38 AUSTRALIAN AVIATION
“refine the aircraft design and help
define the passenger experience for
supersonic travel”.
“We are very proud to be working
with Boom on the advancement in the
commercial aviation industry,” Japan
Airlines president Yoshiharu Ueki
said.
“Through this partnership, we
hope to contribute to the future of
supersonic travel with the intent of
providing more time to our valued
passengers while emphasising flight
safety.”
Scholl said on a blog post on
the company’s website after the
JAL partnership was announced
the Japanese flag carrier was the
“first airline in history to make a
material financial commitment to a
faster future”, noting the pre-orders
for the Concorde held no financial
commitment.
“JAL’s passionate, visionary team
offers decades of practical knowledge
and wisdom on everything from the
passenger experience to technical
operations,” Scholl said.
“We’re thrilled to be working with
JAL to develop a reliable, easily-
maintained aircraft that will provide
revolutionary speed to passengers.
“Our goal is to develop an airliner
that will be a great addition to any
international airline’s fleet.”
Space-focused Virgin Galactic, a
part of UK-based Virgin Group, was
also supporting the Boom project, Sir
Richard Branson told Fairfax Media
in July.
“We’re helping at Virgin Galactic
building the Boom spaceships,” he
said.
“They’ll be going suborbital, but
they’ll still be going a lot faster than
Concorde. And that’s a big stepping
stone towards really fast travel, maybe,
one day, orbital flights.”
Virgin Australia chief executive
John Borghetti has also expressed his
support for supersonic flight.
“In 2017, there is a lot of focus on
aircraft range and how far we can
go nonstop using new technology,”
Borghetti said in his Sir Reginald
Ansett Memorial Lecture at
Parliament House in Canberra in early
October.
“However, I believe in order
to achieve the next step-change
in aviation, we need to shift the
paradigm. We should not be asking
‘How far?’, but rather, ‘How fast?’.
“It is entirely reasonable to believe
that in the next 10 years, we will see
supersonic jets safely and sustainably
flying commercial passengers.”
Scholl, whose trip to Australia was
all about meeting local companies
and airlines, describes Borghetti as a
“visionary on this topic”.
“I can’t comment on private
discussions obviously but if the
airplane were ready today everybody
would want it,” he says.
Qantas chief executive Alan
Joyce was less enthusiastic about
the prospect at travelling faster
than the speed of sound, which is
understandable given the airline’s
enormous investment in ultra-long
haul flights with the Boeing 787-9 and
the stated desire to mount nonstop
services to New York and London
from Australia’s east coast.
“We would have been very keen to
have supersonic aircraft, but there is
a trade-off between supersonic speed
and distance,” Joyce was quoted as
saying on the Australian Business
Traveller website in October.
“But the problems when Qantas
looked at supersonic flight in the
1960s are problems that have still not
been overcome.”
Concorde failings
There is no doubt Concorde was an
amazing technological achievement.
With its delta wing, four afterburning
engines and distinctive pointed noise,
the aircraft will always be an iconic
figure in aviation.
However, it only flew from 1976 to
2003, a span of 27 years, and only 20
aircraft were ever produced for two
operators, if you discount a couple of
short-term wet lease arrangements.
Powered by Rolls-Royce/Snecma
Olympus 593 engines, the aircraft was
designed to seat up to 128 passengers
and was capable of reaching a
maximum speed of Mach 2.04. It had
a maximum range of 3,900nm.
As breathtaking as they were,
the thirsty engines were Concorde’s
Achilles heel.
“The number one problem with
Concorde was fuel economy and 1960s
technology,” Scholl says.
“If you’re an airplane geek it was
just the coolest thing, the flame
coming out the back of the engines.
They are loud, you can’t miss them
when they fly by, they turn heads.”
“If you’re an airline you hate them.
There is the safety perception of ‘oh
my God the engine is on fire’, the noise
really bothers people on the ground,
they are really, really loud, and the fuel
economy is horrible.”
While Concorde was 1960s
technology, Boom is drawing upon the
advancements of the past two decades
in the design of its supersonic jet.
The aircraft fuselage will be made
from carbon composites, much
like what is used on the Boeing 787
program.
Meanwhile, the company plans
to use a modified version of turbofan
engines that are currently seen on the
wings of commercial passenger jets.
An engine manufacturer was likely to
be chosen later in 2018. Media reports
suggested the three engines would
need to generate between 15,000 to
20,000lb of thrust.
While initial designs had the
aircraft operating as a twin-jet, the
Boom brains’ trust chose to go to a tri-
jet after considering the certification
Boom Supersonic CEO Blake
Scholl has been attracting
plenty of attention.BOOM
‘If the airplane
were ready
today,
everybody
would want it.’
BLAKE SCHOLL