Boom is not likely to advance past the vaporware stage.

I am happy sitting in the back while the folks up front cruise at .88 or .92 at about 10% of the price getting there 2x faster.

At present, the supersonic folks are moving at about 0 knots.

I wouldn't be so sure they will go 2x faster, ever.

Mike C.

I don’t see them doing it ever again in my lifetime.

Seeing the Concorde on the ground at Dulles is impressive. It is hard to imagine the amount of fuel that guzzled in order to go fast.

New designs will not guzzle as much as the Concorde, though they will use more fuel than subsonic aircraft. Interesting how capital flows into these concepts. Aerion was going full speed ahead till it went bust. Boom has some orders, but not a large qty. It is a niche market.

I was listening to a neat podcast on the technical side of Hypersonics and SuperSonics.
For the nerds: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/f ... 0607131566

Honestly, I thought Gulfstream might have had the first SSBJ on the market and their "Whisper" nose spike being tested on the F-18 was promising. Granted, the G650 and G700 have been approved, in flight test, for Mach 0.99. That's not Mach 2 but I imagine that there is a Mach 1 record somewhere that we don't know about. Hopefully they beat Bombardier, safely, to the punch.

https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news ... gulfstream

Otherwise, Bombardier's Global 7500 has been the first "SSBJ" as it broke Mach 1 in testing and the 8000 will be the first to hit Mach 1 but the article is not clear if they will certify it at .94 with conditions where 1.015 would be approved.
https://www.thenationalnews.com/travel/ ... -of-sound/

I had a conversation with the project manager for Boeing's High Speed Civil Transport Program shortly after it was canceled in 2000. I asked him what they accomplished with the >$1 billion that was spent on the project. He said they developed some good code.

It was said that the Citation X barely cracked Mach 1 in dive tests. I didn't/don't have enough knowledge of airspeed corrections at these speeds to assess the accuracy of this.

It was said that the Citation X barely cracked Mach 1 in dive tests. I didn't/don't have enough knowledge of airspeed corrections at these speeds to assess the accuracy of this.

Took me a few days to get through my own podcast recommendation but it is really fascinating if you like this sort of thing. Lots of great analogies to Piper Cherokee, Water through a hose, Cars in a traffic jam etc.

Take-away: It is really hard.

It makes me think: Why bother with atmospheric flying at all? Just go around!

^Is “the vaporware stage” where the money turns into vapor?^

Butch

And executive lifestyle!

One of my very young colleagues went to work for Boom several years ago. We couldn't understand the allure, as the propulsion company I worked for had been approached by several startups over the decades with big dreams and little understanding of what's involved.

On occasion, the startup would announce one of my employer's engines as the baseline offering. This news would send the sales department scurrying to the president's office to swear on a stack of bibles that they had never heard of the startup, let alone talk to them.

Mostly, though, the discussions took one of three paths:

1) we'd like to buy 100 of X model engine. Response: that model has been out of production for 20 years and few aircraft powered by these engines are still operational. All of the production tooling is long gone. Unless you have the financial resources to commit to 1000+ units plus restart costs, there's no way we are restarting this production line
2) OK, will you design a brand new supersonic centerline engine for us? Response: if you front us a few billion, we'll consider it, however, we're not going to use our money for an obvious niche market that will never sell enough units to cover research and development costs
3) Understood, Can we get a demilitarized version of the engines you are providing for our country's front line fighters? Response: Are you f'ing kidding?

Yeah, I've had a front row seat for this rodeo many times....it never ceases to amuse and entertain.

Art