Didn’t the Brits and French do this decades ago?
Ah, but not at Mach 3, and for 100 passengers at a time which in my book makes it an airliner rather than a bizjet. One of the prototypes is said to have had hardpoints, so perhaps they had ‘dual use’ in common.
I don’t know whether a supersonic bizjet makes economic sense, but I imagine it makes a whole lot more sense than a supersonic airliner. I suspect you’d get a lot of plane-spotters willing to pay for a supersonic jaunt too.
Anyone remember the Concorde’s political problems? NY refused it to land for years, most flights over the Med and other places got massive restrictions due to the supersonic banging e.t.c.
Who in his right mind will expect this to change now? Just the opposite, it will get a lot worse. The whole environmental lobby will run amock against a project like that, which will mean that it can not fly supersonic anywhere near land and probably will be restricted in the use of airports too.
It may make sense in Russia, where there is no such lobby and where the country is big enough to warrant the use of a supersonic transport. Russia to Asia maybe, but don’t take it for granted, there were also objections to Concorde in Singapore and surroundings. US? Forget it, particularly if it’s not their project to sell. Even Concorde got the bad treatment for years as the Americans did not manage to have a SST of their own. Europe? They do object to gliders… and are vocally communist when it comes to stuff like Biz Jets, they get their underwear in a twist even at the thought of a Citation, so an SST which bangs the countryside?
Dreams for kids. Not in our lifetime.
AFAIK the designers say they have found ways to greatly reduce the sonic boom. Otherwise, as you say, this project would be dead.
This seen to be a major showstopper:
From the FAQ:
Unfortunately, supersonic flight is banned over the United States. This ban should be reversed and replaced with a commonsense noise standard, set to promote efficient, affordable supersonic flight while disallowing nuisance. In the meantime, the Boom jet will fly routes that are primarily overwater—such as New York to London or San Francisco to Tokyo, flying subsonically when over land. Over 500 routes benefit immediately and significantly from supersonic.
The other problem being the noise of turbojets. But if they can keep within the noise regulations I don’t see what’s to stop them other than the economics. My guess is that the sort of people who could afford a high end business jet won’t quibble about the cost of a ton or two of additional fuel consumption for a given route. If it’s reasonably efficient subsonically then arguably the kudos of owning a supersonic jet might sell it even if the capability is rarely used.
Decompression issues are more significant if you’re flying high enough to make supersonic flight workable, but do the rest of the systems become significantly more complex? Will a supersonic business jet be much more expensive to develop than any other new design?
Boom shows off its XB-1 supersonic demonstration passenger airliner
The scale demonstration craft is meant to be “technically representative” of what the final airliner will offer, and includes GE engines, Honeywell avionics and Tencate structural carbon fiber elements. Partner Virgin Galactic is going to be helping Boom build its first production aircraft, offering engineering and manufacturing as well as testing and operations support. Virgin also has optioned Boom’s first 10 vehicles, so it’s also the startup’s first customer.
Testing of the XB-1 will begin with subsonic flights at a location east of Denver in Colorado, and then supersonic tests will run near Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California. Test flights for cutting-edge aircraft, including the F-35, are conducted regularly at the Edwards facility.
“…as it reveals the XB-1 Supersonic Demonstrator, a 1/3-scale prototype of its Boom supersonic passenger aircraft, which will be doing its first supersonic test flights later this year.”
Later this year… If my profession would be bookmaker, then I would set the betting odds at 100/1 for this to happen. 10/1 that the scale model will fly this year at all and 5/1 that it will fly in any year. And even if the scale model ever flies, than my odds that the real thing will be developed into a commercial and certified product capable of sustained supersonic flights will still be 100/1.
So they are showing off an entirely different much smaller aircraft? It is not even a similar shape with the exception that it is pointy at the front and has delta wings.
That is like saying the SF50 is the demonstrator for the 20 seater business jet Cirrus are planning…
Cobalt wrote:
It is not even a similar shape with the exception that it is pointy at the front and has delta wings.
That is not how I read “1/3 scale”. Where did you get that from – the picture?
Boom’s XB-1 Supersonic Demonstrator will target the same max speed as the eventual full-size passenger airliner, but will only carry a pilot and an optional test engineer or other passenger, while the final vehicle will have a passenger capacity of 45 in addition to the crew and 4 flight attendants, with an optional high-density configuration that would allow an additional 10 passengers on board.
