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Related: About this forumFly To London From New York In 3 Hours: Flights Will Speed Up With World's Fastest Passenger Jet
A Colorado startup was one step closer toward its ambitious goal of building supersonic passenger jets capable of crossing the Atlantic in slightly more than three hours after securing $33 million in funding.
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This funds our first airplane, all the way through flight tests, Boom founder and CEO Blake Scholl told TechCrunch. Now we have all the pieces we need technology, suppliers and capital to go out and make some history and set some speed records.
Boom Supersonic said its passenger jet will fly at Mach 2.2, or 1,451 miles per hour, and carry 45 passengers.
While the company will not be the first to build a supersonic passenger jet, it would be the first to offer supersonic flights to passengers at reasonable although not cheap prices. The supersonic Concorde brought passengers across the Atlantic in three and a half hours for nearly three decades before it was put into retirement in 2003. A one-way ticket on the Concorde cost $18,500 in today's dollars; a ride on a Boom flight will cost just $2,500.
Xipe Totec
(43,866 posts)COLGATE4
(14,732 posts)crotch grabbing ('enhanced patdown) by the morons at TSA.
NNadir
(33,363 posts)...experience, since one arrived in Paris from New York at physiological 4 or 5 in the afternoon, whereas in Paris, it was 9 or 10. By the time you cleared customs, got a cab, and got to your hotel, it was at least 11; everything was closed.
If you're an insomniac - I am - your sleep schedule is completely screwed up for several days.
It was kind of cool coming back to the US, since you arrived before you left in theory. I only did that once. The other two times I flew to France. It actually wasn't a good idea.
I would never have paid full price for a ticket on the plane. It was much more pleasant flying business class on Air France (or other airlines) to and from Europe.
I once got upgraded to first class from business on Air France as an apology for a screw up on their part. Best flight ever.
I wrote more fully about my thoughts on the Concorde and related concepts elsewhere: The Utility of Light: Getting Real with the Existing Energy Infrastructure.
Looking back on my life, I feel kind of guilty for the life I lead in those days, since supersonic aircraft are unnecessary & unwise since they exacerbate the environmental disaster before us.
mn9driver
(4,410 posts)It's a very high drag flight regime. It's also hard on airplanes. The skin heating alone causes all sorts of problems.
The stock market is up, and airlines are currently making record profits, so it makes sense that someone would decide the time is right for this. But the obstacles to sustained profitability for supersonic transport are considerable. I would bet against them.
eppur_se_muova
(36,222 posts)considering the problems with sonic booms which limited Concorde's use, and the crash which ended it.
ManiacJoe
(10,136 posts)The Concorde did 1350 mph for 3.5 hours to cross the Atlantic. With 2x-3x the passenger space.
I doubt jet engines have gotten that much more efficient for long-range supersonic flight.