in Denver or Colorado Springs with a foosball table, catered lunches, microbrews, and a cat, and when the money runs out, move on to some other - dare I say - investor scam.
The idea that $33 million will get them anywhere near a flyable prototype is mind-blowing.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
Hail Satan!
I have an uncle who flew the Concorde from NYC to London frequently. It was entirely worth the extra money to his company to have him there and back in one day. When he would make trips like this, it was to talk to investment banks and the like, and the stock price would take a non-trivial tick upward as a result. The six-hour-plus savings in his time was entirely worth the cost. Moreover, not having to sleep on a plane and have a shitty night's sleep rendering him less effective the next day was even better.
Now, there aren't many people who are like that, but the number is also not zero. Given the large collection of companies in the northeast with insane valuations (e.g., Big Pharma), I'd wager that there is still a market for supersonic travel to London at what amounts to business-class prices.
Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
1) The high cost of fuel for the trip. Concorde used Re-heat all the time it was supersonic. This may have changed.
Concorde used reheat for takeoff and when passing mach 1, at all other times it wasn't used including cruising at mach 2...
It wasn't needed, but punching through the sound barrier at mach 1 was quicker with reheat and actually used less fuel that way.
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
When Concorde flew, it had dedicated check-ins, security, immigration and lounges at either end of the journey, as befitting a premium and exclusive service.
With this in place, even today you'd spend much less time in the airport than the rest of us flying cattle-class...
This sig left unintentionally blank.