Boom's supersonic jet moves toward debut flight | Hacker News Reader

Boom's supersonic jet moves toward debut flight

space.com

26 pointsbelter13 comments

I really don't understand how a XB-1 flight 5+ years late is a huge milestone. It doesn't change the economics and issues with the Overture.

> Boom aims to roll out the Overture craft in 2026, with the first flight of the aircraft planned for no sooner than 2027.

This just not even remotely believable. They have barley started engine development.

And the economics of this plane also just don't make sense even if they could develop it.

Yes, the timelines they project are completely unrealistic.

But just step back for a minute. This is a company running on a shoestring budget. The likelihood of a startup to come and do what Boeing and Airbus can't was remote to begin with. Unfortunately, the likelihood of the market duopoly to try and disrupt themselves is even lower.

So, while I don't have high hopes myself, I enjoy any good news coming from Boom. Maybe, just maybe, they'll be able to bring a supersonic jet to market. In the late 2030's. Or late 2040's. It's still better than nothing. Nobody else is even trying.

I just think that you can't be a non revenue company for like 20 years. Specially because the resulting market just doesn't seem to be there.

Also I just don't care that much about a Mach 1.7 jet, its just not really all that impactful.

I hope they succeed, but I read (on HN) a while back that they lost their partnership with Rolls-Royce. This article mentions in passing that they have some GE engines in this PoC, but nothing about an engine partnership.

My understanding is that a plane is designed with a particular powerplant in mind so such a partnership would be make or break.

Yeah I'm surprised they got this far. I thought it was all over and done.

I don't really see how this will be a success commercially with the whole CO2 crisis going on, though I could imagine that some militaries will want a faster troop transport or something.

Amex used to book out the first few rows of every Concorde flight. You might indeed be surprised. Of course it was quite a while ago.

Yeah back then business class was still a thing for most business travelers also. These days you have to be practically C-level to get it :P

But I think with the increased scrutiny on carbon emissions this will not fly anymore (pun intended). See how celebs are being criticised for using their private jets for example. This will only get worse. Then using a plane that emits much more carbon for the same distance (even though it's much faster) will definitely make it harder to justify.

I do not see carbon emissions limiting air travel. Those jokers still use leaded gas, FFS.

There are 2 sets of rules: The laws that tell me I can not get to work in my 23-year-old pickup truck, and those rules do not apply to people who can fly private jets. Those people fly private jumbo jets to environmental conferences.

I know this will be an unpopular opinion on HN, but what if we banned all civilian air travel (I mean ALL civilian air travel) until they can prove they meet the emissions standards and fuel economy standards my 23 year old pickup has to meet to pass emissions testing every year.

Jets (and turboprops) don't use leaded fuel, they use kerosene. You're thinking of light aircraft with reciprocating engines.

Jets actually have to pass emissions testing quite regularly as part of their strict maintenance regime. They are maintained to a standard even the most hardcore car enthusiast can't shake a stick at. They emit a lot of CO2 because they need a lot of energy. But they burn pretty clean, the age of jets trailing large black trails are gone.

The only planes using leaded are general aviation light aircraft that still use AVGAS 100LL. Jets use only Jet A-1 which is unleaded kerosine (though technically they can burn almost anything which is one of the cool things of jets but of course for reliability and safety this is not done in aircraft). The M1 Abrams tank touts this as a major advantage though, if you're in a pinch you can pour pretty much anything that burns in the tank. Just a shitload of it :)

almost nothing has done well making an engine and an airframe at the same time. I hope they can get flying long enough to upgrade engines.

They have an engine partnership with Kratos FTT

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/boom-supe...

The advertising Boom is doing with United claims they will be able to fly SFO-NRT and LAX-SYD [1]. But the Great Circle Mapper says SFO-NRT is 4453nm, and LAX-SYD is 6507nm.

The maximum range of the Boom Overture is 4250nm [2].

So is there going to be enough NYC-Europe supersonic demand for to make a Boom Overture 2.0 viable? The current state of transatlantic flights is pretty good with lie-flat seats and fast Wi-Fi.

[1] https://boomsupersonic.com/united [2] https://boomsupersonic.com/overture

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