YellAg2004 said:
Maximus_Meridius said:
So not exactly space related, but I figured you guys would still find it interesting. Boom Aerospace is aiming to fly their XB-1 pathfinder through the sound barrier (becoming the first civilian aircraft to do so). They're livestreaming it on their website. Livestream begins at 9:45 AM Central.
XB-1 Supersonic Flight Test
The idea is to prove out some of their technical concepts prior to building Overture, their supersonic passenger airliner.
They mentioned wanting to expand the technology to commercial air travel. Is their plan to just scale up the XB-1 to where there is capacity for passengers? Or is the XB-1 just for designing/testing the various systems that will then be incorporated into a commercial-sized air frame?
It's on their website. XB-1 is test platform, Overture is the passenger jet, and Symphany is "The Purpose-built Turbofan Optimized for Supersonic Flight".
Overture:
MACH 1.7 Cruise Speed
2X Faster over water
20% Faster over land
600+ Profitable routes
UP TO 100% SAF COMPATIBLE
201 FT Nose to tail
60K FT Cruising altitude
4250 NM MAX Range (4888 mi/7867 km)
64-80 Passenger capacity
Its going to be expensive for passengers. They are targeting $5,000 per person roundtrip on transatlantic flight from NYC-London.
Fuel of the jet at supersonic speeds would be 2-3x more per passenger than conventional aircraft.