Boom XB-1 First Supersonic Flight [video] • Hacker News Board

Re: Boom XB-1 First Supersonic Flight [video]

#451

Post by engineer_22 » Wed, Jan 29, 2025, 12:10 PM UTC

fryd_w wrote: post #449

Boom’s real challenge isn’t just showing they can go supersonic—it’s designing an engine and airframe combo that can operate at scale, hit reasonable ticket prices, and address stricter environmental policies than Concorde ever faced. The XB-1 proves they’re capable of building a small supersonic jet, but the gap between a funded prototype and a viable passenger fleet is enormous. Unless they can tackle those regulat…

> Pushing something for such a long time despite being so far from any commercial traction feels insance to me.

They must have something that you ain't got...

Re: Boom XB-1 First Supersonic Flight [video]

#452

Post by Gravityloss » Wed, Jan 29, 2025, 12:11 PM UTC

Good achievement. Also really good PR from them. If this was a team from say Switzerland it wouldn't be on every front page.

Re: Boom XB-1 First Supersonic Flight [video]

#453

Post by barney54 » Wed, Jan 29, 2025, 12:12 PM UTC

WalterBright wrote: post #424

throwaway2037 wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is Boom aiming to be faster than the Concorde? I don't think so. Their website says: > Overture will carry 64-80 passengers at Mach 1.7 Concorde flew NYC LON in 3.5 hours. I guess Boom will fly the route in about 4 hours. Also, regular commercial flights on NYC LON are currently 7 hours. Also, using Google Flights, I priced LHR JFK on first class about T+1month for 7 days (Mon->Mon). It is about 5.3K USD round trip.…

> Are people forgetting about how incredibly loud is a sonic boom? Is it? I lived in Kansas in the 1960s. Sonic booms from the AF base were common. They weren't that loud. Electric storms (a regular in Kansas) were considerably louder. > The Concorde burned fuel (passenger miles per liter) at roughly twice the rate of non-supersonic aeroplanes. 5-7 times as much. My dad said when he pushed his jet supersonic, you cou…

Also, sonic booms are awesome. I don’t know that I want to hear them every 15 minutes, but they are cool.

Re: Boom XB-1 First Supersonic Flight [video]

#454

Post by engineer_22 » Wed, Jan 29, 2025, 12:17 PM UTC

michaelt wrote: post #433

WalterBright wrote: post #423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Who'd pay that kind of money today for a commercial flight? Government people. I remember Kissinger flying on it. A first class ticket on the Titanic would be $50,000 today.

The problem with $50,000 tickets is a higher price means fewer customers, and at a certain point that means less money coming in overall, worse economies of scale, and less ability to cover your upfront engineering costs. The Toyota Camry is a $30,000 car that sells 300,000 units per year. The Lamborghini Huracan is a $300,000 car that sells 600 units per year. Much easier to cover the costs of developing a reliable…

...and yet, despite your lamentations, Lamborghini operates a profitable business.

Re: Boom XB-1 First Supersonic Flight [video]

#455

Post by scythe » Wed, Jan 29, 2025, 12:23 PM UTC

rdlw wrote: post #372

scythe wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see the problem? I was just saying that "not noticeable" is a really high bar to set for a supersonic flight.

But your first sentence reads like a direct answer to the question: > Was the sonic boom noticeable? > Noticeable is certainly a way of putting it. As in, "Yes it was noticeable, and then some." At least, that's how I read it.

That's not even close to what I intended.

Re: Boom XB-1 First Supersonic Flight [video]

#456

Post by wraptile » Wed, Jan 29, 2025, 12:39 PM UTC

kindatrue wrote: post #9

dylan604 wrote: post #6

I know nothing about Boom. Why is this impressive? We've achieved supersonic for passengers before. Are we meant to be interested just because someone is taking up the mantle again, or is there some new design that makes it impressive?

Previously Boom's CEO said this: “That’s not travel, that’s like a thing you might hope to do once in a lifetime,” says Scholl, before adding, “Versus where we want to get, which is anywhere in the world in four hours for 100 bucks.”[1] Anywhere in the world in four hours for $100 USD really caught people's imagination and attention. I'm puzzled by how they will achieve this. [1] https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/bo…

> which is anywhere in the world in four hours for 100 bucks

That's while my tesla robotaxi is making that 100 bucks driving leprechauns to their golden pots!

Totally not vaporware guys.

Re: Boom XB-1 First Supersonic Flight [video]

#457

Post by Avshalom » Wed, Jan 29, 2025, 12:41 PM UTC

engineer_22 wrote: post #451

fryd_w wrote: post #449

Boom’s real challenge isn’t just showing they can go supersonic—it’s designing an engine and airframe combo that can operate at scale, hit reasonable ticket prices, and address stricter environmental policies than Concorde ever faced. The XB-1 proves they’re capable of building a small supersonic jet, but the gap between a funded prototype and a viable passenger fleet is enormous. Unless they can tackle those regulat…

> Pushing something for such a long time despite being so far from any commercial traction feels insance to me. They must have something that you ain't got...

Extremely generous investors?

Re: Boom XB-1 First Supersonic Flight [video]

#458

Post by conradfr » Wed, Jan 29, 2025, 12:52 PM UTC

ctippett wrote: post #46

The plane looks so small on the runway, I thought how could it possibly hold 64-80 passengers. Hint: it's because the XB-1 is a one-third scale model of their fully fledged Overture.

It's kind of cute when it takes off.

Re: Boom XB-1 First Supersonic Flight [video]

#459

Post by ghaff » Wed, Jan 29, 2025, 12:58 PM UTC

chgs wrote: post #413

ghaff wrote: post #364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the question is how many thousand dollars out of your own pocket great which would be the situation with most people.

It’s not about most people, it’s about the 1500 in C/F

I'm not sure the people who pay full-boat fares for business and first today is a sufficient market for a new supersonic plane and a viable set of airline routes (within the range of the plane which probably doesn't include trans-Pacific).

Re: Boom XB-1 First Supersonic Flight [video]

#460

Post by rbanffy » Wed, Jan 29, 2025, 12:58 PM UTC

notahacker wrote: post #231

rbanffy wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not only do people not need hypersonic flight, We do. It takes me more than 14 hours and two flights to visit my son in Brazil. Even if there was a direct flight, it wouldn't be much less than that. At this time, very few people visit places more than 10 hours away from their homes. Knowing places faraway and different expands one's horizons. You learn that there are different ways of living, different ways of thin…

> At this time, very few people visit places more than 10 hours away from their homes I suspect if you were to draw a Venn diagram of "people who had never visited a place more than 10 hours from their home" and "people who could afford a ticket on a Boom Supersonic airliner at their target profitable ticket price range..." there wouldn't be any overlap. You don't need hypersonic travel to discover places far away, a…

Boom will only be the first. Other supersonic airliners will happen once Boom validates the market. We can do a lot better than Concorde did now, with higher efficiency engines and lighter materials.

I just saw the other day China developing a rotating detonation ramjet. I guess missiles will come first, but, eventually, China will want to cross their 21st century empire faster than current airliners.