60 Minutes goes 'Boom'
One fact check please from Sunday nights segment on Boom Supersonic.
In the introduction to the piece, the correspondent said: "most of today's jetliners actually fly more slowly than they did 20 or 30 years ago to save fuel."
Really? I would think new and more efficient engine design and improvements in wing aerodynamics would be more accurate than saying planes are flying slower.
Comments welcomed from the rest of the segment.
The proof-of-concept single seat test bed is essentially complete and "will fly sometime in 2022" and the first paying passenger commercial flights are planned by "the end of 2029"
Editor-in-chief of Air Current, Jon Ostrower estimates $15 to $20 billion to bring the project to fruition and went on to say that Boeing spent the same on their last sub-sonic airframe without specifying which one he was referring to but I gather the 787? Blake Scholl, founder/CEO says he'll pull it off for $7 to $8 billion, on top of the $300 million raised thus far.
Two of the many small hurdles to overcome are a promise to run on 100% sustainable fuel and Rolls Royce has yet to come up with a powerplant. Apparently not enough to dissuade United from ordering 15.
One large hurdle to overcome is what to do about the boom. Nasa stated that they're looking to fly the X-59, also sometime in 2022, to further research into reducing that boom to a small thump in order to allow routine commercial supersonic overland flight.