Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 prototype aircraft successfully completed its second test flight at the Mojave Air & Space Port in Mojave, California on Aug. 26.
I’m not so sure there is a business model for this but interesting research and a cool looking prototype, if not a bit ungainly on those long legs.
The business model ended with the Concorde disaster. The social/political/environmental model is DOA. Regardless of how beautiful the Concorde was it’s time is well passed by. Large, quiet, efficient and affordable is the only route today.
There are a lot of “Rich” people that will buy the fastest thing in the air period.
I don’t think it will be supersonic.
I remember in 2010 going to the NBAA convention in Orlando and seeing this company with a booth looking for investors/supporters. I recall at that time, feeling sorry for them as they all looked really unhappy. Here it is, what 14 years later and they are just now flying. I kinda still feel sorry for them and wonder how much money they have gone through. How much time has been invested in this “project?” I just shake my head.
They’ll continue to milk the investors and arrange hefty bank accounts for top management and then Boom will go kaboom as this is an untenable solution for future air transportation. I also wonder how much the publicity given by various news outlets keeps providing oxygen to a flawed project.
If they have a Musk or Bezos who absolutely want to have (and bankroll) the only supersonic transport available they can be successful…otherwise the market may just be posers who probably aren’t as rich as they think they are.
I would love to hear the basis for your expert opinion.
You don’t shake the box and an aircraft falls out. It takes time to conceive, design, engineer, develop, test and build an aircraft with all of the financial, corporate and manufacturing support behind something this sophisticated. Luckily innovation doesn’t depend on your opinion, so keep shaking your head.
We need to keep in mind that the Concorde was developed and built by a British/French consortium that used taxpayer money with few financial limitations. Boom is working mostly with private investors, so it is understandable that they are taking a longer time to develop a “quiet” SST. This reminds me of the NASA Artemis versus SpaceX competition. Artemis (Concorde) technically works, but is a financial mess. SpaceX (Boom) has a better mousetrap that struggled financially but has turned out to be a more successful business model. I’m not sure if Boom will ever be a successful venture, but using the Concorde as a predictor of their future is probably not an accurate gauge.
Musk already has a working supersonic transport, and he’s teased its use by the military for emergency logistics.
Yup, though sked’ing return leg may be more challenging.
I offer no “expert” opinion but one that has matured over the last half century+ and parsed the tea leaves. Should you be so inclined to get in on the “ground floor” to make bags full of loot then please show us the way. I wonder if those gold doubloons will fill your pockets and if so, that’s just great. Do you honestly think this endeavour makes sense when crackpot greenies break into airports and spray paint corporate jets? A supersonic airliner for extremely well heeled folks will attract attention beyond belief and burn ridiculous amounts of kerosene per passenger seat mile. Looking at the total time for a mid continent trip a chartered midsize jet from an FBO beats the airlines by probably 30 to 40% considering baggage, security, boarding and deplaning times. What time saving at signifigantly more cost could make that attractive to the biz jet market?
It will need to change its name if it ever wants to carry passengers. They might as well have called it the Crasher.
Or maybe Boing?
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Not sure with this kind of money at stake it’s going to get buried, at a cost of over $200 million per unit.
Overture’s order book stands at 130 aircraft, including orders and pre-orders from American Airlines, United Airlines, and Japan Airlines. American Airlines made a deposit on up to 20 aircraft, with an option for 40 more, in August 2022. With this order, American is poised to have the world’s largest supersonic fleet.
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