bscholl

6 ms·

1.
by bscholl 9y ago
Will never forgetting getting marked down in that class for producing a square, when I was asked to produce a rectangle. "No, I meant a rectangle rectangle!"
2.
by bscholl 9y ago
Lol!
3.
by bscholl 10y ago
Thank you!
4.
by bscholl 11y ago
Actually, Concorde was too big : 100 seats. It worked NY/London but at ~$20k/seat they couldn't fill enough seats several times daily on other routes. Which means you can't have many airplanes, which means no economies
5.
by bscholl 11y ago
There's computational fluid dynamics—which are very good today especially at supersonic conditions. Also, we have some design optimization tools we've built in-house which let us quickly explore many alternatives and zero-in on th
6.
by bscholl 11y ago
Speed: Mach 2.2 is the fastest speed possible with known technology already accepted by the FAA. At that speed, you can have good takeoff performance (and comply with airport noise restrictions) and good cruise performance. We'd to bui
7.
by bscholl 11y ago
YC has been awesome and supportive in so many ways, far beyond money. 5 stars, would do again!! :-)
8.
by bscholl 11y ago
Really good questions. We aren't sharing the details of the technical design quite yet (but will have more to say as we approach first flight). Regarding engines: our first prototype (1/3 scale) flies with an off-the-shelf GE engi
9.
by bscholl 11y ago
We're baselining an experience better than domestic first class. One seat on each side of aisle, so everyone gets a window and aisle. There's more footroom and more headroom than the typical first class on a 737 or A320. But this
10.
by bscholl 11y ago
Thank you! It's an idea whose time has come...
11.
by bscholl 11y ago
Thanks! :-)
12.
by bscholl 11y ago
Sonic boom physics are subtle and counter-intuitive. High level, you: (1) keep the airplane as small and light as possible (reduces total shock energy) (2) carefully shape the fuselage and wings, so the shocks don't combine as strongly
13.
by bscholl 11y ago
schwarrrtz and azernik nailed it. Today's batteries don't store enough energy for long international flights. There are some battery technologies in the lab (Google Lithium-air batteries) that might make this feasible, but they&#x
14.
by bscholl 11y ago
exactly
15.
by bscholl 11y ago
TBH we really don't want to lock people out. I was disappointed that I never got to fly Concorde, not even once, and we want to open this to everyone (eventually make it routine).
16.
by bscholl 11y ago
Brian Shul is a steely-eyed missile man. :-)
17.
by bscholl 11y ago
There's a lot of scorched earth in supersonics, since Concorde wasn't an economic success and the Boeing SST project was cancelled. Since then, there has been research on 300 seat Mach 2.4-Mach 3 vehicles, but these are extremely
18.
by bscholl 11y ago
It's complicated and unclear, unfortunately. We'll have to see how things unfold when the airplanes are flying.
19.
by bscholl 11y ago
We're teaming with existing and new airlines to bring aircraft into service. Posted ticket prices are based on what's profitable for airlines with the efficiency and performance of the airplane. Airlines will set the final prices,
20.
by bscholl 11y ago
$5,000 isn't an "everyone every time" price, of course. But it's low enough for routine business travel. With more innovation (this is just V1!), we can improve fuel economy and reduce prices further.
21.
by bscholl 11y ago
Supersonics help most on long international flights. So that's the first focus. San Francisco - Los Angeles, so much time is spent on takeoff and landing that faster cruise doesn't help much. Hyperloop, self driving cars can help
22.
by bscholl 11y ago
Thanks! We are very excited to be doing this. We're starting out focused on long flights that are mostly over water, like New York - London or San Francisco - Shanghai. Around an airport, our airplane will be about as quiet as other ne
23.
by bscholl 11y ago
Unfortunately, there's a ban on supersonic travel over land in the US since the 1970s. When this is reversed, we can fly SFO-JFK in about 2:20.
24.
by bscholl 11y ago
We have the same gas mileage (fuel per seat mile) as a lay-flat bed in business class. Since the aircraft can do nearly 3X as many trips in the same time, on net it's better. That's just the start of course—with more innovation on
25.
by bscholl 11y ago
Hi - I'm Blake, Founder/CEO at Boom. After watching no tangible progress in supersonics since Concorde was shut down, I started Boom because I want supersonic flight in our lifetime. Not just as a private jet, but something most a
26.
by bscholl 11y ago
Yes, we've taken a lot of inspiration from what Elon has accomplished at SpaceX and Tesla. Supersonics are technically challenging and capitally intensive. But the world should have faster travel—and it doesn't look like the big a
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by bscholl 11y ago
Good point. It's so sad that Concorde came and went without a replacement in place. (FYI, I'm a founder at Boom).
28.
by bscholl 11y ago
Exactly. Already, this is way more affordable than private jets or Concorde. We'll keep innovating on fuel efficiency, so prices can keep coming down.
29.
by bscholl 11y ago
This is what a scrappy airplane startup looks like in the early days. The wooden mockups validate sizing and ergonomics before you lay down expensive carbon fiber.
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by bscholl 11y ago
That's correct. We're starting with overwater supersonic because there's no regulatory barrier to launching service. You can make a much quieter sonic boom than Concorde, and eventually supersonic overland will be allowed.

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